Improved Educational Achievement as a Path to Desistance

New Dir Child Adolesc Dev. 2019 May;2019(165):111-135. doi: 10.1002/cad.20290. Epub 2019 Apr 26.

Abstract

In this article we present a summary of the literature on the associations between learning difficulties/disabilities and juvenile delinquency. This literature is almost a hundred years old, but, although reportedly demonstrating the low academic achievement-delinquency connection, contains numerous unanswered questions regarding the frequency, strength, direction, stability, and causality of these associations. We then use this literature to contextualize the research taking place at the Houston Learning Disabilities (LD) Hub, a member of the LD Centers and Hubs Network, supported by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). In doing so, we present our previous studies and our current research. We conclude by discussing a number of shortcomings in the literature, some-but far from all-of which we hope to address in our ongoing work.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Academic Success*
  • Adolescent
  • Humans
  • Juvenile Delinquency* / statistics & numerical data
  • Learning Disabilities* / epidemiology