COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Understanding Youth Engagement in the Plea Process: Predictors and Consequences

参与法庭程序是法律要求和期望的，并有助于确保司法程序对所有参与者都是公平和公正的。参与一般是指被告对其法律状况、参与能力以及与法律行为者的互动的理解和欣赏。参与也可以指促进或阻止被告参与的法庭行动。尽管大量的注意力集中在成年被告的参与上，但对青少年被告的参与却知之甚少。由于大量青少年作为被告与法律系统接触，并且由于他们在一般法律理解和参与能力方面的潜在脆弱性，因此评估青少年参与法庭诉讼的深度并确定缺乏参与是否会产生不利后果（例如，累犯）至关重要。这项合作研究的目标是进行一个全面的，多方法的调查青年参与一个关键的听证会，其中几乎所有的青年被告参与：辩诉听证会。调查结果将为了解青少年在辩诉过程和他们的法律案件中的参与程度，以及青少年或案件的具体特征（例如，在哪个法庭环境中起诉）如何影响参与程度奠定急需的基础。调查结果还将为现有的程序正义模型和治疗法学信念提供信息，这些模型假设更高水平的参与会带来更好的结果，例如改善对法院的遵守和减少累犯。由于犯罪通常始于青少年时期，因此确定青少年法律参与对这些结果的影响程度对于这一人群的预防和干预工作非常重要。最后，调查结果有可能通过强调有助于增强或抑制法律参与的做法和政策，确保在少年法庭和刑事法庭受审的青年被告理解并参与他们的法律状况（根据法律规定）。在这项研究中，认罪过程的参与将在两个法庭进行审查——少年和成人刑事法庭——年龄在14至18岁之间的青少年。具体目标是：(1)确定不同法庭环境中的青少年参与案件和辩诉听证会的程度；(2)确定青年与关键法律专业人员之间的互动如何影响青年的参与水平；(3)评估法院的文化和氛围如何影响青年的参与；(4)研究青少年在认罪过程中的参与与结果（法庭/缓刑依从性，累犯）之间的联系。在加利福尼亚州奥兰治县和纽约州奥尔巴尼县的少年和刑事法庭，将对400名青少年的认罪听证会进行观察和编码；将对律师、法官和未成年被告进行访谈/调查；并收集和分析认罪后一年的青少年成果文件。使用先进的统计程序，将分析青年特征、社会互动和法庭背景，以确定它们与青年参与的关系，进而确定参与与青年成果的关系。

Engagement in court proceedings is legally required, expected, and helps to ensure that the judicial process is equitable and fair to all participants. Engagement generally refers to defendants' understanding and appreciation of their legal situation, their ability to participate, and their interactions with legal actors. Engagement can also refer to court actions that promote or deter defendants' involvement. Despite substantial attention focused on engagement in adult defendants, very little is known about engagement among juvenile defendants. Because of the large number of youth who come into contact with the legal system as defendants, and because of their potential vulnerabilities in general legal understanding and ability to participate, it is crucial to evaluate the depth of youth engagement in court proceedings and determine whether adverse consequences (e.g., recidivism) emerge as a result of a lack of engagement. The goal of this collaborative research is to conduct a comprehensive, multi-method investigation of youth engagement in one critical hearing in which virtually all youth defendants participate: the plea hearing. Findings will lay a much-needed foundation for understanding not only how engaged youth are in the plea process and their legal case generally, but also of how specific characteristics in youth or the case (e.g., in which court setting it is prosecuted) affect engagement. Findings will also inform existing models of procedural justice and therapeutic jurisprudence beliefs, which posit that higher levels of engagement lead to better outcomes, such as improved compliance with the court and reduced recidivism. Because offending often begins in adolescence, determining the degree to which youth legal engagement affects these outcomes is important to prevention and intervention efforts with this population. Finally, findings have the potential to ensure that youthful defendants--processed in juvenile and criminal courts--comprehend and participate in their legal situation (as legally mandated), by highlighting practices and policies that serve to augment or inhibit legal engagement.In the study, engagement in the plea process will be examined in two court setting--juvenile and adult criminal court--among youth aged 14 to 18 years. Specific objectives are to: (1) Identify the degree to which youth in the different court settings are engaged in their case and plea hearing; (2) Determine how interactions between the youth and key legal professionals influence the youth's level of engagement; (3) Evaluate how the culture and climate of the court affects youth engagement; and (4) Examine the links between youth engagement in the plea process and outcomes (court/probation compliance, recidivism). In juvenile and criminal courts in Orange County, CA, and Albany County, NY, 400 plea hearings of youth will be observed and coded; interviews/surveys will be conducted with attorneys, judges, and juvenile defendants; and documentation on youth outcomes a year post-plea will be collected and analyzed. Using advanced statistical procedures, youth characteristics, social interactions, and court contexts will be analyzed to determine how they relate to youth engagement, and in turn how engagement relates to youth outcomes.