NCJ Number
133642
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 19 Issue: 6 Dated: (1991) Pages: 515-523
Date Published
1991
Length
9 pages
Annotation
A total sample of 500 male juvenile offenders, divided into six cohorts from age 12 through 17, who were processed through 4 Illinois jurisdictions between 1978 and 1979, was studied to determine whether the age at first formal intervention (in cases in which first arrests involved class 3 or class 4 felonies) was related to differences in recidivism probability.
Abstract
The findings indicated there is no evidence to correlate a juvenile's age at first intervention with the probability of criminal recidivism by age 21. Nonintervention strategies should not be used to reduce the probability of recidivism among younger, less serious juvenile offenders. However, there may be other reasons related to the diversion of less serious juvenile offenders which would still merit the use of nonintervention strategies. These findings depended on the use of varied follow-up periods for cohorts of different ages at first court intervention, in order to control for the influence of age during the follow-up period on the probability of criminal behavior. 1 table, 2 figures, 5 notes, and 35 references (Author abstract modified)