Oral language competence in incarcerated young offenders: Links with offending severity

Abstract

Previous research in Australia and overseas has shown that young offenders serving community-based orders are at high-risk for undetected but clinically significant oral language difficulties. However, this phenomenon has received little attention in incarcerated samples, and links with offending severity, mental health, and other markers of early risk have not previously been systemically examined. A cross-sectional examination of 100 young offenders (mean age 19.03 years) completing custodial sentences in Victoria, Australia was conducted. A range of standardized oral language, IQ, mental health, and offending severity measures was employed. Forty-six per cent of participants were classified as language impaired (LI), and these were compared with the non-LI sub-group on background and offending variables. When the sub-group with high scores on a measure of offending severity was compared with those with (relatively) lower offending scores, significant differences on a range of language measures were identified. A range of early risk indicators (such as placement in Out of Home Care) was also examined with respect to language impairment in this high-risk group. Results are discussed with respect to policy and practice pertaining to early intervention for vulnerable children, and implications for service delivery within the justice system. In particular, emphasis is placed on the need to closely examine the oral language skills of children who struggle with the transition to literacy and then display behavioural difficulties in the classroom. Once a young person is engaged with youth justice services, a high index of suspicion should be maintained with respect to their oral language skills; for example, in relation to forensic interviewing and the ability to benefit from verbally mediated interventions.

Keywords:

• Young offenders
• oral language competence
• developmental risks

Acknowledgements

Ms Rita Cauchi, Research Assistant is thanked for her invaluable assistance in recruiting participants and conducting the assessments described here. Thanks are also extended to the Department of Human Services staff and clients who generously supported the project.

This study was funded by Criminology Research Council Grant 10/08-09. The views expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Council.

Notes

1 Reading Recovery is a school-based intervention aimed at those children whose reading skills at the end of the first year of school place them at the lowest level of performance in their class. It is delivered via 1:130-minute interventions and focuses on core skills such as letter identification, word knowledge, and phonemic awareness. It is used in all Australian states and territories as well as in countries such as New Zealand, Canada, the UK, and the US.

2 Young people from ATSI backgrounds are over-represented in youth justice settings in Australia (Australian Institute of Health & Welfare, 2010), although this is less evident in Victoria (where this study was conducted) due to the uneven geographical representation of people from ATSI backgrounds in Australia.

3 The term “not high” is used in preference to “low”, because it is being used in a relative, rather than an absolute sense within a skewed sample.