NCJ Number
224172
Journal
Criminal Justice Policy Review Volume: 19 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2008 Pages: 285-300
Date Published
September 2008
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study examined public opinion about juvenile waivers to criminal court (a punitive sanction), using data from the National Opinion Survey of Crime and Justice in the 1990s.
Abstract
The findings strongly indicate that the public held punitive attitudes toward juvenile offenders during the juvenile accountability movement of the 1990s. One’s perception of the purpose of sentencing in the juvenile justice system (punitive or rehabilitative), tended to influence one’s attitudes toward juvenile waivers to adult court more than political ideology, gender, and political party. Respondents who believed that the purpose of sentencing for juveniles was punishment were more supportive of juvenile waivers than were respondents who believed the purpose of sentencing was rehabilitation regardless of case type. The findings indicate that 65 percent of the respondents agreed that juvenile offenders should be tried as adults when they were involved in serious property crime; 70.4 percent supported juvenile waivers for drug crime; and 87 percent supported waivers for violent crimes. Because this study examined public opinion about juvenile waivers during the historical period of the juvenile accountability movement, the survey data during the mid-1990s were examined. The National Opinion Survey of Crime and Justice from which data were collected and analyzed for this study was conducted by telephone interviews in a period at approximately 3 weeks in June of 1995. Data came from a final sample of 953 respondents (63-percent response rate). 3 tables, 2 notes, and 42 references