ARE STATUS OFFENDERS REALLY DIFFERENT?

• NCJ Number: 57245
• Author(s): J P HEUSER
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 62 pages
• Grant Number(s): 78-AF-AX-0041
• Corporate Author: Oregon Law Enforcement Council
• Sale Source: Oregon Law Enforcement Council
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE COMPARING STATUS AND DELINQUENT OFFENDERS YIELDS FINDINGS WHICH SUPPORT A POLICY OF MODERATION IN DECISIONMAKING ABOUT DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT OF THESE TWO TYPES OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS.

Abstract

SIX MAJOR STUDIES ARE CITED WHICH DEAL WITH A CRITICAL AND DIFFICULT POLICY ISSUE IN JUVENILE JUSTICE--I.E., THE SIMILARITY OR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JUVENILE STATUS AND CRIMINAL OFFENDERS AND THE VALIDITY OF ACCORDING BOTH TYPES OF OFFENDERS THE SAME KIND OF TREATMENT. FOUR OF THE STUDIES ON STATUS OFFENDERS WHICH INDICATE THAT RECIDIVISM RATES MAY VARY IN PROPORTION TO THE DEGREE TO WHICH THESE OFFENDERS HAVE PENETRATED THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM, SUGGEST A POSSIBILITY OF A STRONG POSITIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN DEGREE OF SYSTEM PENETRATION AND MAGNITUDE OF RECIDIVISM RATES. THREE STUDIES WHICH EXAMINED RECIDIVISM RATES OF STATUS VERSUS OTHER TYPES OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS FIRST REFERRED TO JUVENILE COURT INDICATE THAT STATUS OFFENDERS ARE SLIGHTLY MORE LIKELY TO RECIDIVATE THAN DELINQUENT OFFENDERS. ONLY ONE STUDY, BASED ON POLICE DATA AS OPPOSED TO JUVENILE COURT DATA, SHOWS AN OPPOSITE PATTERN--STATUS OFFENDERS ARE LESS LIKELY TO RECIDIVATE. ALTHOUGH THE EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE IN THE STUDIES IS INADEQUATE TO DETERMINE IF INITIAL STATUS OFFENDERS ESCALATE THEIR MISCONDUCT TOWARD MORE SERIOUS CRIMINAL TYPES OF OFFENSES, SOME FINDINGS INDICATE THAT THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TYPE OF FIRST OFFENSE AND TYPE OF SUBSEQUENT OFFENSE. FURTHERMORE, A STUDY ON DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION OF STATUS OFFENDERS IN ARKANSAS SHOWS THAT THIS ACTION DID NOT RESULT IN A REDUCTION IN THE SIZE OF THE STATE INSTITUTIONAL POPULATION OVER A 4-YEAR PERIOD AND THAT, DUE TO INVOLVEMENT IN MULTIPLE OFFENSES, A SIZABLE NUMBER OF JUVENILES PREVIOUSLY INSTITUTIONALIZED AS STATUS OFFENDERS WERE BEING RELABELED DELINQUENTS. THESE DATA MERELY CONFIRM THE FACT THAT JUVENILE OFFENDERS VARY GREATLY IN TERMS OF BEHAVIOR AND MANY DEFY CLASSIFICATION. OVERALL, THE EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT SYSTEMATIC RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO INVESTIGATE BASIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO OFFENDER TYPES AND THE EFFECT OF JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM PROCESSES ON THEM. REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (DAG)