Nicole C McKenna
Biographic Data
| ID | 6092415 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Nicole C McKenna |
| GIVEN NAMES | Nicole C |
| FAMILY NAME | McKenna |
| SIGNATURE | MCKENNA N C |
| AFFILIATIONS | John Jay College of Criminal Justice |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9966-1682 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 3 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 10 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Good in Theory, Complex in Practice
Increasingly, research on legal system involvement has engaged in Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR). Drawing on reflections from our CBPR project focused on reentry from prison, we address three key questions: (1) Who is the “community” in CBPR? (2) What are the challenges in maintaining partnerships? And (3) How does CBPR exist in the framework of a larger neoliberal context? We highlight tensions around lived experiences, capacity, …
Resilience Factors in Reentry From Juvenile Legal Facility Settings
Internationally, there has been a decline in the use of juvenile legal facilities (Puzzanchera et al., 2022). Yet, it is well documented that the process of reentering the community following placement in these settings presents numerous challenges for young people. Resilience-focused research offers a critical framework for prevention and intervention efforts to promote positive youth development; however, limited attention is given to the resil…
Paradox and Punishment
Implementing trauma-informed care (TIC) in youth-serving spaces is a growing priority in the juvenile legal system, including in youth detention facilities. This study examines implementation of the six principles of TIC using in-depth interviews with detained girls ( n = 25) and survey data from detention facilities in the United States ( n = 44). In general, we find facilities understood and applied TIC. However, girls’ experiences highlight th…
Pathways to—But Not Through? Revisiting the Trauma and Recidivism Relationship Among System-Involved Youth
Research has demonstrated that exposure to traumatic experiences in childhood and adolescence can result in adverse outcomes, including mental health concerns, school troubles, delinquency, and juvenile justice system involvement. The current study draws on a framework informed by feminist pathways and trauma theories to revisit the effect of traumatic experiences on recidivism two years following initial system contact. Data from a Midwestern ju…
Disentangling Dispositions
Extant research on juvenile legal system (JLS) involved girls generally focuses on individual and proximal environmental levels that bring girls into contact with the JLS. There is less research on how the JLS responds to girls in case dispositions (e.g., sanction-based responses, treatment-focused services), and how combinations of dispositions relate to girls’ further system involvement. In this study, we apply latent class analysis (LCA) to th…
Helpful or Harmful? The Gendered Effect of Virginity Pacts on Later Sexual Victimization
Several factors contribute to sexual victimization, including cultural practices and gendered expectations. The current study considered one aspect of purity culture, adolescent virginity pacts, and their potential effect on sexual victimization in adolescence and adulthood. Using data from all five waves of the Add Health, longitudinal mixed gender and gender-specific analyses were conducted. The results indicated a gendered association between …
Diminishing Returns? Threshold Effects of Dispositions and Recidivism Among Court-Involved Girls
This study examines juvenile court responses among justice-involved girls. We analyze 10 years of court records on girls ( N = 1,102) from a Midwestern juvenile court to assess the impact of various aspects of placements and dispositions on recidivism outcomes. We explore how the number of dispositions girls receive, the type of disposition, and type of placement affect 2-year recidivism. Our findings indicate there may be a threshold effect to r…
Examining the Disconnect in Youth Pathways and Court Responses
Understanding court-involved girls’ pathways has been an important area of inquiry among feminist criminologists, and is especially crucial through an intersectional lens. This research highlights the intersectional identities of youth in the system using qualitative interview data from a Midwestern juvenile court ( n = 39). Modified analytic induction was used to develop assertions and examine perceived pathways present in the narratives of cour…
Family‐based Intervention for Legal System‐involved Girls
The increased proportion of juvenile court‐involved girls has spurred interest to implement and evaluate services to reduce girls’ system involvement. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a family‐based intervention by using a dominant sequential mixed methods evaluation approach. First, we examined quantitative data using a quasi‐experimental design to determine whether the family‐based intervention reduced recidivism am…
Perceptions of Legal Authorities in a Longitudinal Study of Adjudicated Youth
Family‐based Intervention for Legal System‐involved Girls
The increased proportion of juvenile court‐involved girls has spurred interest to implement and evaluate services to reduce girls’ system involvement. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a family‐based intervention by using a dominant sequential mixed methods evaluation approach. First, we examined quantitative data using a quasi‐experimental design to determine whether the family‐based intervention reduced recidivism am…
Perceptions of Legal Authorities in a Longitudinal Study of Adjudicated Youth
Diminishing Returns? Threshold Effects of Dispositions and Recidivism Among Court-Involved Girls
This study examines juvenile court responses among justice-involved girls. We analyze 10 years of court records on girls ( N = 1,102) from a Midwestern juvenile court to assess the impact of various aspects of placements and dispositions on recidivism outcomes. We explore how the number of dispositions girls receive, the type of disposition, and type of placement affect 2-year recidivism. Our findings indicate there may be a threshold effect to r…
Examining the Disconnect in Youth Pathways and Court Responses
Understanding court-involved girls’ pathways has been an important area of inquiry among feminist criminologists, and is especially crucial through an intersectional lens. This research highlights the intersectional identities of youth in the system using qualitative interview data from a Midwestern juvenile court ( n = 39). Modified analytic induction was used to develop assertions and examine perceived pathways present in the narratives of cour…
Family‐based Intervention for Legal System‐involved Girls
The increased proportion of juvenile court‐involved girls has spurred interest to implement and evaluate services to reduce girls’ system involvement. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a family‐based intervention by using a dominant sequential mixed methods evaluation approach. First, we examined quantitative data using a quasi‐experimental design to determine whether the family‐based intervention reduced recidivism am…
Perceptions of Legal Authorities in a Longitudinal Study of Adjudicated Youth
Pathways to—But Not Through? Revisiting the Trauma and Recidivism Relationship Among System-Involved Youth
Research has demonstrated that exposure to traumatic experiences in childhood and adolescence can result in adverse outcomes, including mental health concerns, school troubles, delinquency, and juvenile justice system involvement. The current study draws on a framework informed by feminist pathways and trauma theories to revisit the effect of traumatic experiences on recidivism two years following initial system contact. Data from a Midwestern ju…
Disentangling Dispositions
Extant research on juvenile legal system (JLS) involved girls generally focuses on individual and proximal environmental levels that bring girls into contact with the JLS. There is less research on how the JLS responds to girls in case dispositions (e.g., sanction-based responses, treatment-focused services), and how combinations of dispositions relate to girls’ further system involvement. In this study, we apply latent class analysis (LCA) to th…
Helpful or Harmful? The Gendered Effect of Virginity Pacts on Later Sexual Victimization
Several factors contribute to sexual victimization, including cultural practices and gendered expectations. The current study considered one aspect of purity culture, adolescent virginity pacts, and their potential effect on sexual victimization in adolescence and adulthood. Using data from all five waves of the Add Health, longitudinal mixed gender and gender-specific analyses were conducted. The results indicated a gendered association between …
Resilience Factors in Reentry From Juvenile Legal Facility Settings
Internationally, there has been a decline in the use of juvenile legal facilities (Puzzanchera et al., 2022). Yet, it is well documented that the process of reentering the community following placement in these settings presents numerous challenges for young people. Resilience-focused research offers a critical framework for prevention and intervention efforts to promote positive youth development; however, limited attention is given to the resil…
Paradox and Punishment
Implementing trauma-informed care (TIC) in youth-serving spaces is a growing priority in the juvenile legal system, including in youth detention facilities. This study examines implementation of the six principles of TIC using in-depth interviews with detained girls ( n = 25) and survey data from detention facilities in the United States ( n = 44). In general, we find facilities understood and applied TIC. However, girls’ experiences highlight th…
Good in Theory, Complex in Practice
Increasingly, research on legal system involvement has engaged in Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR). Drawing on reflections from our CBPR project focused on reentry from prison, we address three key questions: (1) Who is the “community” in CBPR? (2) What are the challenges in maintaining partnerships? And (3) How does CBPR exist in the framework of a larger neoliberal context? We highlight tensions around lived experiences, capacity, …
Psychology (9 works) · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis (8 works) · Child Abuse and Trauma (6 works) · Medicine (6 works) · Criminology (5 works) · Juvenile court (5 works) · Juvenile delinquency (5 works) · Poison control (5 works) · Political science (5 works) · Social Psychology (5 works)