Young Chronic Offenders

Abstract

Developmental, contextual, and intervention characteristics of young chronic offenders from multisources of information were examined. Young chronic offenders were defined as youth ages 11 and younger who committed 10 offenses and had been arrested in a 12-month period or youth ages 12 to 15 who had committed 15 offenses and had been arrested for these offenses in an 18-month period. A case study protocol was designed to examine three themes of youth and family characteristics and eight themes of youth and family perceptions of the juvenile justice system. The sample included 63 male and female young chronic juvenile offenders randomly selected from all young chronic offenders (N = 1,389) in a southeastern state. Findings indicated that young chronic offenders may exhibit unique personal and contextual characteristics that require greater attention by the juvenile justice system in terms of immediate interventions and follow-up services.