The Youth Initiated Mentoring Approach for Juvenile Delinquents

Summary

Natural or informal mentorship could potentially be considered effective in preventing or reducing delinquent behaviour. In the Youth Initiated Mentoring (YIM) approach, youths are supported by professionals in identifying and nominating a natural mentor within their own social network. The approach focuses on strengthening these naturally existing relationships with non-parental adults. Until now, little (quasi-)experimental research is conducted on the YIM approach. In the Netherlands, juvenile offenders between 12-18 years are referred to Halt, where they are required to follow a tailored intervention with the aim of preventing reoffending and increasing youths' future opportunities. Since 2019, the YIM approach is implemented as part of the Halt-intervention. The researchers will examine whether the YIM approach is an effective addition to the Halt-intervention. More specifically, whether it contributes to (1) strengthening youths' resilience, (2) decreasing or halting the need for formal support, and (3) decreasing or halting the development of juvenile delinquency.

This quasi-experimental trial aims to include 300 youths referred to Halt. Youths will be non-randomly allocated to either a YIM trained Halt professional (N = 31), or a Halt professional not trained in the YIM approach (N = 31). These professionals will implement the Halt-plus-YIM-condition (N =150) or the care-as-usual Halt-condition (N = 150), respectively. Random allocation of youth cases to Halt professionals was not possible because Halt's distribution office considers individuals' workload. Despite non-random allocation, conditions will be comparable in terms of (1) the professionals who deliver the intervention (i.e., same educational level and from the same region), and (2) case type and severity (i.e., allocation is independent of type of offense and its severity as well as the evaluation of number of risk factors present in youth). Researchers will perform a multi-informant measurement strategy. Youths are our primary informants, but parents of youths are also approached to participate. Youth and parent questionnaires related to several youth and family outcomes will be administered at baseline, 100 days after baseline (post-test), and nine months after baseline (follow-up). Researchers will also collect information registered by Halt professionals in Halt's registration system. Read detailed description for more information on outcomes.

Conditions

• Juvenile Delinquency
• Youth Initiated Mentoring (YIM) Approach

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Halt-intervention

The main aim of the Halt-intervention is to reduce the risk for reoffending. Seven sub-goals are implemented to work towards this main aim: (1) youths gain insight in (the consequences of) their behaviour; (2) strengthening youths' social skills; (3) youths are able take responsibility for the consequences of their behaviour; (4) victim-offender reconciliation; (5) youths are able to access support from own social network and, if necessary, access to formal support; (6) parents gain insight their child's behaviour; and (7) if youths complete the intervention, they do not receive a registration on their criminal record. With a compulsory screening and risk assessment at the start of the intervention, it is determined which sub-goals fit the adolescents' needs. The intervention gives Halt professionals the opportunity to identify adolescents (and families) in vulnerable circumstances and to guide them towards formal support, like youth care organisations or addiction treatment centres.

BEHAVIORAL

Youth Initiated Mentoring (YIM) approach

The YIM approach focuses on strengthening naturally existing relationships between youth and non-parental adults within their own social network (Van Dam \& Schwartz, 2020). It stems from the idea "it takes a village to raise a child (Educational Civil Society)", which implies that other adults are co-responsible for the development of youth in their environment (Bowers et al., 2015). The YIM approach can be implemented in a formal context; expertise from the own social network is then combined with expertise from professionals (Van Dam \& Verhulst, 2018). Professionals support youth in identifying and positioning a "YIM" as part of a broader intervention (Van Dam \& Schwartz, 2020). Youths are responsible for asking their YIM and once agreed upon, the YIM is "positioned". The YIM offers advice/support and plays a role during the intervention followed by the youth. Youth, parents, YIMs and professionals work together to set expectations and goals for the engagement of the YIM.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• ZonMw: The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development

  collaborator OTHER

• YIM Foundation Netherlands (JIMwerkt.nl)

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Halt (Halt.nl)

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• University of Amsterdam

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Levi Van Dam, Dr. · University of Amsterdam

• Geertjan J Overbeek, Prof. Dr. · University of Amsterdam

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

12 Years

Max Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-09-13

Primary Completion

2024-02-29

Completion

2024-08-31

Countries

• Netherlands

Study Locations