The Effect of Extralegal Factors in Decision-Making About Juvenile Offenders in Chile: A Quasi-Experimental Study

This study seeks to identify the underlying factors related to the sentencing process for juvenile justice cases in Chile. To this end, a factorial survey method or quasi-experimental vignette method was used. This method allows us to understand with greater clarity the complex cognitive process involved in judicial decision-making. The results confirm that legal factors carry the critical weight for judicial decisions, though extralegal factors also play a role. Among these, factors associated with the offender (such as drug use and school attendance) and characteristics of the judges themselves (such as judicial attitudes and their previous experience) all influenced the decision-making process. These findings allow us to provide evidence about decision-making in the Latin American contexts and add to existing evidence in order to understand the moderating effect of certain class and gender stereotypes.

Juvenile Court Outcomes for Retail Offenders: An Examination of Offense Type, Sex, and Race/Ethnicity

Using all delinquency referrals in a Northeast state, the current study examined how youth charged with retail offenses differed from other offense types across multiple juvenile court outcomes (i.e., petition, adjudication, and disposition). The individual and joint effects of a juvenile’s sex and race/ethnicity were also investigated to determine whether these extralegal factors conditioned the relationship between offense type and juvenile system processing. Findings indicate that at each decision-making stage, retail offenders were significantly more likely to be treated with leniency compared to other offense types. The results also reinforced the continued impact of sex and race/ethnicity on shaping judicial outcomes at each stage. Implications regarding the processing of juvenile retail offenders and the influence of juvenile characteristics on juvenile court decision-making are discussed.

The Role of Fines and Fees on Probation Outcomes

Individuals on probation are commonly assessed fines and fees. These monetary sanctions serve different purposes. Fines are primarily used for more punitive purposes, whereas fees are often used to recover the costs of services provided. Regardless of ability to pay, monetary sanction payments are often required as a probation condition. Nonpayment therefore can result in violations and potentially revocations. However, little is known about how fines and fees operate specifically within probation. This current study explored legal and extralegal factors that influence the total amount of fines and fees assessed in individual cases, as well as the influence of fines and fees on probation revocations. The implications of the findings concentrate on ways to improve probation policies as well as probation officer’s practices as they relate to the collection and enforcement of monetary sanctions.

Funneled Through or Filtered Out: An Examination of Police and Prosecutorial Decision-Making in Adult Sexual Assault Cases

To improve criminal justice responses to sexual assault, it is vital to understand the factors that influence decisions made by police and prosecutors and how these decisions overlap. Although decisions made at the prosecutorial stage are largely reliant on the actions of the police, the prosecutors’ charging decisions often differ from how the police classify incidents. Guided by the focal concerns perspective, this study examined 231 cases of adult sexual assault incidents reported to the police to identify which factors were predictive of congruent charging decisions and arrest. The results supported the focal concerns perspective and revealed that legal and extralegal factors were influential at both of these points. Legally relevant factors that focused on the collection of evidence were paramount in decisions at both stages; however, extralegal variables such as timely reporting and whether the victim physically resisted were also significantly related to decisions at each stage. Implications arising from the results are discussed.

The Liberation Hypothesis Perspective and Juvenile Court Outcomes: Implications for an Understanding of the Interplay Between Offender and Offense Characteristics

Extensive empirical support demonstrates the importance of legal (e.g., crime severity, prior record) and extralegal factors (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender) in predicting juvenile court outcomes. An understudied area is inquiry into how certain extralegal factors interact with legal determinants to impact the social control of juveniles. This study uses a sample of delinquent referrals from a Northeast state over 10 years to examine the impact of race/ethnicity, gender, crime severity, and prior record, individually and in combination, on juvenile court outcomes. Although the liberation hypothesis predicts that extralegal factors have a diminishing effect on case outcomes as the severity of the case increases, overall, we fail to find support for this expectation.

Effects of a Perpetrator’s Physical Attractiveness, Socioeconomic Status and Gender on Behaviour Perception of the Participants of Sexual Harassment Situations

Sexual harassment is still a widespread problem in today’s modern society. Therefore, it is important to identify extralegal factors that shape society’s attitudes towards sexual harassment cases and why, sometimes, the victim of sexual harassment is being blamed for the situation. Most of the previous studies do not explore the causal relationship between the characteristics of the accused and the attitudes towards the cases. Moreover, the results of many existing studies are contradictory. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the impact of sex, physical attractiveness and socioeconomic status (SES) of the perpetrator on the attitudes towards sexual harassment situations. A hundred seventy-nine respondents participated in the study. During the research, a fictional news report and situation assessment scale were used. It was found that only a perpetrator’s physical attractiveness and socioeconomic status had a statistically significant impact on the appraisal of the perpetrator and victim’s behavior in the situation. The physical attractiveness of the perpetrator resulted in a statistically significant positive appraisal of his behavior and a more negative appraisal of the victim’s behavior. SES only had a statistically significant impact on the appraisal of perpetrator’s behavior: when the perpetrator was of high SES, his behavior in a sexual harassment situation was perceived more negatively than that of low SES. Results of this research not only emphasize the importance of extralegal factors on the attitudes toward the sexual harassment victims and perpetrators among younger adults, but also indicates possible societal changes – diminished gender and opposite SES effects on the attitudes toward the aforementioned situations.

Unfounded, Cleared, or Cleared by Exceptional Means: Sexual Assault Case Outcomes From 1999 to 2014

Sexual assault is a highly underreported crime with even fewer cases proceeding to the point of charges and prosecution, suggesting that sexual assault victims have less opportunity for legal justice than other crime victims. Case attrition may, in part, be due to negative attitudes and rape myth acceptance (RMA) in police decision making. Yet, little attention has been paid to examining the evidentiary and extralegal factors surrounding the case that contribute to police decision making and case outcomes through examination of police case files. This examination is necessary to address the issue of differential processing of sexual assault cases in the criminal justice system. This study uses police data of sexual assault case files from 1999 to 2014 ( N = 23,525) to examine the assault, victim, and detective characteristics that contribute to case outcomes of unfounded, cleared, and exceptionally cleared through arrest and victim refusal to prosecute. Logistic regression models tested 15 years of reported sexual assault data from one large police department and found that elements that correspond with RMA were predictive of unfounded, cleared, and exceptionally cleared case decisions, providing further indication that officers consider evidentiary but also extralegal factors in decision making. Overall, results support previous contentions that sexual assault victims have unequal access to legal justice, particularly victims possessing demographic and assault characteristics that do not align with stereotypical notions of rape. Implications for future research and policing practices are discussed.

Arrest and Referral Decisions in Sexual Assault Cases: The Influence of Police Discretion on Case Attrition

Research on sexual assault case attrition spans from the decision of victims to report the incidents and cooperate with police during investigations through the final case disposition in the courtroom. However, few studies have focused on how police discretion influences attrition at the points of arrest and case referral. The current study examines factors of adult sexual assaults reported to the police to determine which legal and extralegal factors were predictive of arrest and which variables were predictive of police decisions to refer cases to prosecutors for consideration. The results of this study showed victim cooperation and evidence significantly predicted arrest and referral, along with variables which measured the seriousness of the case and victim credibility. The findings confirmed both legally relevant and extralegal variables were important considerations during each decision-making point. Implications arising from these results are discussed.