An Archival Descriptive Study: Risk and Protective Factors of Recidivism for Youth with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

A majority (60%) of youth with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will come into contact with law at some point in their lives (Institute for Health Economics, 2013). The reasons for this troubling statistic are hypothesized to be a result of the varying cognitive, social, and behavioural problems that are present in individuals who experienced pre-natal alcohol exposure (Chartrand & Forbes-Chilibeck, 2003). The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) in Canada proposes that a balance must be struck between maintaining public safety while strongly emphasizing rehabilitative interventions as opposed to imprisonment (Justice Department of Canada, 2000). In order to implement effective rehabilitative interventions, it is critical to identify what the relevant needs/risks and circumstances of FASD youth are. The current archival descriptive study examined the relevant risk factors for 37 youth with FASD who received a Section 34 assessment in the Edmonton and surrounding area between 2010 and 2015. The Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) was utilized in order identify relevant risk and protective factors. It was found that the majority of youth not only rated high on several of the risk factors but were also found to have almost no protective factors. Implications of this finding and future research directions are discussed.