NCJ Number
46642
Journal
American Sociological Review Volume: 43 Issue: 2 Dated: (APRIL 1978) Pages: 162-176
Date Published
1978
Length
16 pages
Annotation
A STUDY OF ALL JUVENILE COURT DISPOSITIONS DURING 1972 INVOLVING MALES REFERRED TO THE DENVER, COLORADO, AND MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, JUVENILE COURTS WAS UNDERTAKEN TO EXAMINE THE IMPACT OF STEREOTYPING AND DISCRIMINATION.
Abstract
DATA WERE COLLECTED FROM THE COMPLETE CASE HISTORY RECORDS OF THE 6,894 JUVENILES IN THE SAMPLE. DEPENDENCY, NEGLECT, AND TRAFFIC CASES WERE EXCLUDED. ANALYSIS FOCUSED ON THE SEVERITY OF THE DISPOSITION AND ITS CORRELATION WITH RACE, SOCIOECONOMIC CLASS, PRESENT ACTIVITY (WORK/SCHOOL STATUS), PRIOR RECORD, TYPE OF OFFENSE, AND COURT ORIENTATION. MULTIVARIATE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG QUALITATIVE VARIABLES WERE ASSESSED USING GOODMAN'S (1973) FRAMEWORK FOR LOG LINEAR ANALYSIS. THIS FRAMEWORK INVOLVES A PROCEDURE FOR TESTING THE FIT OF HIERARCHICAL MODELS TO FIND A MODEL WHICH MOST PARSIMONIOUSLY ACCOUNTS FOR THE ASSOCIATIONS AMONG VARIABLES, A PROCEDURE FOR ASSESSING THE INDEPENDENT CONTRIBUTION OF EACH FACTOR TO THE TOTAL ASSOCIATION, AND THE ESTIMATION OF EFFECT PARAMETERS WHICH PROVIDE INFORMATION ON BOTH THE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VARIABLES AND THE RELATIVE STRENGTH OF EACH VARIABLE. MAIN EFFECTS AND TWO-WAY AND THREE-WAY INTERACTIONAL EFFECTS FOR THE VARIABLES ARE PRESENTED IN TABULAR FORM FOR BOTH COURTS AND ARE DISCUSSED. RESULTS INDICATE THAT RACE (WHITE/NONWHITE) HAS NO SIGNIFICANT ASSOCIATION NOR INTERACTION EFFECT WITH LEGAL FACTORS ON DISPOSITIONS. PARENTAL INCOME DOES NOT INTERACT WITH LEGAL FACTORS ON DISPOSITIONS, ALTHOUGH THERE IS A DIRECT EFFECT OF INCOME ON DISPOSITION: HIGHER INCOME GROUPS APPEAR TO RECEIVE MORE SEVERE DISPOSITIONS. THE TOTAL IMPACT OF THIS VARIABLE IS QUITE SMALL, HOWEVER. IN GENERAL, TYPE OF OFFENSE (STATUS OR PROPERTY) INFLUENCES THE SEVERITY OF DISPOSITION, WITH MORE SERIOUS OFFENSES RECEIVING MORE SEVERE SENTENCES. AN INTERACTION BETWEEN OFFENSE SEVERITY AND PRIOR RECORD WAS ALSO FOUND: DISPOSITION TENDED TO BE MORE LENIENT FOR MORE SERIOUS OFFENSES IN THE ABSENCE OF A PRIOR RECORD. SCHOOL/WORK STATUS ALSO INFLUENCED SEVERITY OF DISPOSITIONS. SENTENCES TENDED TO BE MORE SEVERE FOR IDLE YOUTHS, AND THIS EFFECT WAS MORE PRONOUNCED WHEN THERE WAS A PRIOR RECORD. THE INTERACTION OF PRESENT ACTIVITY AND PRIOR RECORD RESULTS IN A LARGER PROPORTION OF NONWHITE AND LOWER CLASS YOUTHS RECEIVING MORE SEVERE DISPOSITIONS. WHETHER THIS CONSTITUTES EVIDENCE OF DISCRIMINATION IS ARGUABLE. WHILE THE EFFECT OF PRESENT ACTIVITY APPEARS TO INDICATE A STEREOTYPED COURT JUDGEMENT THAT A JUVENILE IS DELINQUENCY-PRONE, PRIOR RECORD IS GENERALLY REGARDED AS A LEGAL FACTOR PERTINENT TO DISPOSITION. OVERALL, IT APPEARS THAT SUCH LEGAL FACTORS AS TYPE OF OFFENSE AND PREVIOUS RECORD ARE THE MAJOR DETERMINANTS OF COURT DISPOSITIONS. FURTHER RESEARCH WILL, HOWEVER BE NECESSARY TO DEFINITIVELY DETERMINE IF COURT DISPOSITIONS BASED ON THESE CRITERIA ARE IN FACT UNBIASED. FUTURE ANALYSIS SHOULD ATTEMPT TO INCLUDE FACTORS NOT CONTAINED IN RECORDS SUCH AS THE JUVENILE'S ATTITUDES, DEMEANOR, ETC. (JAP)