SELECTION OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS FOR COURT APPEARANCE IN ISRAEL

• NCJ Number: 51112
• Author(s): M WERTHEIMER
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 194 pages
• Sale Source: UMI Dissertation Services
• Publication Type: Thesis/Dissertation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY - DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

Annotation

A SAMPLE OF 3,000 ISRAELI JUVENILE SUSPECTS WERE STUDIED IN AN EFFORT TO DETERMINE WHICH SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS AFFECT OFFICIAL DECISIONS TO BRING JUVENILES BEFORE THE COURTS.

Abstract

THE ASSUMPTION UNDERLYING THIS STUDY IS THAT THERE ARE FACTORS WHICH AFFECT THE SELECTION OF JUVENILE SUSPECTS; IT IS ARGUED THAT THIS ASSUMPTION CAN BE VERIFIED BY NOTING THE POPULATION SECTORS TO WHICH SUSPECTS BELONG AND BY EXAMINING THE WAYS OF THINKING OF OFFICIAL DECISIONMAKERS IN ORDER TO DETERMINE WHAT FACTORS AFFECT THEIR DECISIONS. THE STUDY CONSISTS OF TWO PARTS. THE FIRST IS BASED ON INTERVIEWS WITH INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN THE SELECTION PROCESS (I.E., POLICE OFFICERS, LAWYERS, AND JUDGES) AND CONCERNS QUESTIONS REGARDING THE DIRECTIVES AND INSTRUCTIONS GUIDING THE DECISIONMAKING PROCESS AND THE FACTORS AFFECTING DECISIONS TO CLOSE OR NOT CLOSE A FILE. THE SECOND PART PROVIDES INFORMATION ON THE SELECTION PROCESS WITH RESPECT TO A SAMPLE OF 2,500 JUVENILES BROUGHT TO COURT AND 500 NOT BROUGHT TO COURT. THE EFFECT OF VARIOUS FACTORS (I.E., THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE JUVENILE, THE FAMILY'S SOCIOECONOMIC SITUATION, THE OFFENSE, AND THE DECISIONMAKER AT EACH STAGE OF THE SELECTION PROCESS) ARE EXAMINED. THE PERSONAL APPROACHES AND POSITIONS OF OFFICIALS INVOLVED IN THE SELECTION PROCESS, CHARACTERISTICS OF CASES AT THE VARIOUS STAGES OF THE SELECTION PROCESS, TENDENCIES IN THE TREATMENT OF JUVENILES BY THE POLICE AND THE PROBATION SERVICE, AND THE ROLE OF THE INDIVIDUAL POLICE AND PROBATION OFFICER IN THE SELECTION PROCESS ARE DISCUSSED, ALONG WITH PROFILES OF THE STUDY POPULATION. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT THE LACK OF UNIFORMITY OF POLICY, PROCEDURE, AND DIRECTION IN THE TREATMENT OF JUVENILES ACCOUNTS, IN PART, FOR THE VARIANCE IN DECISIONS TO REFER JUVENILES TO PROBATION SERVICES OR THE COURTS; AND FACTORS CONNECTED WITH THE JUVENILES THEMSELVES (I.E., SEX, AGE, YEARS OF SCHOOLING, TYPE OF SCHOOLING, OCCUPATION, DISABLEMENT, PREVIOUS OFFENSES, AND PREVIOUS CLOSURES OF FILES) TEND TO SWAY THE PROBATION OFFICER, WHILE THE DECISIONS OF THE POLICE ARE CHIEFLY AFFECTED BY OFFENSE FACTORS (I.E., THE TYPE, SERIOUSNESS, AND EFFECT OF THE OFFENSE). TABULAR AND GRAPHIC DATA ARE INCLUDED, ALONG WITH A BIBLIOGRAPHY. (KBL)