NCJ Number
180137
Journal
Law & Policy Volume: 21 Issue: 2 Dated: April 1999 Pages: 101-127
Editor(s)
Keith Hawkins,
Murray Levine
Date Published
1999
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This study examined whether youths' experience of procedural justice in resolving family conflict is a factor in the development of youths' violent behavior.
Abstract
The fairness of the legal system is often judged by individuals and the public at large along dimensions of procedural and distributive justice. People seem to care about how legal decisions are made as well as about the specific outcomes reached by juries and judges. In fact, perceptions of procedural and distributive justice or injustice may influence public perceptions and confidence in the legitimacy of the legal system. This paper focuses on procedural justice. Using an ecological framework, the authors tested the hypothesis that older adolescents use the same or similar criteria for evaluating fairness in the context of family decision-making that people in general use to evaluate the fairness of legal processes and decisions. They also tested the hypothesis that family decision-making procedures that are perceived to be unfair contribute to increased risk for acting out and deviant behavior among older adolescents. Principal components analysis confirmed that older adolescents use several distinct criteria for evaluating procedural fairness in the family context and that these criteria are comparable to those that people use to evaluate the fairness of legal procedures (rational and objective treatment conveying personal respect, consistent and nondiscriminatory treatment that reflects social status or standing, and instrumental participation or having "an opportunity to be heard"). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis confirmed that procedural justice factors are associated with adolescent deviant behavior. The paper discusses implications of these findings for adolescent deviance and youth violence prevention. 5 tables and 53 references