NCJ Number
80470
Journal
Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 32 Issue: 4 Dated: (November 1981) Pages: 9-21
Date Published
1981
Length
13 pages
Annotation
The 2 studies described in this article examined reasons why juvenile court judges request psychological evaluations and the impact of these reports on the court's disposition, based on records of 102 juveniles placed in an Ontario, Canada, detention home between January and May 1975.
Abstract
In the first experiment, six juvenile judges from the Central-West region of Ontario completed an 86-item questionnaire which asked them to rank variables they thought were important in making a referral to a psychologist. A short followup questionnaire served to clarify some responses that appeared ambiguous. To determine if any inconsistencies existed between what the judges said and what they actually did in practice, the records of 60 juveniles who were referred to a psychologist and 42 who were not were analyzed and compared. Judges rated the following factors as most important in making a referral: prior criminal conduct, training school application submitted by a social service agency, learning difficulties, school behavior problems, history of psychosocial difficulties, and medical problems. Analysis of the juvenile files, however, showed that only two variables distinguished the juveniles referred for psychological assessment from those who were not: juveniles not of present parental union and history of running away from home. Additional analysis of this data revealed that four additional variables were important: juvenile is adopted, history of school problems, juvenile is male, and juvenile has medical problems. The second study compared recommendations made by the psychologist and the disposition of the court. The results indicated that the judge usually followed the psychological recommendations. When the psychologist suggested that the juvenile be returned to the home, the court agreed in only 75 percent of the cases. When the psychologist recommended removal from the home, concurrence with the court rose to 83 percent. Girls were more likely than boys to be removed from the home. Tables and 13 footnotes are included, along with the questionnaires.