To Örebro University

Research on males shows discrepancies between official records and self-reports of delinquency, thus creating a scaling-up factor. Comparable information for girls is still needed. We investigated discrepancies (scaling up factors) from official records to selfreports in a large sample of girls between ages 12 and 17 (N = 2,450). On average there were three self-reported juvenile female offenders for every individual charged by the police, and for every police charge there were four offenses that were committed. The scaling-up factor was highest in early adolescence, indicating that female offenders at a young age were more likely to stay undetected by the police. The scaling-up factor was significantly lower for African American than white girls: a higher proportion of African American delinquent girls were charged by the police. Racial differences in scaling up were significant only for prevalence, not for frequency of offending. Knowledge about scaling-up factors is important for the design and implementation of intervention programs. We discuss racial differences, implications for justice administration, and practical implications for intervention science. 

Becoming a victim of crime can be a traumatic experience, which calls for post-victimisation psychosocial support. In Sweden, this kind of support is offered by both governmental, for example, municipal social services (MSS), and nongovernmental organisations such as Victim Support (VS). The present study investigates (a) how many municipalities have a written agreement to collaborate with other organisations, and what kind of services they offer within their own organisation, (b) if there are differences between what support the MSS offer to victims depending on collaboration and (c) how do MSS staff, VS staff and crime victims describe the actual collaboration and support? Publicly available information from the National Board of Health and Welfare was analysed, in addition to a case study of three municipalities’ work with victims of crime. The case study consists of nine interviews with social workers from MSS, crime victim coordinators from VS and crime victims. The results from the survey indicate that collaboration between the MSS and VS is occurring in some municipalities to access missing competence or to outsource services from the MSS. However, results show that collaboration does not exist in every municipality, and one reason for this, according to interview information, is to protect the confidentiality of the clients. The challenges and advantages of collaboration between the MSS and VS are discussed together with practical implications for the crime victim field.

Background: Teen dating violence (TDV) is a common phenomenon of great public concern. TDV may lead to severe long-term consequences for victims and offenders, and even more so for females than for males.

Aim: The aim of this paper is to investigate possible underlying factors for involvement in TDV either as a perpetrator or a victim. Social learning theory is commonly used to explain internalisation of parents' behaviour on children's behavioural expressions, but less so on parents' emotion regulation as a direct link to later TDV.

Method: We used longitudinal data from the Pittsburgh Girls Study (N=2450) to investigate if and how parents' positive and negative emotion regulation is related to TDV, controlling for early aggression and race.

Results: Results show a moderately strong association between parents' negative emotion regulation and their daughters' involvement in serious dating violence. We also found that many more African American girls were involved in TDV compared to Caucasian girls, both as a perpetrator and victim.

Conclusions and practical implications: We discuss directions for future research focusing on emotion regulation and dating violence. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Aim was to investigate a range of potentially modifiable risk factors for boys in late childhood for later violence and homicide convictions. Boys from the Pittsburgh Youth Study (N = 1,517) were measured through self-reports and official records in late childhood (ages 11–13) on a large number of potentially modifiable risk factors, and were followed up in juvenile and adult criminal records in terms of violence and homicide. Predictors of conviction for homicide largely overlapped with predictors of conviction for violence. Twenty three out of 28 possible risk factors significantly predicted later violence convictions. Regression analysis identified four significant modifiable risk factors in late childhood for any violent offenders: physical abuse, parental stress, bad friends and low school motivation. The higher the number of early risk factors, the higher the probability of later conviction for violent offenses including homicide. The discussion focus on single-, and multi-modal interventions in late childhood to reduce later violence and possibly homicide.

The current study is based on longitudinal self-reported data from the Pittsburgh Girls Study (N = 2,450). This is the largest follow-up delinquency study of girls in the USA; an inner-city population of girls, between the ages of 11 and 18. We first investigated self-reported developmental trajectories for delinquency, and we then examined the correspondence between these self-reported delinquency trajectories and later police charges. The results show three self-reported delinquency trajectories for the PGS participants: non-offenders, low-rate offenders, and high-rate offenders. Further, the high-rate offenders also differed in kind in addition to in degree as they were more versatile offenders demonstrating notable involvement in both property and violent offending relative to the low-rate offenders. Additional analyses revealed that these self-reported trajectories were significantly associated with the frequency and the odds of official offending according to police charges during this same time period (i.e., ages 11–18). Study limitations and implications for future trajectory-based research with female samples are discussed.

Introduction: The study examines age-crime prevalence and age-crime frequency curves based on longitudinal data from boys in the Pittsburgh Youth Study and girls in the Pittsburgh Girls Study.

Results: Results show that the prevalence of the age-crime curve for theft and violence (based on self-reports or police charges) followed the typical age-crime curve for males and slightly less distinctly for females, with the peak of offending occurring earlier for self-reports than for police charges. The decrease in police charges for violence and theft took place at an earlier age for females than males, but this was not distinct when self-reported delinquency was the criterion. The mean frequency of self-reported theft and violence followed the age-crime curve for males but not for females, who showed a mean frequency of offending which was more constant. In contrast, the mean frequency of police charges increased with age for males and females. Comparing African- American and Caucasian males and females shows a higher prevalence but not a higher mean frequency of self-reported offending.

Conclusions: The results are reviewed in the light of other studies, and the policy implications of the findings are discussed.

This paper highlights an escalation model documenting steps by which some youth escalate from minor antisocial problems to serious forms of delinquency, including violence. To highlight the features of such an escalation model, we contrast it with knowledge of developmental sequences and developmental trajectories, preferring a more clinically relevant escalation model of different pathways to serious antisocial outcomes. The escalation model presented consists of three pathways, one referring to escalation from minor aggression to violence (called the overt pathway), the second pathway referring to escalation from minor to major property offenses (called the covert pathway), while a third pathway represents escalation in conflict with authority figures. The pathway escalation model has been intensely researched and validated on longitudinal data for boys and girls. Implications for clinical practice are highlighted.

Many youths placed in residential treatment centres (RTCs) have prior to placement had contact with professional and non-professional support persons (SPs). By interviewing 46 youths (residents) from 10 Swedish RTCs, the present study aims to investigate the residents' view of their relationship with SPs, and, in a one-year follow-up, explore obstacles to or possibilities for maintaining the relationship during the stay at the facility. Results show that 20 residents consider the SPs to be significant adults with an emotional involvement component; seven residents describe their SP as having an instrumental involvement attitude, while 19 residents did not report any significant SP at all. Several obstacles and a few possibilities for involving the SPs were found in the one-year follow-up. Both obstacles and possibilities mainly concerned the willingness of facility staff, and in some cases the social welfare agency staff, to encourage SP involvement. A more systematic SP involvement procedure is needed at the RTC, as well as on the part of the handling officer in the social service agency. Further, it is important that when new residents arrive, staff should make an inventory of important