Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2026
DOI
10.1111/1460-6984.70199
Publication Title
International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders
Volume
61
Issue
2
Pages
e70199
Abstract
Introduction
Despite evidence suggesting language and cognition deficits are prevalent for justice involved youth, little research explores how juvenile justice personnel experience language and cognition behaviours in the youth they serve.
Aims
This qualitative study explored how juvenile justice personnel understand language and cognition skills and deficits in justice involved youth.
Methods
Twenty-two U.S. juvenile justice professionals participated in individual, semi-structured interviews. Questions focused on individual understanding of receptive language, expressive language, social communication, and cognition (i.e., problem-solving, predicting consequences and impulsiveness) in juveniles served. Using a phenomenological lens, transcripts were coded identifying themes and sub-themes of participant responses.
Results
Most participants experience language and cognition as elusive skills. Juvenile justice personnel understand what language and cognition mean but may not be translating that meaning into practice when assessing observable behaviours. Specifically, participants interpreted behaviours consistent with language and cognition deficits as behavioural concerns, mental health challenges, academic deficits, and as a function of external factors (adults and community).
Conclusions
The results of this study suggest the language and cognition skills of JIY are the absent and undertreated connection between trauma-school- behavioural health and juvenile justice system involvement. Speech-language pathologists and juvenile justice personnel would benefit from mutually understanding the complexities and importance of the communication demands and language and cognition skills for justice involved youth.
Rights
© 2026 The Authors.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
Data Availability
Article states: "The datasets generated during and analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to privacy protections outlined by institutional and government regulations."
Original Publication Citation
Perrotti, A. M., Chappell, A. T., & Vandecar-Burdin, T. (2026). An insidious interstice: Understanding cognition and language behaviour through the eyes of juvenile justice professionals. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 61(2), Article e70199. https://doi.org/10.1111/1460-6984.70199
ORCID
0000-0001-6850-3948 (Perrotti), 0000-0002-0935-4484 (Vandecar-Burdin)
Repository Citation
Perrotti, Anne M.; Chappell, Allison T.; and Vandecar-Burdin, Tancy, "An Insidious Interstice: Understanding Cognition and Language Behaviour Through the Eyes of Juvenile Justice Professionals" (2026). Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications. 223.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/hms_fac_pubs/223
Supporting Information