Examining the prevalence of a ‘youth discount’ in the juvenile justice system

Abstract

Predicated on the notions of rehabilitation and protection, the American juvenile justice system is intended to aid adolescents in reforming their delinquent behavior. This assistance often manifests itself in the form of leniency and rehabilitative care. Such reformative assistance, however, is not always applied equally across race/ethnicity and ages. Using a focal concerns framework, this study examines data from one southwestern city in the USA to test the independent and moderating effects of age among various race/ethnicity and age combinations. The results not only provide insight into the existence of an age-related sliding scale of culpability (i.e., a ‘youth discount’), but also the extent to which age mitigates, or negates, the effect of race/ethnicity at four decision-making stages in the juvenile justice system. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.

Keywords::

• juvenile justice
• focal concerns theory
• youth discount
• race
• age

Notes

^1. Email: [email protected]

^2. Email: [email protected]

^3. Although it has been acknowledged that the deluge of negative assessments of the juvenile justice system's rehabilitative effectiveness in the 1970s (see, for e.g., Lipton, Martison, and Wilks 1975; Sechrest, White, and Brown 1979; Wright and Dixon 1975) was flawed (Fagan and Forst 1996; Lipsey 1992; Palmer 1991), they caused a shift toward harsher penalties for youth (Feld 1987, 1988, 1999). This clear movement away from parens patriae can be recognized via policy implementation, but not in the system's acknowledged doctrine. Perhaps examinations such as these will serve to remove the antiquated lexicon of juvenile corrections’ rehabilitative past.

^4. Previous research indicates that multicollinearity is often an issue with hazard rate variables. Diagnostics were conducted and multicollinearity was not an issue, which suggests that it is acceptable to keep the hazard rate in the models (see Rodriguez 2010). The following mean variance inflation factor scores correspond with decision-making stages above: diversion = 1.93, detention = 2.42, petition filed = 2.50, and adjudication = 2.99. Furthermore, the correlation matrix reported that the strongest relationship involving the hazard rate variable was in relation to the obstruction of justice variable, which was − 0.42.

^5. Originally, the dataset had two additional race categories: Native American and ‘other.’ Because there were so few cases that fell under these categories, they were dropped from analyses.

^6. While the age grouping of preteens paralleled previous research (Leiber and Johnson 2008), mid-teens and late-teens deviated from it. The authors categorized late-teens as those who were 16 or 17 because turning 16 years old marks the legal age at which someone can receive their driver's license in Arizona. Thus, turning 16 years old may be indicative of greater maturity and accountability. Consequently, mid-teens were those whose ages ranged from 13 through 15.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Weston J. Morrow

Weston J. Morrow is doctoral candidate in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. He earned a B.S. in social science from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, and an M.S. in criminal justice from California State University, Long Beach. He has conducted research on the Fourth Amendment, police use of force, and sentencing. His current research interests primarily revolve around the effects of race, gender, and age and their intersectionality on various decision makers in both the juvenile justice system and the federal court system. Weston's work has appeared in the American Journal of Criminal Law.

Lisa M. Dario

Lisa M. Dario is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University and is the managing editor of Justice Quarterly. She received her Master of Science degree in criminology and criminal justice from Arizona State University, and her Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from The College of New Jersey. Lisa's primary research interests are policing, including use of force and legitimacy perceptions, and research methodology, specifically experimental design. Lisa's work has been published in Crime and Delinquency and the Journal of Experimental Criminology.

Nancy Rodriguez

Nancy Rodriguez is a Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. Her research examines the intersection of race, ethnicity, crime, and justice. Her recent work has appeared in journals including Criminology, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Criminal Justice and Behavior, and Violence Against Women.