Date of Conferral

8-17-2026

Date of Award

August 2026

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Social Work

Advisor

Scott Hershberger

Abstract

Despite attempts to alleviate the issues of recidivism in juveniles, this issue continues to have a major impact on young adults suffering from mental health challenges. Criminal justice involvement continues to present significant challenges for individuals with behavioral health disorders, underscoring the need to identify factors associated with arrest to inform prevention and intervention efforts. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the relationship between recidivism and the age of first arrest, gender, and psychiatric diagnosis for youths in an adult facility. The current study used data from the Northwestern Juvenile Project, with a sample size of N=1829. Guided by host-provocation theory, a logistic binary regression model was used to examine the association between recidivism and demographic variables. Variables included psychiatric diagnoses, substance abuse variables, and behavioral indicators. Results indicated that past 12-month antisocial personality disorder with impairment was the only statistically significant predictor of arrest in the past 12 months. Demographic characteristics, including age at first arrest and gender, were not statistically significant within the same model. These findings suggest that behavioral characteristics associated with antisocial personality disorder may be more strongly associated with arrest than the other variables included in the analysis. The findings have implications for social work and human services practice by supporting comprehensive behavioral health assessments and early identification of antisocial behavioral patterns. Positive social change implications include strengthening prevention strategies and coordinating behavioral health services for individuals at risk of arrest.

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