NCJ Number
95390
Date Published
1983
Length
35 pages
Annotation
This fourth volume of the five-volume series examines the impact on juvenile crime and recidivism of the Washington law implemented in 1978 to hold juveniles accountable for their crimes while holding the system accountable for what it does to juveniles.
Abstract
The impact of the sentencing-guidelines legislation on reoffense rates was measured by comparing the frequency and type of reoffending for youths whose cases were handled by the prereform and postreform systems. For some parts of the analysis, juveniles were divided into groups based on the seriousness of their immediate offense and their prior record. Minor offenders were those who committed a misdemeanor and had one or two prior offenses. The violent group included youths with Class A felonies: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and first-degree arson. All other youths were placed in the middle group. For minor offenders in the postreform system, there was virtually no chance of commitment or detention if the next offense was a misdemeanor. For middle offenders, commitments to the State were somewhat less likely after the reform. For violent offenders, there was a definite increase in the probability of commitment: 92 percent of the postreform sentences were commitment to the State, and the remainder were to local detention. Analysis indicates that the legislation had no independent impact on recontact rates, and this might indicate that it had no effect on recidivism. Additional studies are warranted. Seven tables and 11 references are included. For the other volumes in the series, see NCJ 95387-89 and 95391.