DEVELOPMENT AND ASSESSMENT OF A CLASSIFICATION OF HIGH-RISK YOUTHS

Cluster analysis is applied to substance use and delinquency data coll ected in a longitudinal study of juvenile detainees to empirically der ive five groups of youths from information gathered at their initial i nterviews (time 1): alcohol/marijuana-hashish users, low-level delinqu ents, alcohol/ marijuana-hashish and cocaine-using nondelinquents, hig h delinquency, cocaine users, and heavy cocaine-using nondelinquents. The validity of the typology was supported by a variety of other initi al interview and follow-up interview alcohol/other drug use and delinq uency data, and by recidivism information - including data on arrests during the three-and-a-half years following the date of the youths' fi rst interviews. Research and policy implications of the findings are d rawn.