Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Of
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__________________________________ Oral Language Skills and Related Risk Factors for Antisocial Behaviour in Youth Offenders __________________________________ Stavroola A. S. Anderson A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Psychology Faculty of Science The University of Sydney 2020 1 STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ___________________________________________________________________________ This is to certify that to the best of my knowledge the content of this thesis is my own work. This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or other purposes. I certify that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work and that all the assistance received in preparing this thesis and sources have been acknowledged. Stavroola Anderson 31/12/2019 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ___________________________________________________________________________ It seemed like a good idea at the time. However, unlike many of my other brilliant ideas, this one involved a lot of other people and, unforeseeably, required some of them to manoeuvre with me through a series of challenging life events. My enduring respect and gratitude go to my primary supervisor, Associate Professor David Hawes, who was like a blanket of calm, a beacon of light and a ball of positivity through the entire process. His enthusiasm was shared by my associate supervisor, Professor Pamela Snow (La Trobe University), who continually provided insightful advice and encouragement, even when circumstances were far from ideal for a person with her level of responsibilities. I was also fortunate to be conducting my research in the School of Psychology. All of the staff and students I have encountered have endeavoured to support and encourage me to achieve the goal of completing this research. Due to the nature of my research, other organisations also were integral to success. I thank Eric Heller, Monique Mathis and Victoria Perry from the Research and Information Unit of Youth Justice NSW for their consistent advice and support. I also extend my thanks to all of the Youth Justice NSW frontline staff who assisted in coordinating data collection. Facilitation of data collection was similarly provided by staff at five secondary schools. I thank those individual staff, as well the principals of those schools and the Department of Education NSW for their cooperation with this research. Of course, had it not been for the federal Department of Education who, via the University of Sydney, provided me with financial support through the Research Training Program scheme, this project would never have advanced from idea to implementation stage. A number of organisations and individuals provided me with indirect assistance for this project. I acknowledge the Australasian Corrections Education Association, the Network of 3 Australian Educators in Juvenile Justice, and the Brisbane Youth Education and Training Centre for first inspiring me, then continually encouraging me to undertake this research. I also acknowledge the individuals who share my vision for supporting highly vulnerable members of society, especially Leda Barnett, Louise Dornan, Neil Lloyd, Andrea Hayes and Nicola Vrachnas. Thank you also to Leda (clinical psychologist), Louise (secondary teacher) and Nicola (secondary teacher) for proof reading sections of this thesis, as well as Neil (deputy principal) and Michael Unwin (law librarian) for proof reading almost the entire thesis. Their task was to check for evidence of my early educational experiences during a time when direct instruction in grammar was unfashionable. The bonus was they each provided me with the great compliment of engaging with my message. Three other groups of people must also be acknowledged. My health support team – John Baffsky, Jillian Ball, Wendy Bryant, Caroline Harley, Rosalie Wilcox and Jarrat Wood, had to be innovative with their professional expertise to support the functioning necessary for me to complete this project. My parents, Ian and Mary Anderson, constantly and unquestioningly encouraged me to dedicate my best efforts to this project. If it hadn’t been for their financial support, this research would not have included participants from regional areas or, in truth, been completed at all. This thesis is a testament to their firm beliefs in social justice and the importance of education and research for both individuals and society. Finally, but most importantly, I thank the young people I have worked with. Not only those who gave their time to participate in this research, but also those who inspired me to pursue this area of investigation. It is from one of these young people that I received what I consider to be one of the greatest compliments this project has ever inspired. After explaining the key concepts to him, he informed me that he considered my idea to not resemble bovine excrement. 4 AUTHORSHIP ATTRIBUTION STATEMENT ___________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 2 of this thesis has been published as: Anderson, S. A. S., Hawes, D. J., & Snow, P. C. (2016). Language impairments among youth offenders: A systematic review. Children and Youth Services Review, 65, 195-203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.04.004 I designed procedures for this systematic review, conducted all database searches and study analyses and wrote the drafts of the manuscript. Stavroola Anderson 31/12/2019 As supervisor for the candidature upon which this thesis is based, I can confirm that the authorship attribution statement above is correct. David Hawes 31/12/2019 5 CONTENTS ___________________________________________________________________________ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... 3 LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................... 10 LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. 11 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................... 12 ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER 1 - GENERAL INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 16 1.1 Antisocial Behaviour in Children and Adolescents ........................................................ 16 1.2 The Risk Factor Paradigm and Antisocial Behaviour ..................................................... 19 1.3 Developmental Theories of Antisocial Behaviour .......................................................... 21 1.3.1 Pathways to Antisocial Behaviour ........................................................................ 22 1.3.2 Callous-Unemotional Traits and Antisocial Behaviour ......................................... 25 1.4 Oral Language Skills and Antisocial Behaviour ............................................................. 29 1.5 Overview of the Current Thesis ..................................................................................... 34 1.5.1 Rationale .............................................................................................................. 34 1.5.2 Overall Aim and Research Questions ................................................................... 36 CHAPTER 2 - SYSTEMATIC REVIEW ................................................................................. 37 2.1 Introduction................................................................................................................... 37 2.1.1 Definitions ........................................................................................................... 38 2.1.2 Developmental Perspectives on Language and Offending ..................................... 40 2.1.3 Key Questions for the Current Review ................................................................. 42 2.2 Method.......................................................................................................................... 43 2.3 Results .......................................................................................................................... 44 2.3.1 Evidence of Associations Between Oral Language Deficits and Youth Offending 44 2.3.2 Evaluation of Oral Language Deficit – Youth Offender Research ......................... 52 2.4 Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 56 2.4.1 Summary of Key Findings.................................................................................... 56 2.4.2 Implications of Key Findings ............................................................................... 56 2.4.3 Directions for Future Research ............................................................................. 59 2.4.4 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 61 2.5 Making the Link ............................................................................................................ 62 CHAPTER 3 - COMMON METHODS ................................................................................... 63 3.1 Ethical Considerations ................................................................................................... 63 3.2 Participants ..................................................................................................................