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Adult Crime, Adult Time: Punishing Violent Youth in the Adult Criminal Justice System

NCJ Number
200081
Journal
Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice Volume: 1 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2003 Pages: 173-197
Author(s)
David L. Myers
Date Published
April 2003
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This study compared the certainty, severity, and swiftness of punishment for a sample of juveniles processed in criminal and juvenile courts in Pennsylvania.
Abstract
The sample consisted of 557 violent youth, with 138 of them having been judicially waived to adult court. These youth were between the ages of 15 and 18, and their charged offenses included robbery, aggravated assault, or both, and a deadly weapon was involved in their offense. All received a disposition during 1994. Those transferred to adult court were certified by a juvenile court judge as no longer being amenable to treatment in the juvenile justice system. The main independent variable was transfer to adult criminal court. Other variables were used to control for any influence they might have on the decision to transfer, case outcomes, or both. The two aspects of punishment certainty measured were conviction and conviction on a targeted offense of robbery or aggravated assault. Two aspects of punishment severity were also measured, namely, incarceration and incarceration length. Case processing time was measured in days to examine the swiftness of punishment in juvenile and adult courts. Statistical analyses showed that in terms of punishment certainty, severity, and swiftness, juveniles transferred to adult court were sentenced more harshly than were those retained in juvenile court; whereas, juvenile court processing occurred much more quickly. 8 tables, 17 notes, and 98 references