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Factors Affecting Pre-Dispositional Detention and Release in Canadian Juvenile Courts

NCJ Number
115255
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 16 Issue: 6 Dated: (1988) Pages: 463-476
Author(s)
P J Carrington; S Moyer; F Kopelman
Date Published
1988
Length
14 pages
Annotation
In 1981-1982 the Candian juvenile justice system operated under the 1908 Juvenile Delinquents Act, a statute with a strong parens patriae orientation. This article assesses the degree to which one aspect of the system conformed to this traditional orientation.
Abstract
Factors affecting detention at arrest and judicial interim release (release 'on bail') of juveniles were analyzed by multiple regression, using observational and file data collected by the National Study on the Functioning of the Juvenile Court in five large Canadian cities in 1981-1982. Detention at arrest was found to be largely determined by legal and sociolegal factors, and the effects appeared to vary with age, gender, and/or race. Release by the court was strongly related to legal and sociolegal factors; extralegal factors did not appear to affect it. There was considerable variation among the five jurisdictions in the importance of particular factors, but in general, the police and (especially) the juvenile courts appeared to be considerably influenced by due process considerations. This conclusion is tempered by the ambiguity of the concept of sociolegal factors. (Author abstract)

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