This article provides the findings of a research study that explored the viability of a comprehensive database of all of Mississippi’s juvenile arrest data.
The status of Mississippi's juvenile corrections landscape was the focus of a 2018 federally funded study exploring the viability of a comprehensive database of statewide juvenile arrest data. Study findings indicated that the state's juvenile corrections infrastructure was primitive and incapable of sustaining such a database. However, promising elements were found to exist that may drive organizational changes at both the local and state level; this article also explores further innovations including adaptation of new technologies. The paper discusses qualitative data from the pilot study, which revealed these indicators of potential change, and which were contrasted with theories on how organizational change could be conceived, implemented, and sustained. The paper also provides a discussion of the study’s implications for future research and practice. Publisher Abstract Provided