Juvenile court judges' perceptions of what factors affect juvenile offenders' likelihood of rehabilitation

Founders hoped that juvenile offenders' likelihood of rehabilitation would increase by creating separate juvenile courts. By the 1950s, the advent of the television combined with publication of crime statistics created a picture of a violent juvenile offender. This new breed of criminal produced demands for stiffer penalties. To make them eligible for more punitive sanctions, juvenile offenders were transferred to adult criminal court, most commonly using the judicial waiver. The primary judicial reasoning was that the more stringent sentences available in adult court were appropriate for offenders who were not likely to be rehabilitated. Attitudinal theory suggests that judges' perceptions may affect the factors they consider in their transfer decisions. Thus, this research focuses on judges' perceptions. An instrument was developed to measure whether judges perceive the likelihood of rehabilitation to be influenced by extra-legal factors (e.g., demographic characteristics of juvenile offenders, family structure) or legal factors (e.g., crime committed, prior record, age). A self-administered mail questionnaire was sent to 1,040 juvenile court judges across the United States. Two indices---extra-legal and legal---were created to measure the relationship between judges' perceptions and the factors they consider in their transfer decisions. Primary analysis used frequencies, cross-tabulations, and measures of association. The factors that judges may consider in their transfer decisions are specified and vary according to state statutes. Extra-legal factors are never included in the statutes as factors that may be considered. Nonetheless, the findings confirm that judges consider extra-legal factors in their transfer decisions. The results suggest that both male and non-minority judges perceive that extra-legal characteristics (i.e.: gender, race, socio-economic status, location of residence and family structure) affect an offender's likelihood of rehabilitation. A larger percentage of Democrat than Republican judges ranked socio-economic status as a very important factor in determining offenders' likelihood of rehabilitation. All judges seem to believe that family structure and prior record are almost equally important factors in determining offenders' likelihood of rehabilitation. Thus, although judges consider legal factors in their transfer decisions, they also include criteria that are not permitted by law.