Implications of California's 1977 Juvenile Justice Reform Law, 1981, Volume 3 - Changes in Status Offender Handling

• NCJ Number: 99811
• Author(s): K S Teilman
• Date Published: Unknown
• Length: 120 pages
• Grant Number(s): 77-JN-99-0012; 78-JN-AX-0034
• Sponsoring Agency: US Securities and Exchange Cmssn
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examines how arrest patterns for status offenses have changed under the status offender deinstitutionalization provision of California's AB3121 (1977), identifies types of juveniles affected by the changes, and considers whether the juvenile justice system has relabeled status offenders to other categories (criminal offender or dependent/neglected child).

Abstract

Arrest data covering periods before and after the passage of AB3121 were obtained from the Bureau of Criminal Statistics for eight of the largest counties in the State. Data were also obtained on arrestee demographics, arrest disposition, the quality of the police investigation, and arrestee prior and subsequent arrest history. In each of the counties, status offense arrests dropped substantially after the law went into effect. In the southern counties, status offenders arrested after the law tended to be young females with few prior arrests. In the northern counties, those arrested after the law were predominantly older males with prior arrests. There was evidence of some relabeling to the category of criminal offender, with charges tending to involve property offenses, misdemeanor theft, and drug offenses. Evidence for relabeling to the dependent/neglected category is less consistent but unmistakable in some counties. Tabular data.