Please enter your username and password to access the form generator

Mission and goals of the Canadian Research Chair on adolescent males and females delinquency. Professor Nadine Lanctôt is the Chair holder.

This Canada Research Chair on Adolescent Males and Females Delinquency wants to further the current state of knowledge on the onset, development and consequences of delinquent behaviors in adolescent females, compared with adolescent males. This research program is innovative since very few studies have been conducted to assess whether delinquent females are faced with specific problems that compromise their healthy development as adults. The leading risk factors that might explain why the adaptation problems of delinquent females persist into adulthood and the solutions that might effectively reduce these problems have yet to be demonstrated.

The research program includes three axes:

1) The developmental trajectories from adolescence to adulthood

The first objective is to gain a better understanding of how delinquent behaviors in females can bring about a dynamic process, which impacts on the quality of their personal and social functioning from adolescence through adulthood. The second objective is to assess as how males and females differ in this respect.

2) The differential impact of risk and protective factors across genders

The objective is to further the knowledge on the risk and protective factors of delinquency across the life course, in order to identify the ones that are common to males and females, and the ones that are gender-specific.

3) Evaluation of programs designed for adolescent females receiving social or judicial services

The objective is to determine the most promising programs intended to prevent or reduce female delinquency and its negative adult outcomes. A cognitive-behavioral program will be evaluated.

Girls who receive social or judicial services are a priority in terms of social intervention. Their prognosis, with respect to well-being and quality of life in adulthood, is alarmingly poor. The proposed research program will contribute to rethink and adjust interventions designed for this specific clientele. By identifying the principal difficulties they face in adulthood, as well as the risk factors associated with these difficulties, rehabilitation programs will be able to be more proactive in dealing with these specific issues.