Teenage Childbearing,Reproductive Justice,and Infant Mental Health

Reproductive justice advocates emphasize the rights of women to choose to have children, to decide the conditions under which they give birth, and to parent their children with support, safety, and dignity. This article examines what a reproductive justice perspective contributes to infant mental health work with teenage mothers and their families. It explores the historical framing of teenage pregnancy in which young mothers are the cause of a variety of social problems and in which the primary policy and practice approach is pregnancy prevention. The article offers alternative framings of teenage childbearing, based on reproductive justice principles, which focus on social conditions surrounding teenage parenthood and the meaning of motherhood in the lives of young women. These alternative frames shift the practice agenda to eradicating unjust social conditions and providing supports for young women in their roles as parents. The article then describes ways in which two infant mental health programs have incorporated reproductive justice principles into their work with young families: Chicago's community doula model and Florida's Young Parents Project for court-involved teenage parents. Finally, the article extracts a set of principles deriving from a reproductive justice perspective that are relevant to infant mental health work with young families.     

Relations between self-serving cognitive distortions and overt vs. covert antisocial behavior in adolescents

The present study addressed the relations between cognitive distortions (inaccurate thoughts, attitudes, or beliefs) and antisocial behavior that is either overt/confrontational (e.g., fighting) or covert/nonconfrontational (e.g., stealing). A controlled analysis of 52 male delinquents and a comparison sample of 51 high school students aged 14–18 years found the delinquents to be higher in both cognitive distortions and self-reported antisocial behavior. Furthermore, cognitive distortion related specifically to overt and covert antisocial behavior in both samples. In particular, cognitive distortion having overt antisocial behavior as its referent (e.g., “People need to be roughed up once in a while”) evidenced a significant path to overt but not covert antisocial behavior. Conversely, covert-referential cognitive distortion (e.g, “If someone is careless enough to lose a wallet, they deserve to have it stolen”) evidenced a significant path to covert but not overt antisocial behavior. The theoretical and treatment implications of the findings are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 24:335–346, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Behavioral skills training to increase interview skills of adolescent males in a juvenile residential treatment facility

Some studies suggest that acquiring employment following release from prison may reduce recidivism; however, few studies have evaluated procedures for teaching job-related skills to adolescents in residential detention facilities. Stocco et al. (2017) used behavioral skills training (BST) to improve interview skills of college students. The current study used a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design across participants to evaluate the extent to which BST improved interview skills for 7 adolescents who had been adjudicated for sexual offenses. Results show that BST increased appropriate responses to interview questions for 4 students and BST plus modifications (i.e., stimulus and response prompts) increased correct responding to questions for the other 3. In addition, BST increased appropriate questions, correct posture, and smiling, and decreased fidgeting for all 7 students. We briefly discuss the social implications of teaching interview skills to adjudicated adolescents, as well as the limitations of the findings.     

Deviancy and Normative Training Processes in Experimental Groups of Delinquent and Nondelinquent Male Adolescents

The goal of this study was to identify the predictors and the moderators of group characteristics that influence deviancy and normative training processes in delinquent male adolescents. The authors experimentally tested the effects of group composition on deviant talk interaction processes among groups in which all members presented delinquent behaviors (“pure” delinquent group condition), those that included adolescents with no delinquent behaviors (“pure” normative group condition), and adolescents with both profiles (“mixed” group condition). Participants were 70 male adolescents aged 15–18 (M = 16.5; 56% Caucasian), with a random assignment to groups. Data were collected among three group sessions (T1, T2, T3), one session a week, using videotape. Two contents of interactions were also measured: antisocial and normative stories, counterbalanced across sessions. Results showed a significant group effect for antisocial talk and its reinforcement, with less antisocial talk within the mixed group condition in comparison to the pure delinquent group condition. The topic of interaction was also observed as a predictor of antisocial talk, with less normative interactions and more antisocial talk associated with antisocial topics. Finally, time moderated some relations between experimental groups and talk. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this work for future research on deviancy training processes. Aggr. Behav. 39:30‐44, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Abused Women in South Africa who Kill their Intimate Male Partners: A Psychological Exploration

The aim of this study was to explore psychological risk factors that may precipitate the murder of a partner by an abused woman. In this article, the authors use multiple case studies and interviews with three women incarcerated for the murder of their partners. Four themes relating to intimate partner violence emerged from the interviews: 1) post-traumatic stress disorder, 2) coercive control, 3) substance abuse and 4) interrelational conflict. The study indicates psychological factors that may precipitate the murder of an intimate partner that should be taken into account when counselling abused women.     

Outcomes in a System of Care for Youths with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: An Examination of Differential Change Across Clinical Profiles

We assessed the utility of an empirically-derived classification system for youths with emotional and behavioral disorders in a system of care with a strong representation of juvenile delinquents. Eighty-seven youths served in a system of care were categorized by variables related to past history, current behavioral functioning, and current psychological functioning into four clinical clusters. We evaluated preliminary clinical outcomes after six months of interagency involvement for youths within each cluster and across the four clusters. Results indicated that youths in different clusters improved significantly in need-specific areas. Trends in our data indicated differential change in clinical outcomes across clusters. We discuss our findings within the context of emerging outcomes of youths involved in comprehensive community-based programs and consider implications for outcome research, treatment of juvenile delinquents, and mental health policy.     

Interpersonal Skills Training to Reduce Aggressive and Delinquent Behavior: Limited Evidence and the Need for an Evidence-Based System of Care

The prevention of aggressive and delinquent behavior during childhood and adolescence is one of the highest priorities for public health and crime prevention. The most common approach to preventing or treating these conduct problems has been to provide interpersonal skills training to the affected youth. This paper reviews all randomized controlled trials evaluating interpersonal skills training programs as an intervention to reduce conduct problems. Research shows that such programs have weak empirical support as isolated interventions. An alternative evidence-based system of care is described. Such a system would include behavioral parent training and behavioral classroom-based interventions for young children at risk of developing problems, as well as multisystemic family therapy or multidimensional treatment foster care for chronic delinquents. Within such a network of services, interpersonal skills training could play an important supportive role. Such a system holds the greatest promise for reducing the prevalence of aggressive and delinquent behavior in communities.     

Children Who Murder: A Review

Despite considerable research on juvenile homicide, pre-adolescent homicide offenders have received less attention. This paper reviews the existing literature on preteen murderers in order to characterize the current state of research knowledge about this population, and draws on some of the work on adolescent homicide as well. The analysis of this literature considers historical context, methodological issues, previous attempts to classify youthful homicide offenders, and predictors of preteen homicidal behavior. While there is a high degree of heterogeneity within this population, several developmental similarities emerged across cases that were associated with the perpetration of homicide by preteens. A high percentage of preteen homicide offenders come from homes characterized by physical abuse, domestic violence, poor or absent parenting, and overall instability. Gun availability may have been a facilitating factor. Support for different etiologies of preteen versus adolescent homicide is weak. Recommendations for future research directions are offered.     

交往越轨同伴对青少年犯罪的影响

同伴交往和青少年犯罪之间的关系是青少年犯罪研究的一个核心问题。大量的实证研究结果支持学习理论所提出的与越轨同伴交往会促进青少年犯罪的观点。这种促进作用适用于不同类型、不同性别、不同年龄阶段、不同犯罪路径的青少年犯罪, 也适用于众多类型的青少年犯罪团体干预项目中的同伴交往。为深化对这一领域的认识, 未来研究需更多采用纵向研究、对比研究、实验研究等方法, 以不同文化背景中的青少年为对象, 深入考察这种影响的群体差异、内部机制以及干预措施。     

未成年犯自尊特点的研究

该研究对北京市男性未成年犯与一般青少年的自尊特点进行了对比研究,结果表明,他们的内隐自尊水平没有显著差异;外显自尊方面,除身体自尊外,未成年犯在整体自尊、学业自尊、人际自尊、家庭自尊以及品德自尊均显著低于一般青少年;未成年犯在元自尊各个因子,即自尊调节、目标意识、自我检查、监控策略、现状意识上均非常显著低于一般青少年;未成年犯的外显自尊和元自尊有显著相关,和正常少年相比,少年犯的内隐自尊、外显自尊和元自尊处在不同的发展水平,且存在显著的分离现象,即外显自尊和元自尊低于正常少年,而内隐自尊和正常少年无显著差异。