Pathways
This disposition removes youth from the system entirely.
What is case dismissal?
This term refers to whether someone is arrested again after going through the system.
What is recidivism?
These actors decide whether to file charges in juvenile cases.
Who are prosecutors?
This category of factors—including geography, available resources, and race—can influence whether a youth is placed in diversion.
What are structural or demographic factors?
Approximately how many people in the US have been arrested once by age 18?
A. 5%
B. 10%
C. 25%
D. 35%
What is C. 25%?
By age eighteen, between 15.9 and 26.8 percent of individuals in the United States have been arrested at least once
(Legewie & Fagan)
This diversion program uses peers to play courtroom roles.
What is teen court?
True or False: Diversion programs consistently reduce recidivism.
False
These actors determine final dispositions such as probation or diversion.
What are judges?
Q: This concept describes how disadvantages build over time through system contact
What is cumulative disadvantage?
Q: In a study of urban youth, __ of African American boys and __ of White boys reported being stopped by police at least once:
A) 10% / 15%
B) 26% / 22%
C) 39% / 23%
D) 45% / 30%
What is C) 39% / 23%?
39% of African American boys reported being stopped by police at least once compared to 23% of white boys
This program focuses on treatment for substance-related offenses.
What is juvenile drug court?
The most common outcome used to evaluate juvenile programs.
What is recidivism (re-arrest)?
When legal actors have flexibility in making decisions, this is called __________
What is discretion?
This occurs when programs expand system involvement instead of reducing it.
What is net-widening?
According to some studies, this group had the lowest re-arrest rates:
A. Teen court
B. Probation
C. Juvenile Drug Court
D. Case Dismissal
What is D. Case Dismissal?
These programs are designed to divert youth away from formal adjudication.
What are diversion programs?
Why can’t we assume that a program causes better or worse outcomes just because participants have different results?
What is because participants are not randomly assigned to diversion or not (selection bias)?
Which juvenile disposition generally involves the highest level of supervision and court control?
What is Probation
The idea that younger youth are often treated more leniently
What is the youth discount?
Black youth are how much less likely than White youth to be informally processed: more than 25% or less than 25%?
What is more than 25%?
Black youth are 38% less likely than White youth to be informally processed.
(Morrow)
This is the most common comparison group used in diversion studies.
What is probation?
This method is often used to evaluate a youth’s likelihood of reoffending and suitability for intervention, and is commonly viewed as objective.
What are risk assessments?
This concept describes how decision-makers rely on simplified judgments of risk and blameworthiness.
What is perceptual shorthand?
This criminological theory suggests that once someone is officially treated as “delinquent,” that label can influence their future behavior.
What is labeling theory?
True or False: Youth receive leniency and diversion at equal rates across all stages of the juvenile justice process.
A: What is False?
While younger youth may receive leniency at earlier stages, that advantage does not consistently carry through to later stages, such as disposition.