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Article 1: Inderbitzin, M. (2006). Lessons from a juvenile training school: Survival and growth. Journal of Adolescent Research, 21(1), 7–26.

Abstract: This article examines the lessons learned by youths confined to a maximum-security juvenile correctional facility. Using data from an ethnographic study of a cottage of violent offenders in one state’s end-of-the-line training school, the author describes the lessons the institution and its staff members hoped to teach the young people in their care and the informal but vital lessons the inmates indicated they had learned during their incarceration. The continued viability of training schools as a response to serious and violent juvenile offenders is analyzed and discussed.

Article 2: Merlo, A. V., & Benekos, P. J. (2003). Defining juvenile justice in the 21st century. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 1(3), 276–288.

Abstract: Crime and public policy continue to be salient issues in the 21st century. This article reviews juvenile justice policy and examines initiatives that demonstrate positive directions for the future of the juvenile justice system. The authors summarize the history of juvenile justice and review recent developments that warrant further research to demonstrate rational, effective policies, and strategies for responding to juvenile delinquency. The influences of ideology, politics, and the media on public policy are discussed, and the authors consider future issues in juvenile justice.

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Article 1: Hay, C., & Evans, M. M. (2006). Has Roe v. Wade reduced U.S. crime rates? Examining the link between mothers’ pregnancy intentions and children’s later involvement in law-violating behavior. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 43(1), 36–66.

Abstract: Rates of serious crime in the United States dropped greatly throughout the 1990s for virtually all offenses. John Donohue and Steven Levitt have argued that this reduction relates strongly to the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized the abortion of unwanted pregnancies. If such pregnancies result in children with higher lifetime risks of criminality, then the greater ability to terminate these pregnancies after 1973 should reduce crime rates. The purpose of this article is to empirically assess Donohue and Levitt’s basic premise that unwanted pregnancies result in children with significantly higher risk for law-violating behavior. This analysis addresses two questions. First, do children born of an unwanted pregnancy become more highly involved in juvenile delinquency during adolescence and criminal behavior during early adulthood? Second, do the consequences of unwanted pregnancies depend upon the social and demographic characteristics of the child and family? The authors address these two questions with panel data gathered from a national sample of children born prior to Roe v. Wade.

Article 2: Goodkind, S. (2005). Gender-specific services in the juvenile justice system: A critical examination. Affilia,20(1), 52–70.

Abstract: This article reviews the literature on gender-specific services for girls in the juvenile justice system. Drawing on feminist theorizing, it offers four critiques: (a) that the increasing involvement of girls in the system is taken as a real indicator of greater crime and delinquency; (b) that an essentialized notion of gender is used; (c) that the problem is located in the individual, to the exclusion of solutions that focus on system/structural changes; and (d) that a focus on girls’ victimization obscures girls’ agency and perpetuates girls’ continued punishment for behaviors that are more acceptable among boys. The article concludes by proposing a framework for rethinking gender in the design and delivery of services within and outside the juvenile justice system.

Article 3: van Batenburg-Eddes, T., Butte, D., van de Looij-Jansen, P., Schiethart, W., Raat, H., de Waart, F., & Jansen, W. (2012). Measuring juvenile delinquency: How do self-reports compare with official police statistics? European Journal of Criminology, 9(1), 23–37.

Abstract: The accuracy of measuring the prevalence of delinquency by means of self-reported questionnaires is difficult to evaluate. This study assesses the differential validity of self-reported delinquency in adolescents and, more specifically, self-reported police contacts because of suspected misconduct. This study was conducted as part of the Rotterdam Youth Monitor, a youth health surveillance system. Self-report data of pupils (mainly 12–15 years old) in the first or third grade of secondary school in the school years 2007–2008 and 2008–2009 (n = 23,914) were merged with police data. Of the pupils registered as a suspect, 62% admitted to having been interrogated at the police station. However, there were differences between groups. Multivariate analysis showed that Moroccan pupils and first-grade pupils were more likely to give an invalid response. Pupils who were registered for theft, vandalism, or assault were more likely to give a valid response, whereas pupils who were registered for an offence involving fireworks were more likely to give an invalid response. We conclude that using only self-reported data to measure delinquency in an ethnically diverse population results in substantial bias. It is advisable to use multiple sources to measure the prevalence of delinquency.

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Article 1: Goldberg, J. H. (2007). Worldview of high-risk juvenile delinquents: Relationship to decisions to shoot. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 34(6), 846–861.

Abstract: Societal-level risk factors can identify those at risk for violence but do not purport to determine how these factors affect individual-level beliefs or judgments. The current study examined high-risk, violent juvenile offenders with devastating past experiences to determine whether an individual-level approach could identify differences in the way they perceived their social world and whether these perceptions influenced the decision-making process. Participants—34 high-risk male delinquents between 15 and 18—were administered quantitative, structured interviews with both traditional risk factors and a decision-making task that required a judgment that could or could not lead to violence. Using traditional risk factors alone, participants appeared homogeneous. The decision-making approach distinguished between juveniles who, as one might expect, perceived a dangerous world where they either “kill or be killed,” from juveniles who optimistically were able to envision a world with alternatives to violence. These differences accounted for aspects of the decision-making process not captured by traditional risk factors and were significantly related to violent past behavior. We must improve upon a recidivism rate of 55% for juvenile offenders. A better understanding of how offenders perceive their social environment may be a first step toward successfully rehabilitating them to return to that environment upon release.

Article 2: Wang, X., Blomberg, T. G., & Li, S. D. (2005). Comparison of the educational deficiencies of delinquent and nondelinquent students. Evaluation Review, 29(4), 291–312.

Abstract: This article assesses the differences in educational deficiencies between a statewide sample of delinquent students and a matched sample of nondelinquent students. Employing a research design that controls for a series of relevant individual and school variables, the study’s findings document that delinquent students are characterized by a series of disproportionate educational deficiencies as compared to their nondelinquent student counterparts. Delinquent students were found to attain lower grade point averages, have poorer school attendance records, be retained more often in the same grade and receive more school disciplinary actions. The article concludes that these documented educational deficiencies may play an integral role in the process of delinquency and, therefore, pose a number of public policy implications in relation to the prevention and treatment of delinquency.

Article 3: Gottfredson, D. C., & DiPietro, S. M. (2010). School size, social capital, and student victimization. Sociology of Education, 84(1), 69–89.

Abstract: This study assesses the effects of three aspects of school organization—student enrollment, student–teacher ratio, and the number of different students taught—on the property and personal victimization experiences of students. It hypothesizes that smaller schools, schools with lower ratios of students to adults, and schools in which the number of different students taught by the typical teacher is lower will produce less victimization because of the increased social capital to which students in these schools are exposed. Using data from the National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools, the authors find that, net of individual-level risk factors and confounding characteristics of schools and their surrounding communities, each of the three aspects of school organization is related to student victimization but that these effects vary across victimization type. Their research suggests that reducing the ratio of students to teachers and reducing the number of different students taught by the average teacher are likely to reduce student victimization. Reducing school size is not. The authors also find evidence that higher levels of social capital, as measured by student consensus about normative beliefs, partially mediate the effects of student–teacher ratio on personal victimization.

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Article 1: Hay, C., Fortson, E. N., Hollist, D. R., Altheimer, I., & Schaible, L. M. (2006). Impact of community disadvantage on the relationship between the family and juvenile crime. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 43(4), 326–356.

Abstract: Prior research on the family has identified many variables significantly associated with criminal involvement, including such things as parental supervision and discipline and the quality of the parent–child relationship. However, little attention has been devoted to the possibility that the effects of these variables on crime depend on characteristics of the social context in which a family resides. Using data from a national sample of adolescents, the authors examined how the effects of key family variables depend on two indicators of a community’s level of disadvantage: its objective level of community poverty (as indicated by U.S. census data) and its perceived inadequacy as a place to raise children (as rated by parents). The analysis suggests that community disadvantage significantly amplifies the effects on crime of problems in the family environment. The implications of this conclusion for criminological theory and future research on the causes of crime are addressed.

Article 2: Unnever, J. D., Colvin, M., & Cullen, F. T. (2004). Crime and coercion: A test of core theoretical propositions. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 41(3), 244–268.

Abstract: In his recent Crime and Coercion, Colvin contends that individuals exposed to coercive environments develop social-psychological deficits that enhance their probability of engaging in criminal behavior. Using a sample of 2,472 students from six middle schools, the authors test core propositions of Colvin’s differential coercion theory. Thus, they assess whether delinquent involvement is related to four coercive environments: parental coercion, peer coercion, a coercive school environment, and a coercive neighborhood environment. The authors also assess whether the influence of these coercive environments on delinquency is mediated by four social-psychological deficits: coercive ideation, anger, school social bonds, and parental social bonds. The analysis revealed fairly consistent support for the core propositions of differential coercion theory. Thus, they found that students exposed to coercive environments develop social-psychological deficits and therefore engage in relatively serious delinquent behavior.

Article 3: Moon, B., Blurton, D., & McCluskey, J. (2008). General strain theory and delinquency: Focusing on the influences of key strain characteristics on delinquency. Crime Delinquency, 54(4), 582–613.

Abstract: The study examines the effects of recent, older, and chronic strains and of perceived injustice of strain on delinquency, sampling 777 Korean youth. Seven key strains most likely leading to delinquency, some of which were often overlooked in previous research, were included, and these are family conflict, parental punishment, teachers’ punishment, financial strain, examination-related strain, being bullied, and criminal victimization. Overall, the findings provide some support for general strain theory’s prediction that some recent strains and perceived injustice have significant effects on delinquency. The results show that recent and older teachers’ physical and emotional punishment and victimization are positively related to general delinquency. However, chronic parental punishment and chronic bullying are negatively related to general delinquency, inconsistent with Agnew’s prediction. The findings also indicate the critical importance of including types of strain that are unique to certain cultures into tests of the theory.

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Article 1: Ryan, J. (2006). Dependent youth in juvenile justice: Do positive peer culture programs work for victims of child maltreatment? Research on Social Work Practice, 16(5), 511–519.

Abstract: Objective: The purpose of this study is to identify and determine the individual- and group-level factors associated with recidivism for children in a long-term Positive Peer Culture (PPC) program. The current study focuses specific attention on the role of child maltreatment in understanding the risk of recidivism. It is widely accepted that victims of child abuse and neglect are more likely to engage in delinquent behavior as compared with their nonmaltreated counterparts. Yet, little is known about dependent youth in the juvenile justice system. The maltreatment-delinquency literature focuses almost exclusively on the initial risk of juvenile or adult offending. Moreover, the comparison groups are always children in the general population rather than children in the juvenile justice system. Method: The sample includes 286 adjudicated delinquent offenders. Hierarchical nonlinear modeling is used to partition effects at the individual and group levels. Results: Overall, 117 (41%) of the sample was arrested. Youth with a history of physical abuse and neglect were more likely to have a subsequent arrest (50% vs. 37%). Conclusion: PPC programs may not be the most effective strategy for dependent youth in the juvenile justice system.

Article 2: Jones, L. M., Finkelhor, D., & Halter, S. (2006). Child maltreatment trends in the 1990s: Why does neglect differ from sexual and physical abuse? Child Maltreatment, 11(2), 107–120.

Abstract: Substantiated cases of child maltreatment have declined more than 20% since a peak in 1993. However, although sexual abuse and physical abuse showed significant declines during the 1990s (47% and 36%, respectively), neglect fluctuated, with only a small overall decline during this period (7%). Available data suggest that at least part of the declines in sexual and physical abuse is likely to be real. Some evidence also suggests that a decline in neglect may have been masked in some states. Possible sources for declines in child maltreatment include direct prevention efforts, economic improvements, more aggressive criminal justice efforts, dissemination of psychiatric medication, and generational changes. Public health models suggest that population-level prevention initiatives are the most promising options for further reducing maltreatment rates. However, better epidemiological and evaluation research will be needed to identify the key factors.

Article 3: Scudder, R., Blount, W., Heide, K. & Silverman, I. (1993). Important links between child abuse, neglect, and delinquency. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 37(4), 315–323.

Abstract: Many studies over the last 40 years have suggested links between child maltreatment and later delinquency. However, these studies have frequently been methodologically weak. The present study investigated the linkage between child abuse and delinquency using a randomly selected sample of children from a cohort who attended schools in West Central Florida. This study found a significant relationship between abuse and delinquency.

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Article 1: Shook, J. J. (2005). Contesting childhood in the U.S. Justice System: The transfer of the juvenile to criminal court. Childhood, 12(4), 461–478.

Abstract: Recent legislative enactments have altered the boundary between U.S. juvenile and criminal justice systems. Youth that were previously adjudicated as juveniles are increasingly being labeled “adults” and tried in the criminal court. This article begins with a review of policy and practice changes in the transfer of children to the criminal court. Through a discussion of relevant social and political discourses, the author examines the meanings of these changes for constructions of childhood and the contestation of childhood that they represent. The article concludes with a framework for analyzing and reconfiguring the trying of children as adults.

Article 2: Mear, D. D., & Travis, J. (2004). Youth development and reentry. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 2(1), 3–20.

Abstract: The transition of young people ages 24 and younger from juvenile and adult correctional settings back into schools, families, communities, and society at large—a process termed youth reentry—is one of the critical justice policy issues currently confronting the United States, yet research addressing this topic is limited. We therefore know little about the unique challenges, including the role of youth development, involved in youth reentry or how best to effectively assist this population to become contributing members of society. For this reason, the Urban Institute convened a roundtable of researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and community leaders to inform national discussions about youth reentry. In this introduction to the special issue, we summarize the findings and issues raised at the meeting, presenting highlights from the paper presentations and discussions. We then identify some of the promising research and policy directions that emerged from the meeting.

Article 3: Cohen, M., Piquero, A., & Jennings, W. (2010). Estimating the costs of bad outcomes for at-risk youth and the benefits of early childhood interventions to reduce them. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 21(4), 391–434.

Abstract: Although it appears that there is growing interest in early childhood intervention as an effort to reduce crime, resources continue to be funneled toward punishment and incarceration. Considering this and acknowledging earlier cost-based empirical research, the question still remains as to the cost incurred by a lifetime of involvement in crime and experiencing a host of adverse noncrime outcomes. This study provides a review of the literature in search of well-designed early childhood interventions that address a series of social ills, such as crime and delinquency, educational attainment, drug and alcohol abuse, smoking, child abuse and neglect, poor health outcomes, and teen pregnancy. Furthermore, building on the earlier framework and basic methodology developed by Cohen and recently updated by Cohen and Piquero, this study offers calculations of the present value of lifetime costs imposed on society for each of these various social ills—discounted to the date of birth to put them on comparable terms. The largest cost is imposed by the career criminal (US$2.1–US$3.7 million). Next, the present value costs associated with both drug abuse and alcohol dependence/abuse are roughly the same—about US$700,000 each—whereas child abuse and neglect costs an estimated US$250,000–US$285,000. Health-related outcomes range from a low US$10,300 for the estimated present value cost of low birth weight to US$127,000, US$144,000, US$187,000, and US$260,000 for coronary heart disease, asthma, diabetes, and smoking, respectively. Finally, the present value cost of teen pregnancy is estimated to range from US$120,000 to US$140,000. Thus, properly designed programs and policies that focus on early childhood intervention have the potential to produce significant social benefits. Study limitations and suggestions for future research are also discussed.

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Article 1: Guevara, L., Herz, D., & Spohn, C. (2006). Gender and juvenile justice decision making: What role does race play? Feminist Criminology, 1(4), 258–282.

Abstract: This study examines the independent and interactive effects of race and gender on juvenile justice decision-making. Using data from a sample of juvenile court referrals from two midwestern juvenile courts, this study looks at males and females separately by race. The results indicate that the effect of race on the pre-adjudication detention and disposition outcomes varies by gender. The severity or leniency of the outcomes is determined by race, gender, and an interaction of the two. This study underscores the need to examine juvenile justice decision-making with a multistage analysis to unravel the intricate effects of race and gender.

Article 2: Guevara, L., Herz, D., & Spohn, C. (2004). Race, legal representation, and juvenile justice: Issues and concerns. Crime and Delinquency, 50, 344–371.

Abstract: The objective of this study was to examine the influence of type of counsel across race on juvenile court outcomes. Using data from a sample of juvenile court referrals from two midwestern juvenile courts, this study examined the interaction of race and type of counsel on disposition outcome. The results indicated that youth without an attorney were the most likely to have the charges dismissed, and this effect was more pronounced for non-White youth. In addition, non-White youth represented by a private attorney were significantly more likely than similar White youth to receive a secure confinement disposition.

Article 3: Smith, D. (2005). The effectiveness of the juvenile justice system. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 5(2), 181–195.

Abstract: Systematic assessment of the substantial research evidence on “what works” has shown that flagship programs have a modest effect, on average, in changing the future behavior of young offenders. Yet, actual juvenile justice systems do not typically deliver the modest benefits provided by programs selected for evaluation and probably they never will. Comparative research shows that a passive and lenient juvenile justice system may produce the same level of youth offending as an active and punitive one. Evidence that some programs work should not be used as a platform for expanding the scope and activity of the juvenile justice system. Instead, the influence of juvenile justice on the future behavior of young offenders should be seen as just one element in the evaluation of a system that will always struggle to meet a complex range of partly conflicting objectives.

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Article 1: Parker, A. L., & Sarre, R. (2008). Policing young offenders: What role discretion? International Journal of Police Science & Management, 10(4), 474–485.

Abstract: Although police exercise wide discretionary powers when carrying out their general patrol duties, it is with respect to young people that these powers are the most extensive. The present research examines some of the factors that influence the use of police discretionary powers with young offenders. Over 220 sworn police officers from New South Wales Police responded to written surveys about the way in which they routinely dealt with, or planned to deal with, four offences commonly committed by juvenile offenders. Results show that police behavior toward the same offending may vary greatly, particularly in relation to minor offences. This is not particularly surprising, given the plethora of discretionary and diversionary options that have been introduced into Australian juvenile justice and policing legislation in the last decade. The purpose of giving these options was to provide police with greater scope to accommodate individual differences in offenders. An unintended consequence of this change, however, has been greater unpredictability of outcome. Given that there is a broad range of police officer typologies as well, a young person’s experience with the law, especially in relation to minor offending, is becoming more “lottery”-like.

Article 2: Herz, D. C. (2001). Improving police encounters with juveniles: Does training make a difference? Justice Research and Policy, 3(2), 57–77.

Abstract: Law enforcement training programs rarely address how juvenile developmental differences affect police encounters with aggressive or potentially aggressive juveniles. This neglect is surprising since a large percentage of police threat of or use of force contacts are with juveniles. While additional training represents one strategy to address this shortcoming, it is unclear whether such training affects the police officers’ perceptions of juveniles and their attitudes toward handling juvenile aggression. This study examines the effectiveness of an experimental training program designed to improve officers’ recognition of juveniles’ developmental difference and change their attitudes toward their role in handling aggressive or potentially aggressive juveniles. Results showed that training affected officer responses in the desired direction directly following training and at follow-up. Additionally, these findings indicated that a majority of trained officers who encountered aggressive juveniles utilized verbal techniques from the training and found them effective.

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Article 1: Gebo, E. (2005). Do family courts administer individualized justice in delinquency cases? Criminal Justice Policy Review, 16, 190–210.

Abstract: Family courts are in use or are being considered in more than half of U.S. states, yet little research exists on their outcomes. This study examines effects of a policy change in one state, which created a pilot family court system. The policy change to family court mandates a more individualized client focus for these courts. Family courts are compared to juvenile courts in the processing of delinquency cases. Results of logistic regression show that family courts may be meeting the policy goals of individualized justice by accepting fewer plea bargains and by ordering more clinical assessments for juveniles and their families. Ultimately, however, there is no difference in sentencing outcomes between these two types of court structures. Policy implications are discussed.

Article 2: Harris, A. (2008). The social construction of “sophisticated” adolescents: How judges integrate juvenile and criminal justice decision-making models. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 37(4), 469–506.

Abstract: This study investigates the types of decision-making models that frame people-processing decisions. An analysis of the judicial waiver hearing will be used as an example of such institutional processing. I investigate how decision makers engage in practical reasoning by exploring the methods they use to organize information about youth and accomplish their judicial duties. Observational and interview data from a case study of three juvenile courthouses in a California county are used to investigate official case processing. The study offers three important theoretical insights for research in sociology and criminology; a revised theoretical framework for understanding juvenile justice decision making that incorporates criminal justice frameworks, an analysis of how substantive factors (e.g., values, stereotypes, and assumptions) can enter into decision making, and an illustration of how decision making is organizationally situated.

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Article 1: Schram, P. J., & Gaines, L. K. (2005). Examining delinquent non-gang members and delinquent gang members: A comparison of juvenile probationers. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 3(2), 99–115.

Abstract: This study examines differences between juvenile gang and nongang members participating in a juvenile probation program designed to identify and intervene with youth considered to be high risk for subsequent criminal and delinquent activity. After participating in the Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) Program, both gang and nongang members significantly improved their grade point average, lowered the number of classes missed, and reduced the number of suspensions. Both groups also improved on family functioning and a decrease in reported alcohol and substance abuse. There were also improvements for gang and nongang members concerning subsequent delinquent activity. The results suggest that at some levels, gang affiliation is not an impediment to treatment programming. A limitation to the study was that gang membership was based on self-report and law enforcement identification, which results in false positive and false negative designations. Additionally, the nongang group may have included youths who escaped being identified as gang members.

Article 2: Chan, J. H. F. (2006). Systemic patterns in bullying and victimization. School Psychology International, 27(3), 352–369.

Abstract: Using a new non-anonymous questionnaire and a nomination method by which victims were asked to name their aggressors, Chan (2002) collated the responses from individual victims to produce name-clusters that were studied for systemic patterns of bullying and victimization within the whole-school community. Three such patterns emerged: serial bullying, multiple victimization, and the familial pattern in bullying. Serial bullying is the situation where one perpetrator preys on two or more victims, often traversing a broad range of classes and grades to target his/her victims. Although relatively fewer in number, this group of serial bullies was found to be responsible for a sizeable percentage of the bullying problems in the schools sampled. The data obtained support the notion that concentrating intervention efforts on this group will reap tremendous payoffs, by effectively eliminating the origin of much of the school’s various forms of violence. The converse of serial bullying is multiple victimization, that is, more than one perpetrator can converge on one victim. The reasons why some children are chronically victimized and attract attack from multiple sources were discussed in the context of personality dispositions, peer-relational and family-relational factors, as well as its developmental links with workplace victim status in adulthood. The third pattern studied by Chan (2002) involved cases where children in the same family (i.e., siblings) turned up being named as bullies by their peers. Family influences (e.g., rearing practices and parental modeling) on aggressive behavior in children have long been known. But transmission of influences between siblings, through acting as “key pathogens” and/or “partners in crime” is also responsible for the aggregation of delinquent behavior. The familial pattern in bullying found in Chan’s (2002) study is consistent with such transmission pathways. The ability to reveal the hidden patterns of interaction and links among bullies and victims in the context of the whole-school community attests to the significance and practical use of the SLS peer nomination method of asking victims to name the perpetrators of bullying. It makes possible the tracking of bullies and victims beyond class boundaries, thereby providing information that goes beyond individual data and incidence rates. What is more important, intervention and treatment can be more effectively implemented in a systems-wide approach, when there is integrated information from various key sources.

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Article 1: Benekos, P. J., & Merlo, A.V. (2005). Juvenile offenders and the death penalty. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 3(4), 316–333.

Abstract: In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that because they are less culpable and less able to deliberate about their behaviors, the execution of mentally retarded offenders exceeded the prevailing standards of decency (Atkins v. Virginia). Based on this rationale, and with increasing concerns over wrongful convictions and the execution of innocent defendants, some questioned whether the court’s decision could also apply to juvenile offenders. In March 2005, the majority of the justices determined that executing adolescent offenders violated the Eighth Amendment (Roper v. Simmons). This article reviews (a) recent court decisions on the death penalty, (b) citizen and student opinions on juvenile executions, and (c) comparative policies on juvenile executions. The authors also discuss the politics of the death penalty and the consequences of Roper on juvenile justice policy.

Article 2: Applegate, B. K., & Davis, R. K. (2006). Public views on sentencing juvenile murderers: The impact of offender, offense, and perceived maturity. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 4(1), 55–74.

Abstract: Concerns about juvenile murderers were raised by increases in juvenile homicide rates between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. Little is known, however, about what level of punishment the public desires for such youths. Using a randomly selected sample of Florida citizens and a factorial vignette survey approach, the present study assesses the impact of characteristics of the offender, aspects of the offense, and perceptions of a youth’s maturity on public preferences for the punishment of juvenile murderers. Our findings show that the public favors short sentences of incarceration or less punitive responses in most cases and that the most salient determinant of punitiveness is the type of murder committed. These results are discussed in light of prior research and current policy directions.

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Article 1: Blackburn, H. G., Mullings, J. L., Marquart, J. W., & Trulson, C. R. (2007). The next generation of prisoners: Toward an understanding of violent institutionalized delinquents. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 5, 35–56.

Abstract: Violent behavior by juveniles, along with the juvenile incarceration rate, has been on the decline in the past several years. Despite these declines, institutionalized juveniles, particularly violent offenders, constitute the population most at risk of becoming the next generation of adult prisoners. Using a sample of youth incarcerated in the Texas Youth Commission (TYC), this article first examines gender differences among numerous self-report measures including but not limited to violence, maltreatment, life stress, and depression. Next, multivariate analysis revealed that age, minority status, substance dependency, life stress, and gang membership were significantly related to violent offending. Analyses also revealed that numerous variables were related to depression among incarcerated male and female delinquents. This article ends with a discussion of policy implications for incarcerated delinquents.

Article 2: Webb, V. J., Katz, C. M., & Decker, S.H. (2006). Accessing the validity of self-reports by gang members: Results from the Arrestee Drug Abuse Program. Crime and Delinquency, 52, 232–252.

Abstract: Scholars who study criminal and delinquent behavior rely on the self-report method for measuring crime and delinquency. Gang researchers also rely on the self-report method for determining gang involvement and measuring criminal and delinquent behavior of gang members. This study examines disclosure rates of recent drug use by gang members in comparison with their urinalysis outcomes. A substantial body of research indicates that members of the criminally involved population, at least those who get arrested, are less than accurate when reporting recent drug use; however, it does not appear that gang members are different in their reporting than members of the group as a whole. Disclosure rates of gang members did not differ significantly from those of nongang members. This adds to the cumulative body of evidence that although not perfect, self-reports of illegal behavior are a valid measurement technique in gang research.

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Article 1: Cox, P. (2010). Juvenile justice reform and policy convergence in the New Vietnam. Youth Justice, 10(3), 227–244.

Abstract: This article analyzes juvenile justice reform in Vietnam and suggests how this connects with key transformations in wider Vietnamese cultures of control. It offers a grounded investigation of themes raised in recent discussions of policy transfer in the global criminal justice field. It concurs with others that global processes of policy convergence have their local limits, using Vietnamese examples to illustrate where this convergence comes about in practice and where it does not. It explores efforts to professionalize existing community justice practices through a discussion of perceived needs for “training” and for the expansion of “counseling.” In doing so, it aims to show how justice practices that might be called “neo-welfarist” are emerging in one of East Asia’s most remarkable political hybrids—the New Vietnam—a communist state that has embraced economic liberalism and, in the process, is creating a new kind of “social” sphere.

Article 2: Muncie, J. (2005). The globalization of crime control—the case of youth and juvenile justice: Neo-liberalism, policy convergence, and international conventions. Theoretical Criminology, 9(1), 35–64.

Abstract: The concept of globalization has gradually permeated criminology, but more so as applied to transnational organized crime, international terrorism, and policing than in addressing processes of criminal justice reform. Based on a wide range of bibliographic and web resources, this article assesses the extent to which a combination of neo-liberal assaults on the social logics of the welfare state and public provision, widespread experimentation with restorative justice and the prospect of rehabilitation through mediation, and widely ratified international directives, epitomized by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, have now made it possible to talk of a global juvenile/youth justice. Conversely it also reflects on how persistent national and local divergences, together with the contradictions of contemporary reform, may preclude any aspiration for the delivery of a universal and consensual product.

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Article 1: Smith, D. J. (2005). The effectiveness of the juvenile justice system. Criminal Justice, 5(2), 181–195.

Abstract: Systematic assessment of the substantial research evidence on “what works” has shown that flagship programs have a modest effect, on average, in changing the future behavior of young offenders. Yet, actual juvenile justice systems do not typically deliver the modest benefits provided by programs selected for evaluation, and probably they never will. Comparative research shows that a passive and lenient juvenile justice system may produce the same level of youth offending as an active and punitive one. Evidence that some programs work should not be used as a platform for expanding the scope and activity of the juvenile justice system. Instead, the influence of juvenile justice on the future behavior of young offenders should be seen as just one element in the evaluation of a system that will always struggle to meet a complex range of partly conflicting objectives.

Article 2: Merlo, A., Benekos, P. (2003). Defining juvenile justice in the 21st century. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 1(3), 276–288.

Abstract: Crime and public policy continue to be salient issues in the 21st century. This article reviews juvenile justice policy and examines initiatives that demonstrate positive directions for the future of the juvenile justice system. The authors summarize the history of juvenile justice and review recent developments that warrant further research to demonstrate rational, effective policies, and strategies for responding to juvenile delinquency. The influences of ideology, politics, and the media on public policy are discussed, and the authors consider future issues in juvenile justice.