NCJ Number
91374
Journal
American Journal of Community Psychology Volume: 10 Issue: 6 Dated: (1982) Pages: 705-721
Date Published
1982
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This examination of the impact of a new Virginia juvenile code intended to limit penetration of youth into the juvenile justice system shows an increased number of youth proceeding to the court despite no increase in the number of youth arrested.
Abstract
The new Virginia juvenile code is designed to minimize penetration into the system by permitting the juvenile judge to hear status offense cases only when they demonstrate 'habitual' behavior and all attempts at community programs have failed, allowing only delinquency cases to qualify for commitment to a secure State institution, and requiring each court to have an intake officer designated to hear all cases. To examine the impact of the new code, this study collected data on all youth arrested between July 1, 1976, and July 1, 1978, in a Virginia city of about 45,000 persons. Records kept by the city police youth division showed a total of 1,057 youth accounting for 1,454 arrests during this 2-year period. Each arrest was tracked through the regional detention center and juvenile court to determine its outcome. The code change became effective on July 1, 1977, giving a 1-year base line before the change and a 1-year followup after the change. By comparing the outcomes for the juveniles arrested before versus those arrested after the code change, it is possible to determine whether the new code had an impact on the penetration of juveniles into the local justice system. Paradoxically, the findings show that rather than checking the penetration of the youth into the system, the court's control over police-referred youth has expanded. Possible reasons for this finding are discussed. Graphic data and 32 references are provided.