Date of Award

9-2-2011

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Counseling Psychology & Community Services

First Advisor

Cindy L. Juntunen

Abstract

Although the current literature provides a limited description of court-involved adolescent females, research that examines their unique characteristics is scarce and fails to adequately address the psychological, developmental, and interpersonal needs of these young women (Calhoun, Jurgens, & Chen, 1993; Girls Study Group, 2008). Consequently, the purpose of the current study was twofold. First, the study sought to understand court-involved adolescents' experiences with mental illness and maternal, paternal, and teacher rejection. Second, the study sought to examine whether the assumptions of the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Theory (PARTheory) could be applied to understand predictors and correlates of social and emotional functioning among court-involved adolescent females. It was hypothesized that (a) court-involved adolescent females would experience higher rates of psychological disorders than the general youth population; (b) court-involved adolescent females would report low levels of parental and teacher acceptance; and (c) relationships between court-involved adolescent females and potentially influential adults (i.e., parents and teachers) would be directly related to adolescent psychosocial functioning (i.e., prosocial beliefs, internalizing disorders, externalizing disorders, social problems, and involvement with delinquent peers).Participants were 35 court-involved adolescents receiving services through a juvenile court system in the upper Midwestern United States and their parents (N=35). Adolescent participants completed measures assessing involvement in the legal system; socio-emotional functioning; prosocial beliefs; parental and teacher acceptance-rejection; and association with deviant peers. Parent/guardian participants completed measures assessing their child's socio-emotional functioning. Findings suggest that court-involved adolescent females experience significantly more psychological distress than adolescents in the general population. They also experience low levels of acceptance from parents and teachers. Additionally, adolescents who felt rejected by their teachers experienced higher levels of psychological distress and social problems than adolescents who felt accepted and supported. Neither paternal nor maternal rejection were directly related to adolescent psychological distress and social problems, but maternal rejection may have influenced the relationships with teachers. Given these findings, future research should explore the (a) potential mediating effect of maternal rejection on teacher rejection and adolescent psycho-social functioning; and (b) longitudinal impact of parental and teacher acceptance-rejection on the development of psychological distress and involvement in illegal activities among girls.

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