NCJ Number
206191
Date Published
October 2003
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This paper outlines a strategy for extending research commissioned by the Criminology Research Council (CRC) on the factors that may promote resilience to offending in Aboriginal youth.
Abstract
Little is known about the risk and protective factors to offending behavior for Aboriginal youth. This paper outlines a suggested research agenda for furthering the knowledge about risk and protective factors for Aboriginal youth. Previous research supported by the CRC has used an eco-systems perspective to explore factors that operate at a range of levels upon youth to impact their resilience or vulnerability to crime. Combining this eco-systems approach, which focuses on individual level factors as pathways to offending, with a broader developmental perspective would be a useful extension of this research. Approaching crime prevention from a developmental perspective is crucial for two reasons: (1) the factors that predict offending are not the same as others that predict the onset of offending and (2) when the finding of a weak risk factor is generally ignored, no further effort is invested in exploring this factor. The authors argue that among Aboriginal youth, a myriad of weak risk factors have been identified which should not be ignored, but explored to the fullest extent. A developmental research agenda is also useful because it considers both proximal and distal factors. For Aboriginal youth, proximal factors may include parenting skills and level of social support; distal factors include socio-economic inequality and land ownership issues. In light of these issues, the proposed research framework should be based on: (1) an eco-systems approach that takes a broad view of risk and protective factors; (2) a developmental prevention approach that looks beyond individual levels factors to communities as a whole; and (3) a lifespan perspective that considers risk and resilience factors across the lifecycle, rather than limiting study to onset of criminal behavior. Priority should be given to research that addresses two broad questions: (1) how do community characteristics impact the risk and protective profiles of individuals; and (2) how do individual and family characteristics impact the risk and protective profiles of the communities? Specific research questions addressing these broad concerns are outlined. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches are indicated; there is a strong need for sound interpretative research that can be complemented by quantitative work. Figure, references