ABSTRACT
Crossover children's entry and entrenchment in the criminal justice system reflects the convergence of individual, environmental, and systemic risks. Factors associated with more serious offending among crossover youth are explored in this chapter. A “higher risk” offending profile is observed among those crossover children who experience greater and more persistent maltreatment, as well as those facing emotional and behavioural regulation challenges arising from their experiences of complex trauma, attachment insecurity, neurodisability, or (more often) a combination of these. While the high-risk offending profile of some crossover children partially explains their over-representation in youth justice systems, the systemic disadvantage faced by this group in their criminal justice system interactions also contributes substantially to these outcomes. Systemic disadvantage results in crossover children's disproportionate exposure to criminogenic environments compared to children residing with family or a responsive caregiver, and is coupled with a lack of youth justice system responsivity to the unique needs of this group.
