DOI: 10.3886/icpsr36860.v1
title: Institutional Pathways: Dynamics and Characteristics of System Service Use by Serious Adolescent Offenders, Arizona and Pennsylvania, 2000-2010
title: Version 1

description: These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigators if further information is needed. This study is a secondary analysis (syntax only, no data) of Research on Pathways to Desistance [Maricopa County, AZ and Philadelphia County, PA]: Subject Measures, 2000-2010 (ICPSR 29961) and Research on Pathways to Desistance [Maricopa County, AZ and Philadelphia County, PA]: Calendar Data, 2000-2010 [Restricted] (ICPSR 32282). The purpose of this study was to further existing knowledge of juvenile justice intervention and how juvenile justice intervention is related to positive outcomes during the transition to adulthood. This study examines three main aims using data from the Pathways to Desistance study, which followed a sample of serious adolescent offenders for seven years to examine the desistance process. First, trajectories of secure institutional placement for serious offenders during the study period were identified. Second, trajectories of gainful activities for serious adolescent offenders during the study period were identified. Gainful activities were defined as working or attending school. Third, factors associated with turning points in the gainful activities trajectories were explored. In the course of estimating the gainful activities trajectories, there appeared to be a key moment, around year 3, where multiple trajectories with moderate levels of engagement in gainful activities diverged. Together, these three aims will inform how juvenile justice intervention is related to positive outcomes during the transition to adulthood and identify factors that may be related to positive outcomes and critical turning points in the trajectories of serious adolescent offenders. Group differences were examined by testing bivariate differences in a broad range of variables: demographic variables (gender, age, and race/ethnicity); study site and year of interview; characteristics of prior service receipt at baseline (location and orientation); school, family and neighborhood characteristics; characteristics of the offense and offense history; individual factors (mental health and substance use symptoms); and risk scores.
description: The following datasets from Research on Pathways to Desistance [Maricopa County, AZ and Philadelphia County, PA]: Subject Measures, 2000-2010 (ICPSR 29961) were used for secondary analysis: DS1: Baseline DS2: 6 Month Follow-Up DS3: 12 Month Follow-Up DS4: 18 Month Follow-Up DS5: 24 Month Follow-Up DS6: 30 Month Follow-Up DS7: 36 Month Follow-Up The following datasets from Research on Pathways to Desistance [Maricopa County, AZ and Philadelphia County, PA]: Calendar Data, 2000-2010 [Restricted] (ICPSR 32282) were used for secondary analysis: DS6: Community Based Services: By Linear Month DS9: Contacts with the Justice System: By Linear Month DS12: Court Monitoring Services: By Linear Month DS15: Gainful Activity: By Linear Month DS35: Out of Community Placements: By Linear Month
description: None
description: Response Rates: During the enrollment period (November 2000 to January 2003) 10,461 individuals who met the age and petitioned charge criteria were processed in the court systems in Philadelphia and Phoenix. In 5,382 of the these cases (51 percent) the youth was found not guilty or had the charges reduced below a felony-level offense at adjudication. Another 1,272 cases were dropped (12 percent) from consideration because the court data were insufficient to determine the person's eligibility status at adjudication. Of the remaining 3,807 eligible cases 1,799 (47 percent) were excluded from consideration due to potential case overload of the local interviewer or the 15 percent threshold of drug offenders was close to being breached. This resulted in 2,008 youths who were approached for inclusion into the study. Of those youths who were approached 1,354 consented and participated (67 percent). Over the course of the 7-year follow-up period, there were 864 respondents (63.8 percent) were located and interviewed for 10 of 10 possible interviews. An additional 309 youths (22.8 percent) were located and interviewed for 8 or 9 out of 10 possible interviews. Conversely, there were 17 (1.3 percent) respondents who didn't participate in any additional surveys and another 22 (1.6 percent) who only were located and and interviewed for just 1 or 2 follow-up of the 10 possible follow-up interviews. These numbers do not adjust for 91 participants who either died (n=48) or refused continued participation (n=43) of the study over the course of the 7-year follow-up period. Overall the study was able to achieve an average of 89.5 percent for each follow-up interview.
description: Presence of Common Scales: This study used over 50 different scales. More detailed information about the scales is available on the Constructs page of the Pathways to Desistance Web site.
description: Baseline data were collected from 1354 adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18 in 2000-2003. Approximately half of the youth (n=654) were from Maricopa County (Phoenix, Arizona) and the rest were from Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania (n=700). All of the adolescents had committed an offense and were found guilty. Youth who were immediately processed in adult criminal court (n=244) were dropped from the analyses, since our interest is in juvenile justice intervention, resulting in an analytic sample of 1110 adolescents. Youth who had a residential placement were interviewed after their release. All youth were followed for 7 years, with interval periods of 6 months for the first 3 years, and then annual follow-ups until the 7th year when participants were 21-25 years old. The last interview was conducted in March 2010. Thus, participants were followed through the transition to adulthood, which allows for an examination of the process of desistance during this critical period. Over 90% of the sample was interviewed at each follow-up interview. The majority of the participants are male (86.4%), and the sample is diverse (20.2% white, 41.4% black, 33.5% Hispanic).
description: Datasets: DS1: Institutional Pathways: Dynamics and Characteristics of System Service Use by Serious Adolescent Offenders, Arizona and Pennsylvania, 2000-2010
description: Youths 14-19 years of age from the juvenile and adult court systems in Maricopa County (Phoenix), Arizona, and Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania from November 2000 to April 2003. Smallest Geographic Unit: None
description: record abstracts; computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI)These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigators if further information is needed.More information about this study is available on the Pathways to Desistance Web site.