Keywords

juvenile justice, trauma, responsivity, RNR, criminogenic needs

Abstract

The prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) for youth in residential facilities is greater than youth in the general population and those in other justice settings. Despite recent advancements in the literature on ACEs and treatment for justice-involved youth, an expansion of this inquiry continues to be warranted. The Risk, Needs, and Responsivity framework has not conceptualized the influence of trauma across youth sex and race/ethnicity in rehabilitation efforts. Therefore, the current study has two primary objectives: (1) to explore the presence of ACEs in the lives of youth in residential facilities, and (2) examine the association between ACEs and changes in a youth’s dynamic needs during residential placement. The current study utilized a sample of justice-involved youth in residential facilities in Florida who were administered the Residential Assessment for Youth (RAY) between May of 2019 and June of 2023. Descriptive analyses revealed that the majority of the youth in the sample had been exposed to some form of trauma, and that parental incarceration and parental separation/divorce were the two most common ACEs. Overall, White youth had a greater number of ACEs in comparison to Hispanic and Black youth. However, females across all racial/ethnic groups displayed greater ACE exposures compared to males. Zero-inflated negative binomial regression was used to assess for changes in dynamic needs based on ACEs. Analyses were also conducted separately for each sex, race/ethnicity, and sex/race/ethnicity subgroup (i.e., Black girls, Hispanic boys) to assess for possible differences. In general, ACEs were not associated with changes in dynamic needs across the majority of the models. Still, some variation across sex and race/ethnicity did occur and ACEs played a role some domains (e.g., Family, Skills for Dealing with Difficult Situations, Techniques for Controlling Aggression). Explanations for findings as well as policy implications and theoretical implications are discussed.

Completion Date

2024

Semester

Summer

Committee Chair

Dr. Jennifer Peck

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Community Innovation and Education

Department

Criminal Justice

Degree Program

Criminal Justice

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

DP0028878

URL

https://stars.library.ucf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1406&context=etd2023

Language

English

Rights

In copyright

Release Date

February 2025

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

Campus Location

Orlando (Main) Campus

Accessibility Status

Meets minimum standards for ETDs/HUTs

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