Latino youth in the juvenile drug court of orange county, California

Henry F. Fradella, Ryan G. Fischer, Christine Hagan Kleinpeter, Jeffrey J. Koob

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study examines the factors associated with successful completion of the Orange County Juvenile Drug Court (OCJDC) for 232 (164 male and 68 female) adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 years. No significant associations were found between graduation status and participants' age, most serious prior offense, entry offense, primary drug of choice, or secondary drug of choice. While bivariate analyses revealed that Latino ethnicity (especially for females whose parents' primary language was Spanish) and a lack of family involvement in the drug court programs were both negatively associated with successful program completion, these variables were not significantly associated with the likelihood of graduation in logistic regression models predictive of successful program completion. Rather, a shorter history of substance abuse, a history of prior juvenile offenses, and the presence of co-occurring psychiatric disorders all predicted poor completion rates from the OCJDC program, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or levels of family participation. Implications for policy and practices are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)271-292
Number of pages22
JournalJournal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice
Volume7
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2009
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Adolescent substance abuse
  • Juvenile drug court
  • Juvenile probation
  • Latino youth offenders

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Anthropology
  • Law

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