School behavioral profiles of arrested versus nonarrested adolescents

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
In this study, we investigated fifth‐grade social behavioral profiles of arrested versus nonarrested adolescent boys. We assessed the ability of discrete measures of social‐behavioral adjustment (teacher ratings of social skills, direct observations of negative‐aggressive social behavior) to classify correctly the arrest status of 75 boys over a 3‐year period (grades 5 to 7). Using a discriminant function analysis procedure, we correctly classified 75% of the subsequently arrested subjects based on selected measures of their fifth‐grade adjustment. Twenty‐four of the 75 boys were arrested during the Grade 5 to 7 period, as determined by police contacts and court records. We profiled boys receiving extreme discriminant scores representing four predicted groups on all the fifth‐grade measures recorded: (a) boys who the procedure predicted would be arrested and who were arrested, (b) boys who the procedure predicted would not be arrested and who were not, (c) boys who the procedure predicted would be arrested but who were not, and (d) boys who the procedure predicted would not be arrested but who were. We discuss results with regard to screening and intervention implications.