Examining the Disconnect in Youth Pathways and Court Responses: How Bias Invades Across Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Sexual Orientation

Understanding court-involved girls’ pathways has been an important area of inquiry among feminist criminologists, and is especially crucial through an intersectional lens. This research highlights the intersectional identities of youth in the system using qualitative interview data from a Midwestern juvenile court ( n = 39). Modified analytic induction was used to develop assertions and examine perceived pathways present in the narratives of court staff. Findings indicate that juvenile practitioner biases affect the way the court responds to youth with a focus on girls across intersectional identities. These findings have implications for theory, practice, and policy for working with court-involved youth of all genders.

Diminishing Returns? Threshold Effects of Dispositions and Recidivism Among Court-Involved Girls

This study examines juvenile court responses among justice-involved girls. We analyze 10 years of court records on girls ( N = 1,102) from a Midwestern juvenile court to assess the impact of various aspects of placements and dispositions on recidivism outcomes. We explore how the number of dispositions girls receive, the type of disposition, and type of placement affect 2-year recidivism. Our findings indicate there may be a threshold effect to receiving dispositions—receiving three or more dispositions was significantly related to increased recidivism. Furthermore, the combination of receiving both treatment and sanction dispositions was significantly related to an increased likelihood of recidivism. Girls who received only community-based placements were more likely to recidivate than those who did not receive any dispositions. This study advances our understanding of court responses to girls and how these responses influence girls’ experiences and outcomes while involved with the juvenile justice system.

Dating Aggression among Court-Involved Adolescents: Prevalence, Offense Type, and Gender

Adolescents involved in the juvenile justice system face a variety of risk factors that are associated with more frequent and severe experiences of aggression within romantic relationships as compared to community samples. The current study examines the nature and characteristics of adolescent dating violence (ADV) among first-time offense court-involved non-incarcerated (CINI) adolescents. A sample of 199 male and female CINI adolescents (58% male; M age = 15.05) who had a first-time, open status (e.g., truancy, curfew violation) and/or delinquent petition (e.g., assault, breaking, and entering). Overall, CINI adolescents reported prevalence rates of ADV consistent with community samples of adolescents. Females reported higher perpetration than did males in the sample of physical abuse and social networking abuse, as well as higher victimization of social networking abuse. Only one difference was found by offense type. CINI females report an increased risk for dating violence, though the cause of these gender differences is unclear. Findings also highlight that risk for ADV does not differ by offense type, suggesting that prevention efforts targeting ADV at the earliest possible intervention point, regardless of first-time offense type or severity, may be especially impactful.