NCJ Number
61617
Journal
Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 30 Issue: 3 Dated: (AUGUST 1979) Pages: 31-35
Date Published
1979
Length
5 pages
Annotation
A STUDY EXAMINING THE POSSIBLE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELECTED VARIABLES AND THE JUVENILE COURT JUDGE'S ATTITUDE TOWARD DELINQUENCY.
Abstract
THE SUBJECTS INCLUDED 61 ILLINOIS JUVENILE COURT JUDGES LISTED IN THE NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF JUVENILE COURT JUDGES. THIRTY-NINE RESPONDED TO A MAILED QUESTIONNAIRE, REPRESENTING A RESPONSE RATE OF 64 PERCENT. A JUVENILE COURT JUDGE'S ATTITUDE TOWARD DELINQUENCY WAS MEASURED BY AN 'ATTITUDE TOWARD JUVENILE DELINQUENCY' SCALE CONSISTING OF 23 ITEMS MEASURING A PERSON'S ATTITUDES ON A PUNITIVE-THERAPEUTIC CONTINUUM. A SIX-CATEGORY RESPONSE MODE WAS USED WITH CORRESPONDING ASSIGNED POINT VALUES. AN INDIVIDUAL'S SCORE WAS THE SUM OF ALL THE POINT VALUES, WHICH COULD RANGE FROM 23 TO 161; A HIGH SCORE INDICATED A PUNITIVE ATTITUDE, AND A LOW SCORE A THERAPEUTIC ATTITUDE. ADDITIONAL DATA WERE GATHERED THROUGH A SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE TO ELICIT PERTINENT INFORMATION ABOUT EACH JUDGE'S AGE, SEX, TIME SPENT ON JUVENILE MATTERS, METHOD OF JUDICIAL SELECTION, YEAR ON THE BENCH, AND NUMBER OF CASES HEARD. IN THE PRESENT STUDY THE SINGLE VARIABLE, YEAR ON THE BENCH, WAS HIGHLY CORRELATED WITH THE JUDGES' ATTITUDES TOWARD JUVENILE DELINQUENCY. JUDGES WHO PRESIDED BEFORE THE 1967 GAULT DECISION PREDOMINANTLY EXPRESSED PUNITIVE ATTITUDES TOWARD JUVENILE DELINQUENCY, WHEREAS, THOSE PRESIDING AFTER 1967 EXPRESSED THERAPEUTIC ATTITUDES. SIMILAR FINDINGS ALSO WERE SHOWN IN AN EARLIER STUDY. SINCE A MORE EXPERIENCED JUDGE WOULD LIKELY BE ONE FROM THE PRE-GAULT ERA, THIS STUDY SUGGESTS THAT A RELATIONSHIP EXISTS BETWEEN JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE AND YEAR ON BENCH (BEFORE OR AFTER 1967) IN EXPLAINING POST-GAULT ATTITUDES. SUCH VARIABLES, IN COMBINATION, MAY HELP EXPLAIN JUVENILE COURT DECISIONMAKING. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT FURTHER RESEARCH FOCUS ON EVALUATION OF THE SENTENCING RECORDS OF JUDGES TO DETERMINE WHETHER A 'PUNITIVE' PRE-GAULT JUDGE DOES, IN FACT, METE OUT SENTENCES WHICH COULD BE DESCRIBED AS 'PUNITIVE.' FOOTNOTES AND STATISTICAL DATA ARE PROVIDED IN THE ARTICLE. (LWM)