Between two systems: Youth in residential care with legal measures

Abstract

Youths in residential care (RC) are over-represented in the population of juvenile offenders. Some authors consider that entering the protection system is a risk factor for developing criminal behavior, whereas others consider that the two groups (non-offenders and offenders in RC) only share risk factors. The objective of this study is to compare profiles of youth in RC according to whether or not they have received judicial measures. The sample consists of 281 young people in RC, of whom 35 (12.4%) were juvenile offenders. Files were analyzed and the results indicate that young offenders in RC were older when they entered the protection system, had exerted violence against their parents, who could not control them, and had consumption and school adaptation problems. These results are discussed in the light of existing literature.