Juvenile Court and Violent Youth: Determinants of the Transfer Decision

• NCJ Number: 118546
• Author(s): J Fagan; E Piper; M Forst
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 29 pages
• Grant Number(s): 85-MU-CX-0001
• Sponsoring Agency: US Securities and Exchange Cmssn
• Corporate Author: Urban and Rural Systems Associates; New York City Criminal Justice Agency, Inc
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Information from four urban juvenile courts formed the basis of an analysis of the nature and determinants of the decision to transfer youth to adult criminal courts.

Abstract

Data were gathered for 1981-84 in the juvenile courts in Boston, Detroit, Newark, and Phoenix for a sample of 201 youths against whom prosecutors filed petitions for transfer. The analysis compared the characteristics of the 38 percent of the youths who were transferred to the criminal court with those of the 62 percent who were retained by the juvenile court. Findings showed that the best predictors of transfer for the total sample were older age at the time of the offense and the number of the victims in the offense. However, the four sites varied greatly in the determinants of the transfer decision. Results suggested the need for formal standards to promote equity and fairness in transfer decisions. Figures, tables, and 45 references.