ethnicity, gender, and global risk indicators in the lives of status offenders coming to the attention of the juvenile court

Abstract: The present study examined the risks and needs of status offenders in comparison to an at-large juvenile court sample, with specific attention paid to factors related to gender and ethnicity. Status offenders displayed significantly higher risk scores than the comparison sam-ple in domains associated with both family and parenting concerns and educational concerns. In addition, females displayed higher risk levels than males and White youth displayed signifi-cantly higher risk levels than minority youth across a wide variety of risk domains. Further analyses were conducted regarding the participation of African American males and females in a program designed as an alternative to detention. For both groups, successful program completion was accompanied by little or no further court involvement, whereas failure to com-plete the program was related to a variety of negative outcomes. However, African American females and males successfully completing program requirements displayed different risks and needs at the outset of their participation