Predicting Preadjudication Detention Decisions: An Examination of Family Status and Race

Abstract

Since 1988, the U.S. Congress has applied increasing pressure upon states to identify and remedy the causes of disproportionate minority contact. Findings from studies examining the influence of race/ethnicity in juvenile justice processing have been inconsistent, hindering the development of effective policies. One methodological criticism is the assertion that juvenile decision-making models fail to consider the complexities inherent in parens patriae justice. In particular, family characteristics such as the presence of 2 parents may mitigate race/ethnicity effects in decision-making models. In the present research, logistic regression was used to examine the effect of race/ethnicity and family status in the decision to detain 16,338 juveniles in a southwestern state. The results suggest that although family status is significant predictor of detention decisions, race continues to exert a significant and greater effect on the decision to detain. In comparison to legal variables, the effect of race/ethnicity on detention decisions was weak.

KEYTERMS:

• Juvenile detention
• family status
• disproportionate minority contact
• race/ethnicity
• delinquency

Notes

1. Status offense referrals were not examined. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 mandated the deinstitutionalization of status offenders from jails, lockups, and detention facilities. Although status offenders continue to be placed in detention facilities, the dynamics associated with these cases were judged to be different enough to render them a separate population.

2. The project did not include smaller counties because of practical considerations. A subsequent step in addressing minority overrepresentation involved the implementation of intervention strategies in selected counties aimed at reducing the overrepresentation of minorities. Practical considerations regarding budget limitations required the selection of counties in which the greatest numbers of minorities were affected.

3. This index has since been replaced by the relative rate index, which takes into consideration the racial composition of youth exiting the previous decision point. The present research was conducted prior to the use of the relative rate index.

4. Analysis of the standardized residuals indicated that the model did poorly when predicting detention decisions for 145 youth who were primary older African American youth referred for violent felonies. Additional investigation indicated that these youth were initially referred to the juvenile detention facility but immediately transferred to the adult system and thus not detained. Accordingly, these youth were removed from the analysis.