Iatrogenic effect of juvenile justice
Abstract
Background The present study uses data from a community sample of 779 low-SES boys to investigate whether intervention by the juvenile justice system is determined, at least in part, by particular individual, familial and social conditions, and whether intervention by the juvenile courts during adolescence increases involvement in adult crime. Method The study considers self-reported crime in childhood and adolescence, and introduces individual, familial and social variables into its analysis. Results The results show that youths who are poor, impulsive, poorly supervised by their parents, and exposed to deviant friends are more likely, for the same degree of antisocial behavior, to undergo intervention by the Juvenile Court, and that this intervention greatly increases the likelihood of involvement with the penal system in adulthood. The results also show that the various measures recommended by the Juvenile Court exert a differential criminogenic effect; those that involve placement have the most negative impact.
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Study findings have repeatedly shown that when low-risk offenders are brought into the justice system, the outcome is almost exclusively iatrogenic.
“Study findings have repeatedly shown that when low‐risk offenders are brought into the justice system, the outcome is almost exclusively iatrogenic (e.g., Gatti, Tremblay, & Vitaro, 2009; Lowenkamp, Latessa, & Holsinger, 2006; Nagin, Cullen, & Jonson, 2009; Sperber, Latessa, & Makarios, 2013).”
From Does contact with the justice system deter or promote future delinquency? Results from a longitudinal study of British adolescent twins (2020) · cites this paper as Gatti, Tremblay, & Vitaro, 2009
Cites
Companions in Crime: The Social Aspects of Criminal Conduct
Warr, M. (2002) · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511803956 · Cited by 1,122 · cited 3× · see citing works
“More recently, two theoretical perspectives have beenproposed to explain the possible negative impact of the juvenile justice system on youths’ delinquent behaviors: the labeling perspective and the deviant peer contagion perspective (Dodge, Dishion, & Lansford, 2006; Warr, 2002).”
BackgroundInfluentialTannenbaum, F. (1938) · doi:10.7312/tann90782 · Cited by 807 · see citing works
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The evolutionary basis of risky adolescent behavior: Implications for science, policy, and practice.
Ellis, B. J., Del Giudice, M., Dishion, T. J., Figueredo, A. J., Gray, P., Griskevicius, V., Hawley, P. H., Jacobs, W. J., James, J., Volk, A. A., et al. (2012) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0026220 · Cited by 745 · see citing works
Prisons Do Not Reduce Recidivism: The High Cost of Ignoring Science
Cullen, F. T., Jonson, C. L., & Nagin, D. S. (2011) · The Prison Journal · doi:10.1177/0032885511415224 · Cited by 407 · see citing works
The impact of incarceration on juvenile offenders
Lambie, I., & Randell, I. (2013) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2013.01.007 · Cited by 291 · see citing works
From the school yard to the squad car: school discipline, truancy, and arrest
Monahan, K. C., VanDerhei, S., Bechtold, J., & Cauffman, E. (2014) · Journal of Youth and Adolescence · doi:10.1007/s10964-014-0103-1 · Cited by 240 · see citing works
Motz, R. T., Barnes, J. C., Caspi, A., Arseneault, L., Cullen, F. T., Houts, R., Wertz, J., & Moffitt, T. E. (2020) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/1745-9125.12236 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
- Authors
- Gatti, U., Tremblay, R. E., & Vitaro, F.
- Affiliations
- University of Genoa (IT)
- Université de Montréal (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Gatti, Uberto
- Venue
- Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2009-07-16
- Volume
- 50
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 991-998
- ISSN
- 0021-9630 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-7610
- OpenAlex
- W2101974743
- Cited by
- 318
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 19
- FWCI
- 53.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime Patterns and Interventions
- Social Sciences › Law › Criminal Justice and Penology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis
- Keywords
- juvenile justice, iatrogenic disease, low socioeconomic status, juvenile delinquency, antisocial behavior, impulsivity, parental supervision, deviant peer influence, juvenile placement, criminogenic effects
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Child, Crime, Cross-Sectional Studies, Humans, Iatrogenic Disease, Impulsive Behavior, Juvenile Delinquency, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Peer Group, Poverty, Quebec, Risk Factors, Social Facilitation, Parenting, Young Adult
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