RECIDIVISM RATES OF DIVERTED JUVENILE OFFENDERS

• NCJ Number: 53848
• Author(s): S B LINCOLN; K S TEILMANN; M W KLEIN; S LABIN
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 13 pages
• Grant Number(s): MH26147
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A PROJECT EVALUATING A CALIFORNIA LAW ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM TO DIVERT JUVENILES IS REVIEWED. SIMPLE RELEASE HAD THE LOWEST RECIDIVISM RATES AND COURT HANDLING THE HIGHEST IN SPITE OF RANDOM ASSIGNMENT.

Abstract

THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THE EVALUATION WAS TO DETERMINE WHICH OF FOUR POSSIBLE ARREST DISPOSITIONS HAD THE MOST POSITIVE IMPACT ON SUBSEQUENT OFFENSE BEHAVIOR: (1) OUTRIGHT RELEASE, (2) REFERRAL TO A COMMUNITY AGENCY WITHOUT PURCHASE OF SERVICES, (3) REFERRAL WITH PURCHASE OF SERVICES, AND (4) NORMAL HANDLING BY JUVENILE COURT. IT WAS FOUND THAT WHEN THE PROGRAM PAID AN AGENCY TO PROVIDE SERVICES, 100 PERCENT OF THE JUVENILES WERE CONTACTED, COMPARED TO 80 PERCENT WITHOUT PURCHASE. HOWEVER, WHEN REARREST DATA AND SELF-REPORTED DELINQUENCY DATA WERE EXAMINED, NEITHER SERVICE ALTERNATIVE HAD LOWER RECIDIVISM RATES THAN OUTRIGHT RELEASE. THE EXTENSIVE MONITORING WHICH TOOK PLACE TO ASSURE THAT THE JUVENILES WERE ASSIGNED RANDOMLY TO THE GROUPS IS DESCRIBED IN DETAIL. AS A RESULT, ALL FOUR GROUPS WERE CLOSELY MATCHED. AFTER 6 MONTHS, 36 PERCENT OF THE 306 SUBJECTS HAD BEEN REARRESTED AT LEAST ONCE: 28 PERCENT OF THE RELEASE GROUP, 32 PERCENT OF THE SIMPLE REFERRAL GROUP, 35 PERCENT OF THE REFERRAL WITH PURCHASE GROUP, AND 48 PERCENT OF THE COURT PETITION GROUP. THE DIFFERENCES BECAME SIGNIFICANT WHEN MULTIPLE ARRESTS WERE CONSIDERED: 6 PERCENT, 16 PERCENT, 20 PERCENT, AND 29 PERCENT FROM THE RESPECTIVE GROUPS WERE ARRESTED MORE THAN ONCE. AT 15 MONTHS, DIFFERENCES WERE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT FOR BOTH SIMPLE AND MULTIPLE ARRESTS, WITH THE RELEASED GROUP SHOWING THE LOWEST NUMBER OF ARRESTS AND THE COURT GROUP THE HIGHEST, WHILE THE TWO COUNSELING GROUPS FELL BETWEEN. AT 15 MONTHS, 115 OF THE SUBJECTS WERE AVAILABLE TO ANSWER A SELF-REPORTED DELINQUENCY QUESTIONNAIRE. ALL GROUPS REPORTED ABOUT THE SAME NUMBER OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIORS. IT IS CONCLUDED (1) THAT MULTIPLE ARREST DATA IS A BETTER PREDICTOR OF LONG-RANGE TRENDS THAN SIMPLE ARREST DATA AND (2) COURT DISPOSITION LEADS TO HIGHER REARREST FIGURES BECAUSE POLICE MONITOR THESE JUVENILES MORE CLOSELY. SIMPLE RELEASE IS CONSIDERED THE LEAST EXPENSIVE DIVERSION ALTERNATIVE. TABLES PRESENT STUDY DATA. (GLR)