Explaining Variations in Juvenile Punishment
The Role of Communities and Systems
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Explaining Variations in Juvenile Punishment: The Role of Communities and Systems
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Book Description
This research monograph provides a comparative analysis of juvenile court outcomes, exploring the influence of contextual factors on juvenile punishment across systems and communities. In doing so, it investigates whether, how, and to what extent context influences variation in juvenile punishment across these systems and communities. The contextual hypotheses under investigation evaluate three prominent macro-structural theoretical approaches: the conflict-oriented perspective of community threats, the consensus-oriented perspective of social disorganization, and an organizational perspective of the political economy of the juvenile court.
Using multilevel modeling techniques, the study investigates these macro-social influences on juvenile justice outcomes across nearly 500 counties in seven states—Alabama, Connecticut, Missouri, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah. Findings suggest that the macro-social indicators under investigation did not explain variation in juvenile court punishment across communities and systems, and the study proposes several implications for future research and policy.
This monograph is essential reading for scholars of juvenile justice system impact and reform as well as practitioners engaged in youth and juvenile justice work. It is unique in taking a comparative perspective that acknowledges that there is no one juvenile justice system in the United States, but many such systems.
Table of Contents
Introduction: The Context of Juvenile Punishment
The Present Study
Book Overview
References
Chapter 1: The Mission and History of Juvenile Justice
Origins of Juvenile Justice
The First Juvenile Court
Child Saving: The Interventionist Vision of Juvenile Justice
The Failure of the Interventionist Vision
The Due Process Revolution
The Criminalization of Juvenile Justice
A More Punitive Juvenile Court
The Developmental Turn: Juvenile Justice in the Twenty-First Century
Conclusion
References
Chapter 2: The Contemporary Structure of the Juvenile Justice System(s)
Juvenile Referrals
Preadjudication Detention
Intake Processing and Petition of Delinquency
Waiver to Criminal Court
Adjudication of Delinquency
Judicial Disposition
State Variation in Juvenile Justice Processing
References
Chapter 3: Why Might Context Matter? Theoretical Perspectives on Juvenile Justice
Theoretical Frameworks for Juvenile Justice
Sociopolitical perspectives
Organizational perspectives
Rational goals, functional systems, and institutional approaches
Loose and tight coupling
Contextual Theories of Juvenile Justice
Community threats
Social disorganization
Political economy
Conclusion
References
Chapter 4: Exploring the Influence of Community Characteristics: A Literature Review
Minority Threat
Economic Threat
Urbanism
Other Contextual Characteristics
Chapter 5: Data, Methods, and Analytical Approach
Research Hypotheses
Data and Sample
Measures
Dependent variables
Case-level independent variables
Contextual variables
Community threats
Social disorganization
Political economy
State-level descriptive statistics
Multicollinearity diagnostics
Analytical Strategy
References
Chapter 6: Multistate Results, 2010
Variation in Juvenile Justice Outcomes
Contextual Effects
Detention
Petition of delinquency
Waiver to criminal court
Adjudication of delinquency
Judicial disposition
Summary of Findings
Chapter 7: Multistate Results, 2000
Variation in Juvenile Justice Outcomes
Contextual Effects
Detention
Petition of delinquency
Waiver to criminal court
Adjudication of delinquency
Judicial disposition
Summary of Findings
Chapter 8: State-Specific Results
Variation in Juvenile Justice Outcomes
Contextual Effects
Detention
Community threats
Social disorganization
Political economy
Petition of delinquency
Community threats
Social disorganization
Political economy
Waiver to criminal court
Community threats
Social disorganization
Political economy
Adjudication of delinquency
Community threats
Social disorganization
Political economy
Judicial disposition
Community threats
Social disorganization
Political economy
Summary of Findings
Chapter 9: Does Context Matter? Discussing the Findings
Summary of Findings
Multistate findings, 2010
Multistate findings, 2000
State-level findings, 2010
State Variation in Juvenile Justice Outcomes
State profiles
Study Limitations
Interpretation of Findings
References
Chapter 10: Implications for Research and Policy
Implications for Research
Description and classification
Quantitative explanation
Qualitative explanation
Implications for Policy
Concluding Thoughts
References
Appendices
Author(s)
Biography
Steven N. Zane, Ph.D., J.D., is an Assistant Professor in the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University. He received his Ph.D. from Northeastern University and his J.D. from Boston College Law School. His research interests focus on juvenile justice and evidence-based social policy. His research has appeared in Criminology & Public Policy, JAMA Network Open, Journal of Criminal Justice, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Justice Quarterly, and Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice.