NCJ Number
184908
Date Published
1996
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This chapter reviews research that has examined the impact of legal and extralegal factors on the police and court processing of juveniles.
Abstract
Most of the research on juveniles and the police has focused on the criteria used by the police to makes decisions about whether or not to arrest or release with only a reprimand or warning juveniles who are suspected of violating the law. Research has indicated that most juvenile encounters with the police were initiated in response to a citizen complaint. Most of these encounters involved less serious offenses, with only 5 to 10 percent involving felonies. Although arrest was "virtually automatic" with felonies, "informal resolution" was the norm in the remaining cases. The chapter also examines the impact of juveniles' race and class as well as gender on police decision making. In addition to research on the police, numerous studies have examined discretionary decisions at the intake and disposition stages of the juvenile justice system. At the intake stage, the intake officers must decide whether to release a juvenile, refer him/her to another agency, or file a petition for formal court processing. The impact of race, class, and gender on such decisions are examined. A few studies have also addressed legal and extralegal factors in the decision to waiver or transfer a case from juvenile court jurisdiction to adult criminal court and in the effects of being represented by counsel. The chapter concludes that the interaction between legal and extralegal variables is complex and difficult to measure in relative effects at various points in the police and court processing of juveniles. Still, it is clear from the research that legal factors alone cannot explain how youths are processed through the juvenile justice system. 22 notes and 114 references