New Study Looks at Transferring Juveniles to Adult Court

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)'s December bulletin focuses on a new study, “Transfer of Adolescents to Adult Court: Effects of a Broad Policy in One Court.” The bulletin discusses the effects and implications of transferring juveniles from youth court to adult court. The data shared provides a deeper understanding of how juveniles mature out of offending and how the justice system can promote positive changes in the lives of juvenile youth.
The bulletin presents findings from the Pathways to Desistance, which looks to answer the question “How and why do many serious adolescent offenders stop offending while others continue to commit crimes?” The authors share the findings from the Pathways study to discuss the implications for juveniles when looking at future youth transfers.
Findings show that most of the youth in the study who were sent to adult facilities returned to the community within a few years, varying widely in their levels of adjustment. Prior work indicates that transferred youth are more likely to commit criminal acts than adolescents kept in the juvenile justice system.
To read the full bulletin click here.
 

Kat Shannon is a Digital Communications intern at Prichard Communications, where she assists on several accounts, including Reclaiming Futures. She is a student at the University of Oregon studying Public Relations, with a minor in Business Administration. She is an Oregon native and a California dreamer.