Youth offending in military-connected children

Abstract: Using an ecological framework, we explore individual, familial, and community factors associated with offending in civilian children; we will also discuss how these factors may relate to military-connected children.5,6 Further, risk and protective factors may vary by region, and the degree to which research in one context applies more broadly is unclear. Therefore, similarities and differences in risk profiles between the United States and the United Kingdom will be highlighted, as the majority of large-scale research investigating youth offending, as well as research with military families, has been conducted in these contexts. It is important to stress that individual, familial, and community factors do not occur in isolation, and many of the risk and protective factors described are interrelated. Moreover, the risk/protective factors described in the present article are not an exhaustive list, which would be beyond the scope of this review. The present examination of youth offending in military-connected children is especially timely, as recent reviews of Youth Justice Services in England and Wales, Australia, and the U.S. have not directly considered youth offending of children in military families, and the potential support needs of this population.