D’un système à l’autre : facteurs de risque d’incidence LSJPA chez les jeunes pris en charge en protection de la jeunesse en raison de troubles de comportement
Among children and youth who have been maltreated, several studies point to the elevated risk of developmental problems such as delinquency and justice system involvement. Presenting serious behavioral problems is a sufficient condition to receive child protection services (CPS) in the province of Quebec; this offers the opportunity to focus on this condition and on the role it may play or not in the subsequent risk of Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) involvement. The primary role of CPS is to end an abusive situation and to prevent its recurrence. However, a better understanding of the risk factors that lead to an YCJA involvement would help to identify and to adapt interventions for those at greatest risk of juvenile delinquency. The aim of this study is to describe the risk of an YCJA event after a first intervention of CPS due to behavioral problems, and to determine the individual and intervention related factors associated with this YCJA involvement. Administrative data from 16 youth centers in the province of Quebec has been used. Thus, all children and adolescents who have had their file closed after a first CPS intervention due to behavioral problems between January 1st 2005 and December, 31st 2009 were observed (N = 6,630). Survival analysis (Kaplan-Meier model) and Cox regression analyzes were performed. The results indicate that youths in the sample present a 39.7% overall risk of YCJA involvement within the 5-year follow-up period. Boys present a higher risk of YCJA involvement than girls, an unsurprising result. It also appears that the risk varies by gender and the presence of co-occurrence of maltreatment at initial report. Individual risk factors seem to have a greater impact on YCJA involvement than those associated with the CPS intervention. Moreover, recurrences of CPS due to behavioral problems but also because of new information related to child’s maltreatment are particularly important since they are strongly associated with future YCJA involvement. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.
behavioral problems maltreatment child protective services risk factors delinquency juvenile justice involvement survival analysis Cox regression