Differentiating Categories of Violent Adolescent Offending and the Associated Risks in Police and Youth Offending Service Records

• Published in: International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology Vol. 68; no. 10-11; pp. 1035 - 1051
• Main Authors: Ashton, Sally-Ann, Valentine, Michael, Chan, Bonnie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.08.2024; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Adolescents; Archives & records; Domestic violence; Drug abuse; Forms; Impulsivity; Juvenile offenders; Males; Men; Mental disorders; Offending; Offenses; Police; Risk assessment; Risk factors; Robbery; School attendance; School violence; Substance abuse; Violent adolescents; Violent offenders; Youth; youth offending supervision; violent offending; police records; adolescent offending; adverse childhood experiences
• ISSN: 0306-624X; 1552-6933; 1552-6933
• DOI: 10.1177/0306624X211058960

Historical risk assessment forms for a sample of 173 males with a history of violent offending and under supervision by Merseyside Youth Offending Services (YOS) were investigated. Subsequent arrest records were scrutinised in order to obtain a better understanding of the relationship of social and psychological risk factors to offending behavior. The mean age of the sample at the point of contact with YOS was 16.01 (SD = 1.37) with a range between 12 and 18 years. Assault was associated with solo expressive offending, a history of domestic violence, low school attendance and an inability to control impulsivity and aggression. Robbery was associated instrumental and escalated violent offending, psychological disorders, and deviant groups, including family criminal involvement. Risk assessments by professionals and the young people indicated that substance misuse co-occurred with robbery. The findings suggest that solo offenders commit the majority of violent offences and that targeted interventions should distinguish between expressive and instrumental offending.