The Roles of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Mental Health in Predicting Truancy Recidivism
| Author | Elena L. Grigorenko,Ajit Gopalakrishnan,Alexandra M. Slaughter,Judy H. Hong,Sascha Hein,Catherine Foley Geib |
| Date | 01 June 2020 |
| Published date | 01 June 2020 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0093854820910185 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
research-article2020
The Roles of Race, eThniciTy, GendeR,
and MenTal healTh in PRedicTinG
TRuancy RecidivisM
JUDy H. HONg*
University of Houston
SASCHA HEIN*
University of Houston
Freie Universität Berlin
ALExANDRA M. SLAUgHTER
University of Houston
CATHERINE FOLEy gEIB
Connecticut Judicial Branch, Court Support Services Division
AJIT gOPALAkRISHNAN
Connecticut State Department of Education
ELENA L. gRIgORENkO
University of Houston
Baylor College of Medicine
This study aims to (a) describe demographic and mental health (MH) differences between truant juvenile justice–involved
youth (JJy) and nontruant JJy; (b) classify MH needs of truant JJy; and (c) investigate if the interactions between race,
ethnicity, gender, and MH needs predict truancy recidivism. Participants were 10,603 truant JJy (55.4% male; non-Hispanic
White, 46.8%; 16.2% with a history of pretrial detention). Of these participants, 2,167 with MH data were included in latent
profile analyses and recidivism analyses. Hispanic youth and female youth were more likely to be truant. Non-Hispanic White
JJy had a higher likelihood of a repeated truancy charge. Four MH classes emerged: elevated Alcohol/Drug Use (7.9%),
elevated Angry–Irritable and Depressed–Anxious symptoms (19.5%), elevated Suicide Ideation (7.1%), and low MH needs
(65.5%). Race, ethnicity, gender, and MH needs are informative as potential factors contributing to truancy. These factors
should be examined in future studies that compare truant with nontruant non-JJy.
Keywords: truancy; juvenile justice; latent profile analysis; recidivism
auThoRs’ noTe: This project was supported by Award No. 2013-JF-FX-0018 (PI: E.L.G.), awarded by
the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, as well as by the Yale
School of Medicine (Brown-Coxe fellowship to S.H.), by Award No. R305H140050 (PI: E.L.G.), awarded by
the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, and by Award No. P20 HD091005 (PI:
E.L.G.), awarded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
(NICHD). The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those
of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice, the Department of
Education, or the NICHD. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Elena L.
Grigorenko, University of Houston, Health 1, Houston, TX 77204; e-mail: elena.grigorenko@times.uh.edu.
*These authors contributed equally to this work.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2020, Vol. 47, No. 6, June 2020, 649 –667.
DOI: 10.1177/0093854820910185
ht
ps:/
doi.
rg
Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions
© 2020 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology
649
650 CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR
Truancy is considered a status offense—a law violation due to the person’s status as a
minor (Development Services group, 2010). Truancy laws differ by state, but, in gen-
eral, truancy refers to unexcused, illegal school absences known or unknown to parents,
and fall under the umbrella of absenteeism (kearney, 2008; Mallett, 2016). Absenteeism
covers both unexcused, illegal school absences unknown to parents and legal school
absences known to parents, such as excused absences due to illness or injury (kearney,
2008). Patterns of repeated truancy can differ according to group factors such as racial and
ethnic background, gender (Maynard et al., 2017), and to person factors such as mental
health (MH; Berg, 1992; Ek & Eriksson, 2013) and academic achievement indicators
(Ahmad & Miller, 2015). Truancy is a risk factor for youth behavior problems, delin-
quency, as well as criminality in adulthood (Henry et al., 2012; katsiyannis et al., 2013;
Monahan et al., 2014). The rate of truancy has increased for nearly all age groups except
for 13- to 15-year-olds since the mid-1990s (Mallett, 2016); one national study established
the rate of truancy in the last 30 days for youth age 12 to 17 to be as high as 11% (Vaughn
et al., 2013). The goal of this study is to examine the prevalence of truancy in a sample of
juvenile justice–involved youth (JJy). Our study sample is a subset of a longitudinal, state-
wide dataset from Connecticut stratified by race, ethnicity, gender, and MH needs.
Specifically, we sought to determine the unique and combined contributions of racial and
ethnic background, gender, and MH needs to truancy rates of JJy.
Race, eThniciTy, and TRuancy
Absenteeism (i.e., unexcused and excused school absence) is particularly high among
populations of youth of color (Ahmad & Miller, 2015). A 2010 National Center for Education
study of elementary, middle, and high schools of chronic absenteeism (i.e., at least 15 days
of absences in the past year) by racial and ethnic background showed that American Indian
students showed the highest rate of absenteeism (26%), followed by non-Hispanic Black
(20.5%), Hispanic (17%), and non-Hispanic White (14.5%) students (U.S. Department of
Education, 2010). Another study, which utilized a nationally representative dataset of 12- to
17-year-old students, also found that students of color have higher monthly truancy rates
than White students (13.5% Hispanic, 11.2% African American, and 10.4% non-Hispanic
White students reported truancy; Maynard et al., 2017). For Hispanic youth who were high-
level skippers (4+ days of skipping in the last 30 days) specifically, Vaughn and colleagues
(2013) found these youth to be 1.95 times more likely to be truant than their White counter-
parts. Often school absences are associated with lower socioeconomic status, which con-
founds the estimation of absenteeism rates for students of color (Nolan et al., 2013).
Moreover, students from low-income homes are also more likely to have mental and physi-
cal health issues, unstable family lives, and community safety concerns leading to school
absences (gee & krausen, 2015). Despite research documenting racial and ethnic differ-
ences for truancy, the association between gender and truancy is less clear, but worth con-
sidering given wide differences in delinquency rates for boys and girls (Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention [OJJDP], 2017).
GendeR and TRuancy
There is no consensus on gender differences for the likelihood of truancy. Some sources
make general statements that boys are more likely to be truant than girls (e.g., Maynard
Hong et al. / MENTAL HEALTH AND TRUANCy 651
et al., 2012), who reported that boys are almost twice as likely to be identified as chronic
skipper compared with girls, whereas other sources like the U.S. Department of Education
(2016) reported similar rates across genders (13.6% of boys, 13.8% of girls). Although
accurate truancy rates may be difficult to gauge given that parents are often unaware of the
act, boys were consistently charged with truancy at a higher rate than girls (Hockenberry &
Puzzanchera, 2014). The OJJDP reports that, of petitioned truancy cases (cases formally
referred to a court), 55% involve boys compared with 45% for girls (Hockenberry &
Puzzanchera, 2017).
Few surveys have considered race, ethnicity, and gender jointly, when examining truancy
rates. Shute and Cooper (2014) reported that, among Caucasian, Hispanic, African American,
Asian, Native American, Pacific Islander, and students of “other” racial/ethnic backgrounds,
Hispanic boys reported the highest incidents of truancy (80.7% truant at least once in the
last 2 weeks), followed by Native American boys (78.9%), then African American boys
(74.1%), which is remarkably high compared with the prevalence estimates reported above.
Most studies, however, do not report differences in rates of truancy among boys and girls of
different racial and ethnic backgrounds, leaving an apparent gap in the literature. As we
have seen, truant youth are not a homogeneous group and, to reduce truancy rates, the target
group must first be more precisely defined and characterized.
Mh and TRuancy
Many truant youth have MH needs, defined as a need for services resulting from a mental
disorder to improve psychological wellness (Sartorius, 2015). One systematic review esti-
mated that 90% of youth age 12 to 18 who refuse to attend school (this includes “truancy”
where parents are unaware of absenteeism and “school refusal” where parents are aware)
have some form of psychiatric problems (Ek & Eriksson, 2013). In a National Survey on
Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) of adolescents across the United States, “high-level school
skippers” (i.e., defined in this study as youth who skipped school four or more times in the
past 30 days) were nearly three times more likely to report depression and 2.5 times more
likely to report anxiety than nontruant youth. In other large-scale studies, skipping school
has been associated with a pattern of externalizing behaviors, less involvement from par-
ents, and worse academic performance (Vaughn et al., 2013). There may likely be various
presentations of MH needs and manifestations that all lead to increased truancy. Improved
understanding of this link will allow school officials and juvenile justice staff to recognize
youth at risk for truant behavior.
youth with MH needs often underperform academically, leading to negative feelings
about school, which may lead to truancy...
To continue reading
Request your trial