Prelims

Half Title Page

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY, CRIME AND SOCIAL MARGINALIZATION

Social and Political Implications

Title Page

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY, CRIME AND SOCIAL MARGINALIZATION

Social and Political Implications

BY

MIGUEL BASTO PEREIRA

School of Psychology, University of Minho, Portugal and Higher Institute for Applied Psychology (ISPA), Portugal

ÂNGELA DA COSTA MAIA

School of Psychology, University of Minho, Portugal

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

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Emerald Publishing Limited

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First edition 2017

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ISBN: 978-1-78743-612-1 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-78743-611-4 (Online)

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Acknowledgments

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.

— Albert Einstein

To my parents, I would like to give my sincerest gratitude, for without their constant availability and direction it would have been impossible to reach this point. To my sister, grandmother, and godmother, for their huge support and affection, I am grateful that they have been such model teachers, demonstrating how important education and knowledge is. To Catarina, I am grateful for all of the help you have given me during this journey, simplifying my life and making me happier. There are no words to express my gratitude.

To Professor David Farrington, who I met during the first year of my doctoral studies, I would like to thank for all of the great advice and support in my projects, even in those that were hardest and most ambitious, which helped me get the most of my incredible adventure at Cambridge University. To the other scholars that I met and befriended there, especially Izabela, Vicente and Maria, I am so appreciative of our conversations.

To the General Direction of the Prison Services and Probation Office, and particularly the justice professionals, it is not possible to thank you enough for your incredible and tireless support during the data collection process. To those who selflessly participated in this study and were fundamental in this scientific project, I am eternally grateful, for without you it would all have been impossible!

To Sofia Ribeiro and Ana Miranda, a special thanks for your collaboration and participation in the project of which this book is a part of. It was a sincere pleasure working with you.

I would also like to thank: Tânia Brandão and Juliana Pedro, for your longstanding friendship and for our shared love of scientific research; Rita Começanha, for your companionship and friendship, mutual cooperation and for shared experiences; Roberta, Filipe, Rui, Pedro, Cristina, Teresa, Liliana and so many other friends and colleagues who were so important to me throughout this journey.

Finally, I thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), who financially supported my work [SFRH/BD/95190/2013], which allowed me to wrote this book. In addition, I also acknowledge that this study was conducted at Psychology Research Centre (UID/PSI/01662/2013), University of Minho, and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education through national funds and co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007653).

Miguel Basto Pereira

Introduction

Scientific evidence shows that a set of family and psychosocial elements are risk factors for juvenile delinquency. Nonetheless, a meta-synthesis of factors predicting desistance from crime in juvenile offenders, which could play a central role in preventing crime, has never been done. This is not the only limitation. If adverse childhood experiences (ACE) are a unanimous risk factor for juvenile delinquency, the role of each early adverse experience on crime and social marginalization are almost unknown. Worldwide, the levels of effectiveness of justice interventions are not encouraging, despite the majority of legal frameworks having the aim of preventing recidivism and promote social integration. Moreover, when youths with justice involvement reach adulthood, very little is known about what dimensions should be intervened.

The purpose of this book is to advance knowledge about the role of psychosocial, legal, and family factors on persistence in crime and social marginalization in young adults with a history of juvenile delinquency. This work presents the main findings and policy implications from The Portuguese Study on Delinquency and Social Marginalization, (PSDSM) which are divided into five parts, each part corresponding to a published and/or submitted scientific article. Chapter 1 evaluates the long-term predictors of desistance from crime in adults with a history of juvenile delinquency; Chapter 2, explores the role of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) on juvenile justice involvement, persistence in crime, and psychosocial problems; Chapter 3 examines the mechanisms involved in the link between ACE and delinquency; Chapter 4 explores the role of juvenile justice involvement and detention measures on psychosocial problems and persistence in crime during early adulthood; and, lastly, Chapter 5 evaluates the relation between adult psychosocial problems and criminal indicators in individuals with an official record of juvenile criminal offences (ORJC).