The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of curfew order on recidivism of juvenile probationers in case of controlling the influential variables of recidivism such as their personal, family, school and probation service factors. The subject...
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of curfew order on recidivism of juvenile probationers in case of controlling the influential variables of recidivism such as their personal, family, school and probation service factors. The subjects in this study were 1,934 juvenile probationers under the age of 19 who were put under probation in 2010 in probation offices across the nation. Out of them, 967 teens were selected by random sampling from among 5,186 probationers who committed another offense while being under probation, and the characteristics of the other 967 adolescents were similar to those of the recidivist group. The recidivist checklists drawn up by their probation officers were analyzed by a binary logistics regression analysis.
The major findings of the study were as follows:
Firs, as for the general characteristics of the juvenile probationers investigated, they were at the average age of 15.97. 42.4 percent dropped out of school, and 51.1 percent couldn't live with their real parents due to family dissolution. They started to commit a crime at the average age of 14.99, and their mean previous crime frequency was 2.18. 53.2 percent were under probation because of theft-related crimes, and 44.7 percent became recidivists by committing a theft-related crime again.
Second, when the recidivist group and non-recidivist group were compared, the recidivist group stated to commit a crime at a younger age, and their previous crime frequency was larger. They were from broken families such as single-parent families and were ever been abused by their parents. They had an experience to be expelled from school, and many were underachieving students. They had less experiences to participate in special programs provided by the probation offices.
Third, curfew order exerted a significant influence on their recidivism risk even after the influential factors involving personal, family, school and probation service factors were under control. When the control variables were additionally taken into account, the adolescents who weren't give the curfew order were 43.6% more likely to commit another offense than the others who were.
Finally, experiences of taking special programs were identified as the factor to have the largest impact on their recidivism, followed by expulsion from school, academic achievement, the presence or absence of the curfew order, experiences of being abused and the presence or absence of parents.
Given the findings of the study, what kind of intervention should be provided for juvenile probationers to stay away from committing another offense was discussed.
First, it's found that the curfew order exercised an influence on reducing the possibility of recidivism among the juvenile probationers. So future research efforts should be directed into determining how to make use of the curfew order in a more effective way.
Second, participation experiences in special programs were identified as the factor to have the greatest impact on curbing the recidivism of the juvenile probationers out of the multiple factors involving their personal factor, family factor, school factor, probation factor and curfew order. Therefore what kinds of programs could be most effective at preventing juvenile probationers from committing another offense should be investigated.
Third, the school factor of the teens was found to exert a larger influence on their recidivism than their family factor, which indicated that school social work plans should be implemented in a more efficient manner. As those who were ever dismissed from school were twofold more likely to commit another offense than the others who weren't, more extensive educational welfare should be pursued to prevent adolescents from being dismissed from school.
Finally, the juvenile probationers who committed more crimes, who were ever expelled from school, who lagged behind in academic achievement and whose families were broken were more likely to commit another offense, and adolescents who have those risk factors should be placed under stricter probation