Youth delinquency and addiction
Adolescents and young adults with antisocial behavior and addiction problems struggle to function in a variety of areas, including employment, education, income, social relationships and mental health. Prevention and intervention strategies have been developed to, but there are limitations in their effectiveness – for example, we know little about long-term effects and approaches focused on individual differences.
Moreover, these strategies often focus only on juvenile delinquency or addiction, while research shows that some of these behaviors stem from the same mechanisms and influence each other. For example, youth use both drugs and delinquent behaviors to reduce negative feelings or increase positive feelings of control. Therefore, it is important to develop strategies that support young people and give them control, based on their motivation and long-term goals. In this project, we examine how effective these strategies are and how they can be optimized using existing knowledge and technologies such as smartphones.
Our ongoing projects
Resources
Scientific Publications
- Marhe, R., van Dongen, J. (2024). How to Know Where the Risk Is and Can the Brain Help Us?. In: Bošković, I. (eds) Legal and Forensic Psychology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-75875-1_8 [Link]
Media
- Geweld onder jeugd daalt al decennia, maar dat lijkt misschien niet zo. Hoe kan dat? Reformatorisch Dagblad 28 februari 2025 [Link]
- Waarom tienerruzies niet stoppen bij het schoolplein. De Stentor, 17 augustus 2025 [Link]
- Podcast – ReSearching a Healthy Start: Youth Delinquency and Addiction [Link]
- Podcast – Politiepodcast #ondermijning: Puberteit en Criminaliteit [Link]
- Podcast – From lab to society: Multiproblematiek onder jongvolwassenen [Link]
Core team
Reshmi Marhe (EUR), Willem-Paul Brinkman (TUD), Ingmar Franken (EUR), Ilse van de Groep (EUR), Robby Roks (EUR), Hanan El Marroun (EUR/Erasmus MC), Annemiek Harder (EUR), Michiel Boog (EUR), Jennie Lukoff (EUR), Merve Bakirhan (EUR), and Doga Ultanir (EUR)
For more information, please contact:
Related Items
Podcast
#ONDERMIJNING
Ilse van de Groep speaks on police podcast
Funding
NWA Grant
For research into dealing with stress with VR training
Event
Colloquium ‘Reimagining will & skill’
What can we do to support youth who struggle with antisocial behavior and addiction to achieve their own long-term goals?
Podcast
(Re)Searching a Healthy Start
On this podcast, researchers from Healthy Start and their societal partners talk about our ambitions
Interview
The story of Reshmi Marhe
‘How can we offer optimal support to young adults who are struggling with criminal behavior and substance abuse?’
Interview
The story of Igmar Franken
‘With input from the target group itself, we hope to better understand what it takes to prevent young people from becoming addicted’
Our partners
Clevr
De Nieuwe Kans
KU Leuven
Trimbos Instituut
Amsterdam UMC
UMC Utrecht
Antes Zorg
KNAW
LUMC
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
B&A Groep
IVO (Instituut voor Onderzoek naar Leefwijzen & Verslaving)
Radboud University
Leiden University
Ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid
Stichting Volksbond Rotterdam
Stichting Time Out
Stichting Lieve Mark
Nationaal Programma Rotterdam Zuid
Police