Abstract
The general aim of the present dissertation is to get more insight in the contribution of personality traits and post release environmental risk and protective factors on juvenile criminal recidivism. One year after their release from a juvenile detention centre, a sample of 60 adolescent male offenders filled out a personality questionnaire and was interviewed on their living circumstances. Personality was mainly studied from the perspective of Eysencks' PEN-model. Occurrence and severity of recidivism were measured by self-report and official criminal records. Results revealed that based on official criminal records, approximately 60% of the ex-prisoners became a recidivist and based on self-reported delinquent behaviour, 75% of the ex-prisoners became a recidivist. Results regarding relations between personality dimensions and measures of recidivism revealed that especially Psychoticism is a strong predictor for self-reported recidivism. With regard to risk and protective factors it was found that drugs- and alcohol use, attitude toward delinquent behaviour, parental support and debts were strong predictors for both occurrence and severity of recidivism. Deviant peers were only related to severity of recidivism. Cluster analyses on combined effects of personality and risk and protective factors revealed that highest recidivism rates were found in a type with a high amount of risk factors, a low amount of protective factors and high scores on Psychoticism. The least severe recidivists were characterized by low amounts of risk, high amounts of protective factors and low scores on Psychoticism and Neuroticism. For detention centres or youth care on juvenile delinquents the results of this study indicate that interventions must aim at decreasing the total number of risk factors and strengthen the protective factors. Also efforts must be made to intensify aftercare in the post release situation because it can be regarded as a continued intervention aimed at reducing the number of risk factors and increasing the number of protective factors after the adolescents' actual re-entry in the community.
