Most arrests among girls are attributable to status offenses and property crimes; however, the number of girls arrested for assault and other violent crimes is increasing. Although arrest patterns among girls may be changing, the way the system responds has not. Correctional programs have almost always been designed with the male offender in…

Perceptual deterrence has been an enduring focus of interest in criminology. Although recent research has generated important new insights about how risks, costs, and rewards of offending are perceived and internalized, there remain two specific limitations to advancing theories of deterrence: (a) the lack of panel data to show whether issues of…

In this article, the authors used a statewide survey to investigate the extent to which beliefs regarding the age at which youth reach maturity, the role of peer influences, and other factors, such as abuse during childhood, are associated with measures of how harshly juveniles should be treated by the justice system. The results of this study…

A detailed examination was conducted of the factors associated with pre- and postadjudication secure detention, including secure detention as a dispositional sentence and the effects of secure detention on decision making that further contribute to cumulative disadvantage for African Americans. The research was based on interpretations of the…

In "Roper v. Simmons," the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the sentencing of juveniles to death violated the constitutional amendment against cruel and unusual punishment. Similarly, the Court most recently decided that life without parole for non-homicide offenses is also unconstitutional ("Graham v. Florida," 2010). Part of the reason for the…

This study investigates the effect of the threat of legal sanctions on intentions to commit three types of offenses with a representative sample of 744 officially adjudicated youth with varying histories of offenses and gang involvement. In a departure from previous research, the authors find small severity effects for property crimes that are not…

These data merge correctional histories with official state and courthouse information for a sample of teenage offenders, some of whom had been transferred to the adult system. Previous research indicated that transfer aggravates recidivism after the age of 18. The correctional data allow the examination of the relationship between sanctions and…

Teen courts have grown rapidly in the United States despite little evidence of their effectiveness. A survival analysis of 635 teen court and 186 regular diversion participants showed no significant differences in recidivism, although program completers were half as likely to reoffend as noncompleters. Older offenders survived significantly better…

The presence of counsel for juveniles in the courtroom seems advantageous from a due process perspective, yet some studies suggest that juveniles receive harsher dispositions when represented by an attorney. This study tested whether a "counsel penalty" existed regardless of attorney type and, guided by prior sentencing literature, used a more…

Abolition of the death penalty results in life without parole (LWOP) as the most severe sanction for convicted juveniles. Although internationally the use of LWOP for juveniles is rare, 2,225 youth have been sentenced to LWOP within the United States. To address the dearth of public opinion on the issue, the authors proposed questions to the…

Despite numerous reforms designed to integrate the needs and concerns of crime victims into the criminal justice system, which include expanding programs for compensation and restitution, providing counseling and other services to victims, and increasing victims' involvement in the criminal justice process, critics have argued that these reforms…

The 1990s saw concerted legislative efforts to increase the mechanisms through which juveniles could be transferred to the adult court. Beginning research exists on how the public feels about transferring youths out of the juvenile justice system, but it is somewhat dated and does little to illuminate the reasons people support transfer. Using a…

Although prior research has contributed to understanding of the factors that influence sexual assault case processing, it has primarily been viewed through the prosecutorial lens. The authors assert that a prosecutor's charging decision involves not only a decision to file or reject the charge but, assuming that the case is not rejected, also a…

Under incapacitation theory, higher incarceration rates are expected to correlate with accelerated reductions in crime. California's contemporary incarceration patterns offer an opportunity to analyze the validity of this theory, particularly as it applies to young people. This study focuses on California's juvenile incarceration and crime trends…

Despite increasing attention on gender-specific programming for girls involved in the juvenile justice system, not much is known about the effectiveness of gender-specific programs. The authors review the evidence base for the effectiveness of programs for girls in custody or under supervision by examining the evaluation evidence for nine…