Evaluation Issues Confronting Juvenile Justice Sentencing Reforms: A Case Study of Texas

1998 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 443-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel P. Mears
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Unintended Effects ◽  
Efficacy Analysis ◽  
Effective Evaluation ◽  
Sentencing Reform ◽  
Determinate Sentencing ◽  
Sentencing Reforms

Many states currently are implementing “get tough” sentencing reforms in juvenile justice. Surprisingly, however, little attention has been given to evaluation issues identified by the adult justice sentencing literature as critical to assessments of efficacy. Analysis of one recent juvenile justice sentencing reform in Texas—determinate sentencing—provides an opportunity to highlight such issues and to demonstrate their relevance to assessment of other states' juvenile justice sentencing reforms. This article identifies the failure to attend adequately to design, implementation, use, and assessment issues, including identification of potential unintended effects, as barriers to effective evaluation of these reforms.

An Effective Evaluation of a Small Scale Seniors Health Promotion Centre: A Case Study

1991 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor D. Glor
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Promotion De La Santé ◽  
Personnes Âgées ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Effective Evaluation

RÉSUMÉL'évaluation rigoureuse et de grande envergure est souvent impossible. Les micro-programmes requièrent cependant des évaluations à leur mesure. A l'aide de l'exemple d'un centre communautaire pour personnes âgées, les difficultés de l'évaluation d'un petit programme sont discutées; soit celles relatives à mesure de la santé, la mesure de l'impact, qui ne sera pas significative en terme statistique, et le coût de l'évaluation en rapport avec les sommes investies dans le programme. L'évaluation de ce centre, qui a mis l'emphase sur la qualité et la quantité des services, a conclu que ce centre, associé à une association communautaire, offrait un ensemble de services de prévention et de promotion de la santé accessibles aux personnes âgées du quartier. Deux groupes avaient été ciblés par le centre: les personnes âgées vulnérables et les autochtones âgées.

Organizational Imperatives and Sentencing Reform Implementation: The Impact of Prison Practices and Priorities on the Attainment of the Objective of Determinate Sentencing

1986 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Hepburn ◽  
Lynne Goodstein
Keyword(s):  
Legal Reform ◽  
Good Time ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Program Participation ◽  
Criminal Justice Reform ◽  
Reform Implementation ◽  
Sentencing Reform ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Determinate Sentencing ◽  
The Impact

Determinate sentencing, advocated as a means of increasing sentencing equity and reducing inmate release uncertainty and coerced program participation, has been heralded as a major criminal justice reform. Yet organizational theorists caution that successful implementation of a legal reform may be impeded by a number of factors. In this article we concentrate on the implementation of determinate sentencing reform by the correctional system and propose that its objectives will be compromised by its low priority relative to more visible, immediate, and central mandates of prison administration. Focusing on the reform states of Illinois, Minnesota, and Connecticut, the article explores the prison practices and policies governing good time, supervised release, and program participation. We conclude that the objectives of determinate sentencing were affected, to varying degrees, by more central and salient correctional concerns, such as prison crowding and the need to exert social control.

Overcoming Challenges to Care in the Juvenile Justice System: A Case Study and Commentary

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebekah J. Savage ◽  
Jasmine M. Reese ◽  
Stephenie Wallace ◽  
Timothy Wang ◽  
Traci Jester ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
System A

Devolution, not decarceration: The limits of juvenile justice reform in Texas

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 578-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Cate
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Community Based ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
The Usa ◽  
High Level ◽  
And Control

Across the USA, a number of states have been reducing the number of juveniles sent to state-run corrections institutions. Findings from a case study on juvenile justice in Texas indicate that the effort to reduce the number of juveniles sent to large state institutions and to invest in “community-based corrections” has entrenched rather than challenged the role of the justice system in the lives of thousands of juveniles. Texas has cut the number of juveniles sent to state-run facilities, but has bolstered and expanded county probation and county detention, which is where the vast majority of juveniles have always been handled. Youth who continue to be sent to state-run facilities or who are housed in county-run institutions experience a high level of violence and are routinely subjected to solitary confinement. The popularity of deinstitutionalizing juveniles from state-run corrections institutions and increasing programming and control of offenders at the local level are animating the landscape of criminal justice policy across the country. The Texas case suggests that this narrow approach further consolidates the extensive role of the justice system in U.S. society.

Truth-In-Sentencing

Criminology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Ostrom ◽  
Charles W. Ostrom
Keyword(s):  
Criminal History ◽  
Sentence Length ◽  
Good Time ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sentencing Reform ◽  
Parole Board ◽  
Determinate Sentencing ◽  
Rehabilitation Potential ◽  
Final Sentence ◽  
Truth In Sentencing

Truth-in-sentencing (TIS) describes a range of justice system policies that eliminate discretionary parole release and significantly reduce good-time accrual rates in an attempt to make sentencing both more certain and transparent. TIS policies are most often proposed as a means for ensuring that the amount of time an offender actually serves in prison is closely aligned with the sentence originally imposed by the court—the court, the victim, and the public know how long the offender will be imprisoned. These policies follow several decades of shifting sentencing philosophies and practices: Indeterminate sentencing and powerful parole boards characterized the early 1970s; paroling authorities fell out of favor with the introduction of determinate sentencing models in the late 1970s; and sentencing guidelines and mandatory minimum sentences became commonplace during the 1980s. The adoption of TIS became one of the major objectives for sentencing reform at both federal and state levels in the 1990s. Generally, the model of TIS holds that sentencing authority rests with the court and that sentences should be served in full. Only modest reductions in sentence length based on satisfactory behavior while incarcerated are acceptable. Philosophically, TIS draws largely on a “just deserts” philosophy, in which sentences are fixed proportionally on offense seriousness and, to a lesser extent, on prior criminal history. This philosophy contrasts with indeterminate models that split authority over the final sentence between the court and some other entity, such as a parole board. In those systems, the court sentences the offender to a specific term, within a range, or to an unspecified period, and a parole body determines the actual release date—often based upon rehabilitation potential.

Is a Minimum Age of Juvenile Court Jurisdiction a Necessary Protection? A Case Study in the State of California

2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (14) ◽  
pp. 1976-1996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura S. Abrams ◽  
Elizabeth S. Barnert ◽  
Matthew L. Mizel ◽  
Isaac Bryan ◽  
Lynn Lim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Juvenile Court ◽  
The State ◽  
Juvenile Crime ◽  
Central Question ◽  
State Laws ◽  
Crime Data ◽  
Minimum Age ◽  
Status Offenses

Several U.S. states are considering setting or raising a minimum age of juvenile court jurisdiction. However, there is scant evidence to suggest if a state minimum age law would protect children from developmentally inappropriate proceedings beyond existing capacity and competency statutes. To address this central question, this case study focuses on the state of California and considers (a) existing state laws, (b) state juvenile crime data, and (c) opinions of diverse juvenile justice stakeholders. Triangulated analysis found that a low number of California children below the age of 12 years are petitioned in juvenile court and most are referred for misdemeanor or status offenses. Existing legal protections are present yet inconsistently implemented. A minimum age law would address some of these policy gaps.

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