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TRACKING OFFENDERS THROUGH THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM

NCJ Number
53741
Author(s)
L DEVIN-SHEEHAN
Date Published
1977
Length
17 pages
Annotation
IN A DESCRIPTIVE, CROSS-SYSTEM STUDY, THE SUFFOLK COUNTY JUVENILE TASK FORCE TRACKED 496 YOUTHS THROUGH COMPONENTS OF THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM OF SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.
Abstract
TO EXAMINE THE PROFILES OF STATUS OFFENDERS, JUVENILE DELINQUENTS, VIOLENT OFFENDERS, YOUTHS DIVERTED FROM THE SYSTEM, MULTIPLE OFFENDERS, AND RECIDIVISTS, ONLY A CROSS-SYSTEM APPROACH COULD ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING CONCERNS ADEQUATELY: TIME LAGS IN THE SYSTEM; TIME LAGS' RELATIONSHIP TO OFFENDERS' PLEA AND CASE CHARACTERISTICS AND OUTCOME; DIFFERENT CRITERIA FOR DIVERSION IN DIFFERENT SYSTEM COMPONENTS; DIFFERENT OUTCOMES FOR OFFENDERS WITH PRIVATE COUNSEL, COURT-APPOINTED COUNSEL, OR NO COUNSEL; AND VARIATION IN AND EFFECT OF RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COURT CONSULTATION UNIT AND THE PROBATION DEPARTMENT. USING A SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING TECHNIQUE, A SAMPLE OF 533 JUVENILE OFFENDERS WAS SELECTED FROM THE 3,232 INDIVIDUALS PROCESSED THROUGH PROBATION INTAKE IN 1975. USABLE DATA WERE OBTAINED FOR 496 CASES FROM RECORDS OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, PROBATION DEPARTMENT, FAMILY COURT, AND THE NEW YORK STATE DIVISION FOR YOUTHS. THE DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT WAS AN OPTICAL SCANNING SHEET ON WHICH 80 DEMOGRAPHIC AND OUTCOME VARIABLES COULD BE RECORDED. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS WAS PERFORMED. IT WAS FOUND THAT OFFENSES COMMITTED BY MALES WERE MORE SERIOUS THAN THOSE BY FEMALES, AND SEX DIFFERENCES WERE APPARENT IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INCREASING AGE AND NUMBER OF OFFENDERS. A CONSISTENT NUMBER OF BOYS (ABOUT 14 PERCENT) ARE IN EACH AGE GROUP IN THE AGE CATEGORIES 7-11, 12, 13, AND 14, BUT AGE 15 CONTAINS 41 PERCENT OF THE MALE SAMPLE. THE FEMALES, HOWEVER, SHOW A STEADY INCREMENT IN THE NUMBER OF OFFENDERS IN EACH CATEGORY. DELINQUENTS WERE MORE LIKELY TO LIVE WITH THEIR NATURAL PARENTS THAN WERE STATUS OFFENDERS. THE AVERAGE TIME SPAN FROM DATE OF FIRST HEARING TO DATE OF TRIAL (FOR THOSE PLEADING NOT GUILTY) WAS 60 DAYS. THE AVERAGE TIME SPAN FROM DATE OF FIRST TRIAL HEARING UNTIL FINAL FACT-FINDING HEARING WAS 42 DAYS. DELAYS FOR CASES GOING TO TRIAL ARE ATTRIBUTED TO TRIAL SCHEDULING AND ADJOURNMENTS PRIOR TO THE TRIAL'S FINAL FACT-FINDING. IT IS ARGUED THAT THE CROSS-SYSTEM APPROACH PROVIDES REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLES FROM WHICH TO WORK, AND IT PERMITS EXAMINATION OF EACH COMPONENT IN THE SYSTEM. CROSS-SYSTEM RESEARCH IS LIMITED BY THE ACCESSIBILITY OF THE NEEDED INFORMATION. FLOW CHARTS AND TABLES ARE INCLUDED IN THE TEXT. (MLC)