| Juveniles are increasingly coming to the attention of the juvenile justice system for different types of offenses. This study is designed to evaluate the relevant characteristics associated with different offense types as a means of improving treatment and intervention strategies within the population of juvenile offenders. The sample consisted of 132 male and female juvenile participants referred by the Juvenile Court of San Bernardino County, California for psychological evaluations. The independent variables included age, gender, race or ethnicity, history of alcohol and/or substance use, academic achievement, and family living environment as potential predictors of offense type. To determine whether the independent variables predict offense type, three binary logistic regressions were conducted. The first was designed to predict non-violent versus violent offenses, the second was designed to predict violent versus sexual offenses, and the third was designed to predict non-violent versus sexual offenses. The results indicated that none of the predictors were significant in differentiating between non-violent and violent offenders. Female and male juvenile offenders differed with regard to offense type; males committing more sex offenses than non-violent or violent offenses. African American juveniles were less likely to commit sex offenses than non-violent offenses. A trend emerged between history of alcohol and/or substance use and offense type; sex offenders were less likely to endorse a history of alcohol and/or substance use than non-violent offenders. |
