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Article Link 12.1: Goodkind, Sara, Jeffrey J. Shook, Kevin H. Kim, Ryan T. Pohlig, and David J. Herring (2013). From Child Welfare to Juvenile Justice: Race, Gender, and System Experiences. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 11(3): 249-272.

At least one third of youth involved with juvenile justice experienced child maltreatment. Child welfare samples thus provide a means to examine how child welfare services moderate the relationship between maltreatment and delinquency, producing information essential for tailoring services to disrupt this link. This article contributes to understandings of which youth are likely to become involved with juvenile justice by examining its relationships with child welfare experiences and mental health and substance abuse service receipt, with particular attention to racial and gender differences. In multivariate analyses of a birth cohort of child welfare-involved youth, mental health services are associated with juvenile justice, and substance abuse services are predictive for White boys and out-of-home placement for girls. For youth experiencing out-of-home placement, mental health services are associated with increased likelihood of juvenile justice and substance abuse services with decreased likelihood, while congregate care predicts juvenile justice for girls and White youth.

1. How does this study examine the relationships between the juvenile justice system and child welfare, mental health, and substance abuse services?
2. What are the implications of these findings for correctional agencies and welfare services?

Article Link 12.2: Ward, Geoff, Aaron Kupchik, Laurin Parker, and Brian Chad Starks (2011). Racial Politics of Juvenile Justice Policy Support: Juvenile Court Worker Orientations Toward Disproportionate Minority Confinement. Race and Justice, 1(2): 154-184.

Since 1992 there has been a federal mandate to reduce ‘‘disproportionate minority contact’’ (DMC), that is, juvenile and criminal justice system contact of non-White youth at rates exceeding their representation in the population. There is little research on how juvenile court authorities interpret this problem and their responsibility to address it, yet existing studies suggest that racial attitudes of court workers, and the lack of diversity among these officials, may contribute to DMC. Using a survey of juvenile court workers, the authors consider how court authorities view the importance of addressing disproportionate minority confinement and the individual-level and contextual predictors of these orientations. The authors find significant variation in the extent to which local court workers view DMC as a problem and that racial politics condition these orientations. Their findings support prior work suggesting that courtroom workgroups be seen as collectives that filter and interpret external rules and regulations, such as the DMC Mandate and indicate the significance of race to the focal concerns of court workers. Within limitations of the study, findings suggest racial politics of probation officers and court contexts may impede or promote local responses to the DMC Mandate and that minority representation within the courtroom workforce is an important source of DMC Mandate support.

1. How did court workers’ perceptions of defendants impact cases in the juvenile justice system?
2. What are the implications of this study for correctional training?