NCJ Number
108980
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 27 Issue: 4 Dated: (Autumn 1987) Pages: 411-420
Date Published
1987
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Bases on a sample of 1,561 cases, this study examined how type of offense, previous convictions, previous dispositions and social-inquiry-report recommendations influence juvenile court sentencing decisions.
Abstract
All subjects were sentenced in 1985. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the relative predictive power of the variables for sentencing. Although type of previous court disposition and current offense were powerful factors, the inclusion of the social-inquiry-report recommendations as an additional variable greatly improved prediction of the court outcome. The study cautions that the context in which juvenile court decisions are made as influenced by changes in local crime patterns, variations in operational procedure, and differences in the sentencing objectives of individual magistrates are all factors which may account for variation within the predictive model based in the factors examined in this study. 5 tables and 7 references. (Author abstract modified)