The goal of this study was to test nonverbal intelligence and neighborhood social capital as protective factors against future delinquency in early adolescent youth placed at risk by virtue of their involvement in childhood conduct problems. Analyzing longitudinal data from 3,028 youth (1,565 boys, 1,463 girls) in one cohort of the Longitudinal…

Objective: Determine whether a history of family social disadvantage and/or child abuse and neglect explain the overrepresentation of Indigenous Australian young people in youth detention. Methods: Maternal survey data from the Mater University Study of Pregnancy was linked with child abuse and neglect and youth justice data from the Queensland…

In this article we reflect on developments in our thinking and practice concerning youth sexual offending. We put the case that context is critical to understanding and responding to the problem, and accordingly that a social ecological model provides the most suitable conceptual and practice framework for clinical efforts with this population. We…

Background: Intellectual disability (ID), age and aboriginal status have been independently implicated as risk factors for offending to varying degrees. This study examined the relationship between age, ID and the Indigenous status of juvenile offenders. It also examined the outcomes of the sample's offending in terms of court appearances and…

This research investigated differences in delinquent activities and the reputational orientations of at-risk and not-at-risk male and female adolescents. Initially, we sought to establish that adolescent males and females differed in these respects. This was found to be the case: males (n = 722) scored significantly higher than females (n = 738)…

Twenty young people with a history of incarceration, substance abuse and disconnection provided Whitelion with insight into "what worked" in changing their at-risk behaviours. The answer was obvious--state support beyond 18 years of age, perhaps until the mid-twenties. These young people require specialised intervention, and help…

An Importance of Goals Scale was developed from item responses of 230 Australian high school students and validated through administration to 80 delinquent, 90 at-risk, and 90 non-at-risk adolescents. Findings identified differences among the three groups, which are discussed in terms of implications for academic achievement, peer relations, and…

This literature review compiled a survey of Australian research related to identification of students at risk and school-related programs which respond to these risks. Thus, two major components of this report are titled "Student Retention and Risk Factors" and "Programs for Students at Risk." Students at risk were defined as…

This document contains 19 papers presented at an international forum on education in penal systems. The following papers are included: "Burning" (Craig W.J. Minogue); "The Acquisition of Cognitive Skills as a Means of Recidivism Reduction: A Former Prisoner's Perspective" (Trevor Darryl Doherty); "CEA (Correctional…