This article presents a developmental perspective on the reentry of young offenders into the community. The authors begin with a discussion of the psychosocial tasks of late adolescence. Next, they discuss contextual influences on the successful negotiation of these psychosocial tasks. Third, they examine whether and to what extent the contexts to which young offenders are exposed in the justice system are likely to facilitate normative psychosocial development. Finally, they argue that the psychosocial development of youthful offenders is disrupted, or “arrested,” by their experiences within the justice system. Interventions designed to facilitate the successful reentry of young offenders into the community must be informed by what we know about healthy psychosocial development in late adolescence.
Arnett, J. (2000). Emerging adulthood. American Psychologist, 55, 469-480.
3.
Bartollas, C., Miller, S. J., & Dinitz, S. (1976). Juvenile victimization: The institutional paradox. New York: Wiley.
4.
Baumrind, D. (1991). Effective parenting during the early adolescent transition. In P. A. Cowan & E. M. Hetherington (Eds.), Family transitions (pp. 111-163). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
5.
Beck, A., Karberg, J., & Harrison, P. (2002). Prison and jail inmates at midyear 2001. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
6.
Bishop, D. M., Frazier, C. E., Lanza-Kaduce, L., & Winner, L. (1996). The transfer of juveniles to criminal court: Does it make a difference? Crime & Delinquency, 42(2), 171-191.
7.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
8.
Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (1998). The ecology of environmental processes. In Handbook of child psychology (pp. 993-1028). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
9.
Brown, B. (2004). Adolescents’ relationships with peers. In R. Lerner & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 363-394). New York: John Wiley.
10.
Bullis, M., Yovanoff, P., Mueller, G., & Havel, E. (2002). Life on the “outs”—Examination of the facility-to-community transition of incarcerated youth. Exceptional Children, 69(1), 7-22.
11.
Cocozza, J. J., & Skowyra, K. (2000). Youth with mental health disorders: Issues and emerging responses. Juvenile Justice, 7(1), 4-13.
12.
Collins, W. A., & Laursen, B. (2004). Parent-adolescent relationships and influence. In R. Lerner & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 331-361). New York: John Wiley.
13.
Dishion, T. J., McCord, J., & Poulin, F. (1999). When interventions harm: Peer groups and problem behavior. American Psychologist, 54(9), 755-764.
14.
Eccles, J., & Templeton, J. (2002). Extracurricular and other after-school activities for youth. Review of Education, 26, 113-180.
15.
Erikson, E. H. (1980). Identity and the life cycle. New York: W. W. Norton. (Original work published 1959)
16.
Fagan, J. (1990). Social and legal policy dimensions of violent juvenile crime. Criminal Justice & Behavior, 17(1), 93-133.
17.
Fagan, J. (1995). Separating the men from the boys: The comparative impact of juvenile and criminal court sanctions on recidivism of adolescent felony offenders. In J. C. Howell, B. Krisberg, & D. J. Hawkins (Eds.), A sourcebook on serious, violent, and chronic offenders (pp. 238-260). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
18.
Fagan, J., Forst, M., & Vivona, T. (1989). Youth in prisons and training schools: Perceptions and consequences of the treatment-custody dichotomy. Juvenile and Family Court, 40, 1-14.
19.
Fagan, J. F., & Freeman, R. B. (1999). Crime and work. In M. Tonry (Ed.), Crime and justice: A review of research (pp. 225-290). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
20.
Farrington, D., Gallagher, B., Morley, L., St. Ledger, R. J., & West, D. (1988). Are there any successful men from criminogenic backgrounds? Psychiatry, 51, 116-130.
21.
Farrington, D. P. (1989). Early predictors of adolescent aggression and adult violence. Violence and Victims, 4(2), 79-100.
22.
Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. (1998). America’s children: Key national indicators of well-being, 1998. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
23.
Feld, B. C. (1998). Juvenile and criminal justice systems’ responses to youth violence. In M. Tonry & M. H. Moore (Eds.), Youth violence (pp. 189-263). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
24.
Foley, R. (2001). Academic characteristics of incarcerated youth and correctional education programs: A literature review. Journal of Emotional & Behavioral Disorders, 9(4), 248-259.
25.
Freeman, R. (1992). Crime and economic status of disadvantaged young men. In G. Peterson & W. Vroman (Eds.), Urban labor markets and job opportunities (pp. 112-152). Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.
26.
Gleuck, S., & Gleuck, E. (1974). Delinquents and nondelinquents in perspective. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
27.
Graber, J. A., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Petersen, A. C. (Eds.). (1996). Transitions through adolescence: Interpersonal domains and context. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
28.
Greenberger, E. (1982). Education and the acquisition of psychosocial maturity. In D. McClelland (Ed.), The development of social maturity (pp. 155-189). New York: Irvington.
29.
Greenberger, E. (1984). Defining psychosocial maturity in adolescence. Advances in Child Behavioral Analysis & Therapy, 3, 1-37.
30.
Greenberger, E., & Sorensen, A. (1974). Toward a concept of psychosocial maturity. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 3, 329-358.
31.
Greenberger, E., & Steinberg, L. (1986). When teenagers work: The psychological and social costs of adolescent employment. New York: Basic Books.
32.
Grisso, T. (in press). Double jeopardy: Adolescent offenders with mental disorders. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
33.
Grotevant, H. D. (1998). Adolescent development in family contexts. In D. E. Eisenberg (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology (Vol. 3, 5th ed., pp. 1097-1150). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
34.
Habermann, M., & Quinn, L. (1986). The high school re-entry myth: A follow-up study of juveniles released from two correctional high schools in Wisconsin. Journal of Correctional Education, 37, 114-117.
35.
Hawkins, J. D., Herrenkohl, T., Farrington, D. P., Brewer, D., Catalano, R. F., & Harachi, T. W. (1998). A review of predictors of youth violence. In R. Loeber & D. P. Farrington (Eds.), Serious & violent juvenile offenders: Risk factors and successful interventions (pp. 106-146). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
36.
Hughes, M. (1998). Turning points in the lives of young inner-city men foregoing destructive criminal behaviors: A qualitative study. Social Work Research, 22(3), 143-151.
37.
Knitzer, J. (1996). Children’s mental health: Changing paradigms and policies. In E. F. Zigler, S. L. Kagan, & N. W. Hall (Eds.), Children, families, and government: Preparing for the twenty-first century (pp. 207-232). New York: Cambridge University Press.
38.
Larson, R., & Verma, S. (1999). How children and adolescents spend time across the world: Work, play, and developmental opportunities. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 701-736.
39.
Larson, R. W. (2000). Toward a psychology of positive youth development. American Psychologist, 55(1), 170-183.
40.
Lerner, S. (1986). Bodily harm. Bolinas, CA: Common Knowledge Press.
41.
Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2004). Diversity in developmental trajectories across adolescence: Neighborhood influences. In R. Lerner & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 451-486). New York: Wiley.
42.
Lipsey, M. W., & Derzon, J. H. (1998). Predictors of violent or serious delinquency in adolescence and early adulthood: A synthesis of longitudinal research. In R. Loeber & D. P. Farrington (Eds.), Serious & violent juvenile offenders: Risk factors and successful interventions (pp. 86-105). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
43.
Lipsey, M. W., & Wilson, D. B. (1998). Effective intervention for serious juvenile offenders: A synthesis of research. In D. P. Farrington (Ed.), Serious & violent juvenile offenders: Risk factors and successful interventions (pp. 313-345). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
44.
Loesel, F. (1995). What recent meta-evaluations tell us about the effectiveness of correctional treatment. In G. Davies & S. Lloyd-Bostock (Eds.), Psychology, law, and criminal justice: International developments in research and practice (pp. 537-554). Oxford, UK: Walter De Gruyter.
45.
Lyons, J. S., Baerger, D. R., Quigley, P., Erlich, J., & Griffin, E. (2001). Mental health service needs of juvenile offenders: A comparison of detention, incarceration, and treatment settings. Children’s Services: Social Policy, Research, and Practice, 4(2), 69-85.
46.
Martinson, R. (1974). What works?: Questions and answers about prison reform. Public Interest, 35, 22-54.
47.
McCollum, B. (1996). Testimony before the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth, and Families. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
48.
McLaughlin, M. (2000). Community counts: How youth organizations matter for youth development. Washington, DC: Public Education Network.
49.
Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100(4), 674-701.
50.
Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Harrington, H., & Milne, B. J. (2002). Males on the life-course-persistent and adolescence-limited antisocial pathways: Follow-up at age 26 years. Development & Psychopathology, 14, 179-207.
51.
Mortimer, J. T., Finch, M. D., Ryu, S., Shanahan, M. J., et al. (1996). The effects of work intensity on adolescent mental health, achievement, and behavioral adjustment: New evidence from a prospective study. Child Development, 67(3), 1243-1261.
52.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2001). Dropout rates in the United States: 2000. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.
53.
National Council on Disability. (2003). Addressing the needs of youth with disabilities in the juvenile justice system: The current status of evidence-based research. Washington, DC: Author.
54.
National Research Council. (1993). Losing generations: Adolescents in high risk settings. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
55.
National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. (2002). Community programs to promote youth development. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
56.
Oyserman, D., & Markus, H. R. (1990). Possible selves and delinquency. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 112-125.
57.
Parent, D. G., Lieter, V., Kennedy, S., Livens, L., Wentworth, D., & Wilcox, S. (1994). Conditions of confinement: Juvenile detention and corrections facilities. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
58.
Patterson, G. R., Capaldi, D., & Bank, L. (1991). An early starter model for predicting delinquency. In D. J. Pepler & K. H. Rubin (Eds.), The development and treatment of childhood aggression (pp. 135-168). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Puzzanchera, C., Stahl, A., Finnegan, T., Snyder, H., Poole, R., & Tierney, N. (2002). Juvenile court statistics, 1999. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
61.
Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (1997). A life-course theory of cumulative disadvantage and the stability of delinquency. In T. P. Thornberry (Ed.), Developmental theories of crime and delinquency (pp. 133-162). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.
62.
Sampson, R. J., & Lauritsen, J. L. (1994). Violent victimization and offending: Individual-, situational-, and community-level risk factors. In A. J. Reiss, Jr. (Ed.), Understanding and preventing violence, Vol. 3: Social influences (pp. 1-114). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
63.
Sickmund, M. (2000). Census of juveniles in residential placement 1997. Pittsburgh, PA: National Center for Juvenile Justice.
64.
Sickmund, M. (2002). Juveniles in corrections [Online]. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Available: http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org/ojstatbb/qa155.html
65.
Snyder, H. N. (1999). Juvenile arrests 1998. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
66.
Snyder, H. N. (2002). Juvenile arrests 2000. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
67.
Snyder, H. N., & Sickmund, M. (1995). Juvenile offenders and victims: A national report. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
68.
Snyder, H. N., & Sickmund, M. (1999). Juvenile offender and victims: 1999 national report. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
69.
Snyder, H., Sickmund, M., & Poe-Yamagata, E. (1996). Juvenile offenders and victims: 1996 update on violence. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, National Center for Juvenile Justice.
70.
Soler, M. (2002). Health issues for adolescents in the justice system. Journal of Adolescent Health, 31(Suppl. 6), 321-333.
71.
Steinberg, L. (2002). Psychosocial development in late adolescence: Suggestions for a research agenda. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia.
72.
Steinberg, L., & Cauffman, E. (1996). Maturity of judgment in adolescence: Psychosocial factors in adolescent decision-making. Law and Human Behavior, 20, 249-272.
73.
Steinberg, L., & Chung, H. (2003, April). Variations in patterns of offending: The impact of family and neighborhood. Paper presented as part of a symposium entitled “The Psychological Development of Serious Juvenile Offenders: The MacArthur Study of Pathways to Desistance” at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Tampa, Florida.
74.
Steinberg, L., Elmen, J. D., & Mounts, N. S. (1989). Authoritative parenting, psychosocial maturity, and academic success among adolescents. Child Development, 60(6), 1424-1436.
75.
Teplin, L. (2002). Psychiatric disorders in youth in juvenile detention. Archives of General Psychiatry, 59(12), 1133-1143.
76.
Tolan, P. H., & Gorman-Smith, D. (1997). Treatment of juvenile delinquency: Between punishment and therapy. In D. M. Stoff, J. Breiling, & J. D. Maser (Eds.), Handbook of antisocial behavior (pp. 405-415). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
77.
Torbet, P., Gable, R., & Hurst, H. (1996). State responses to serious and violent juvenile crime: Research report. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
78.
Valde, G. A. (1996). Identity closure: A fifth identity status. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 157(3), 245-254.
79.
Ward, D., & Tittle, C. (1993). Deterrence or labeling: The effects of informal sanctions. Deviant Behavior, 14, 43-64.
80.
Whitbourne, S. K., & Tesch, S. A. (1985). A comparison of identity and intimacy statuses in college students and alumni. Developmental Psychology, 21(6), 1039-1044.
81.
William T.Grant Foundation Commission on Work, Family and Citizenship. (1988). The forgotten half: Non-college-bound youth in America. Washington, DC: William T. Grant Foundation.
82.
Wolfgang, M. E., Thornberry, T. P., & Figlio, R. M. (1987). From boy to man, from delinquency to crime. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
