Juvenile Court Intake Decision Making - The Importance of Family Affiliation

• NCJ Number: 87118
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 10 Issue: 6 Dated: (1982) Pages: 443-453
• Author(s): C R Fenwick
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 11 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Revised version of paper presented at the 1981 annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Science

Annotation

Based on an analysis of official records and systematic observations of intake hearings, this study empirically evaluates the criteria employed in determining whether a juvenile is petitioned to court for a formal hearing and if petitioned, whether he or she is held in preadjudicatory detention.

Abstract

Attention is paid to legal, social, demeanor-related, and demographic variables as they impinge on intake decisionmaking. The major finding of this study is that the farther one goes into the intake decisionmaking process, the more does family disaffiliation become the prominent independent variable. The article places this area of research within relevant criminological paradigms (positivist, interactionist, neo-Marxist), summarizes the existing empirical findings, and integrates theory and evidence with the goal of producing a statement on this screening stage in the juvenile justice endeavor. (Author abstract)