Key Research Priorities
There are many gaps in current knowledge about the development of child delinquency, the risk and protective factors associated with it, and appropriate prevention/intervention methods. In addition to reanalysis of existing data and collection of additional data in ongoing studies, new research projects that focus specifically on child delinquents are needed. This is especially true for very serious young offenders, who represent a small group about which little systematic knowledge has been gathered. The Study Group recommends that additional research should focus on the following areas:
- Child delinquent development and epidemiology, based on self-reports and official records of offending.
- The relation between child delinquency and co-occurring problem behaviors.
- Escalation from child delinquency to serious and violent offending.
- Risk and protective factors that influence continuity and escalation in the severity of delinquency after its childhood onset.
- Longitudinal studies to investigate
questions about development, risk
and protective factors, and risk
assessment.
- The major service agencies' methods for dealing with child delinquents.
- Cost-benefit analyses of prevention/intervention programs.
- Studies with experimental and control groups and random assignment of participants to investigate prevention/intervention strategies.
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