A Test of the Deterrent Effect of Legislative Waiver on Violent Juvenile Crime

Abstract

The automatic transfer of juveniles charged with serious crimes to adult court has become an increasingly common alternative to juvenile court handling in a number of states in the past two decades. Deterrence is one of the major arguments underlying this growth in the use of legislative waiver. This research evaluated the deterrent effect of the 1981 Idaho legislative waiver statute. Analyses of arrest data using a time series design indicated that this law did not reduce violent juvenile crime.

Juvenile Offenders and Adult Felony Recidivism: The Impact of Transfer

“…Contrary to the expectations of the proponents of "get-tough" policies, previous research generally found that transfer is related to higher rather than lower rates of recidivism (Singer and McDowall 1988;Fagan 1991;Jensen and Metsger 1994;Bishop et al 1996a;Podkopacz and Feld 1996;Singer 1996;Winner et al 1997). Prior studies used samples drawn before many of the major reforms were implemented.…”

Decriminalizing Delinquency: The Effect of Raising the Age of Majority on Juvenile Recidivism

“…The authors use 13-to 15-year-olds in New York as the treatment group and use 16-to 19-year-olds in New York and 13-to 15-year-olds in Philadelphia as controls. Jensen and Metsger (1994) examine the effect of a 1981 law in Idaho that required juveniles between the ages of 14 and 18 charged with serious crimes (namely, murder, robbery, forcible rape, and mayhem) to be transferred to the adult system. The authors compare the rate of total juvenile arrests in Idaho in the 4 years before and after the statute was enacted with the rate of total juvenile arrests during that period in Wyoming and Montana.…”

La justice des mineurs au Canada

“…L'expérience de certains États américains confirme bien que des lois visant à accroître le recours au système pénal pour adultes dans le cas d'infractions violentes ne parviennent pas à réduire la délinquance violente des jeunes. En sont témoins les lois des États de New York et de l'Idaho, dont les évaluations ont clairement mené à cette conclusion (Singer et McDowall, 1988 ;Jensen et Metsger, 1994).…”