Intergenerational Legal System Involvement Among Juvenile Justice-Involved Females and Their Offspring: Opportunities for Prevention

The proposed study is a longitudinal extension which aims to expand the understanding of intergenerational risk and protective processes for families with extensive criminal legal systems involvement. The study has followed 158 (8 participants are deceased) women for 20 years, beginning with their enrollment in the study during adolescence, ages 13-17 years. Women participated in a randomized intervention trial aimed at reducing delinquency through participation in the intervention Treatment Foster Care Oregon (TFCO). The research team previously collected 14 waves of data from adolescence to adulthood (participants are 35 years old, on average) focused on delinquency and crime, health-risk behaviors, public systems involvement, parenting, and partner relationships.

The proposed extension includes re-recruiting original participants and building a multigenerational sample with their offspring, ages 9-26 (est. n = 200), and a second parent/caregiver, all of whom would participate in a single web-based assessment. The assessment will include a robust battery of delinquency, offending, and justice system contact measures as well as a broad array of protective and risk factors. The first goal of the study is to build a robust and unique multi-generational sample of previously justice-involved women and their offspring. The second goal is to amplify the measurement of assets, protective factors, and resilience across ecological levels. The proposed study is uniquely poised to address limitations in the extant literature through the additional wave of data collection and the following research questions: (1) What is the prevalence and type of intergenerational discontinuity from G1 to G2 in delinquency and justice system involvement, and how does intergenerational discontinuity vary when considering delinquency in second parents or caregivers? (2) Which individual, peer, familial, and community factors are robust predictors intergenerational discontinuity in offending and systems involvement? (3) How are G2 offspring experiences of intergenerational adversity, trauma, mental health challenges, and housing experiences related to their patterns of offending and delinquency? (4) Is there evidence that TFCO exerts direct or indirect long-term multigenerational protective effects on G2 offending and delinquency?

Data analysis will leverage extant prospective data on risk and protective processes across G2’s lifetime. Findings will be disseminated through academic venues and through two practice briefs that distill the findings into actionable practice and policy tips. The proposed study has the potential to contribute to improving juvenile justice practice through the identification of risk and protective factors that can inform the next generation of prevention efforts for families with criminal legal system involvement.