Conditional Probability of Challenging Behavior in a Juvenile Justice Facility: Analysis by Days of Week and Time of Day

ABSTRACT

In the United States, overhalf a million delinquency cases are opened annually. Of those cases, an estimated 26% involve detention in some manner. Adolescents who have been adjudicated delinquent are detained based on their display of illegal behavior. This repertoire, which includes illegal behavior, may give rise to challenging behavior while residing in the detention facility. Moreover, challenging behavior displayed by adolescents in detention facilities often gives rise to severe consequences including physical or psychological harm, facility instability, increased duration of detention, and parole denial. The present study is a descriptive assessment of behavioral data collected by dormitory staff at a juvenile residential treatment facility. We used conditional probabilities and statistical analyses to identify conditional events that predict increased likelihood of challenging behavior (e.g. days of the week, time of day). The findings may allow clinicians and administrators within the facility to allocate resources strategically to prevent and respond to challenging behavior effectively. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Practice Implications

• Challenging behavior within juvenile residential facilities is a ubiquitous problem for administrators.

• Problem behavior by one resident can have dynamic effects on other residents and staff members.

• Conditional probabilities can assist administrators in making decisions about intervention resources for staff members and residents of juvenile facilities.

KEYWORDS:

• Conditional probabilities
• descriptive assessment
• justice-involved youth
• juvenile residential facilities

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, or publication of this article.

Data Sharing

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Consent was obtained from the Alabama Department of Youth Services.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/0886571X.2023.2241819

Notes

1. Terms used in reporting of racial identities were designated by the facility.

2. Although this process can be used for assessing behavior for individual residents, the purpose of this study was to focus on challenging behavior at the level of dormitories.

3. Prior to COVID, the modal stay for a resident was about 10 months. At the time of this study, the modal stay was about 18 months.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Alabama Department of Youth Services [NA].