And Justice for All: Determinants and Effects of Probation Officers' Processing Decisions Regarding First-Time Juvenile Offenders
And Justice for All: Determinants and Effects of Probation Officers' Processing Decisions Regarding First-Time Juvenile Offenders
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DOI：
10.1037/law0000113
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发表时间：
2017-02-01
影响因子：
2
通讯作者：
Cauffman, Elizabeth
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Fine, Adam;Donley, Sachiko;Cauffman, Elizabeth
当一名青年被指控犯罪时，少年司法系统的仲裁员，如缓刑监督官，在决定正式或非正式处理该青年之前，会与该青年及其监护人面谈，以收集信息。与刑事指控无关的青少年因素可能会影响仲裁员的处理决定。这些法外因素包括人口特征和青年背景特征（例如，家庭环境，同伴犯罪）。关于年龄和种族以外的法律外因素如何影响青年处理，人们知之甚少。本研究利用的数据，从缓刑官评估访谈359名男性，第一次，低级别的少年犯，以及纵向自我报告和正式记录的青年的再犯后，他的第一次被捕，以确定如何法外因素影响缓刑处理的决定，以及是否处理与青年再犯和再次逮捕。结果表明，即使在考虑到法律的因素和人口特征，青年更有可能被正式处理，如果他们拒绝评论的指控，如果他们的缓刑监督官认为他们的监护人是相对更不赞成他们的朋友，如果他们的缓刑监督官认为他们的家庭环境更有问题。虽然被正式处理的青年自我报告重新犯罪的比率与被非正式处理的青年相同，但被正式处理的青年更有可能在随后的6个月内再次被捕。如何处理决定可能会促进持续参与少年司法系统的影响进行了讨论。
When a youth is accused of committing a crime, juvenile justice system arbiters, such as probation officers, interview both the youth and the youth's guardian to gather information before deciding to either process the youth formally or informally. Factors about a youth that are unrelated to the criminal charge may contribute to arbiters' processing decisions. Such extralegal factors include demographic characteristics and characteristics of the youth's context (e.g., home environment, peer delinquency). Little is known about how extralegal factors other than age and race affect youth processing. The present study draws on data from probation officer assessment interviews with 359 male, first-time, low-level juvenile offenders, as well as longitudinal self-report and official records of a youth's reoffending after his first arrest, to determine how extralegal factors affect probation processing decisions, and whether processing is associated with youth reoffending and rearrest. The results indicate that even after taking into account legal factors and demographic characteristics, youth are more likely to be processed formally if they refuse to comment on the charge, if their probation officers believe their guardians to be relatively more disapproving of their friends, and if their probation officers perceive their home environments to be more problematic. Although youth who are processed formally self-report reoffending at the same rate as youth who are processed informally, youth who are processed formally are more likely to be rearrested in the subsequent 6 months. Implications for how processing decisions may promote sustained involvement in the juvenile justice system are discussed.