NCJ Number
210379
Journal
Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice Volume: 3 Issue: 3 Dated: July 2005 Pages: 253-264
Date Published
July 2005
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study examined the potential utility of the Juvenile Offender Parent Questionnaire (JOPQ), which is designed to measure parental constructs related to child behavioral problems and delinquency.
Abstract
The JOPQ measures the level of a parent's exasperation with a child's behavior; degree of mistrust of the juvenile justice system; self-perception of ability to manage the child; ability to monitor the child in and outside the home; fear of the child; and degree to which the child has been exposed to violence in the home and community, including television, movies, and computer and video games. The 87 (83 percent women and 17 percent men) study participants were parents or guardians of juveniles between the ages of 14 to 17. Of this sample, 45 percent reported having a problem with a child at home, and 44 percent reported a child having a problem at school. Forty percent of the adolescents of the parents met criteria for oppositional defiant and/or conduct disorder. For each JOPQ completed, the child's interaction with the juvenile court was examined for 12 months following adjudication and the parent's/guardian's completion of the JOPQ. Following a designation of "no recidivism" or "recidivism" and a determination regarding the severity of the offense, JOPQ profiles were sorted by the child's behavioral status. If the JOPQ profiles were found to differentiate among subsequent offender groups, the instrument's utility would be supported. "Recidivism" was defined as "any adjudicated criminal offense that occurred after the initial adjudication of a prior criminal offense." The JOPQ was effective in linking parental scores on various subscales to recidivism and to types of offenses. The use of the JOPQ as an instrument to assess the needs of parents and the prevention of a child's recidivism is supported. 1 table, 1 figure, and 25 references