Five models of sentencing were assessed with respect to their impact on the decisions of young offenders to recidivate. The five sentencing models tested were fairness, deterrence, chronic offender lifestyle, special needs, and procedural rights. A sample of 400 incarcerated young offenders from the Vancouver, British Columbia, metropolitan area were asked questions regarding their attitudes toward these sentencing models and their intentions to recidivate after serving a period of incarceration. Principal components analyses suggested that although these models do not function independently, two composite models do shed some light on the issues that young offenders consider when contemplating their decisions and intentions to recidivate. Despite the ability of these models to predict half of the explained variance in young offenders’ decisions regarding recidivism, a majority of the sample appeared to not be affected exclusively by cost-benefit analysis, punishment, or reintegrative motivations. The authors conclude that without additional variables and even higher predictive validity, it is premature for policy makers to focus on any single model of sentencing in constructing juvenile justice laws.
References
1.
Bishop, D. (1984). Legal and extra-legal barriers to delinquency. Criminology, 22, 403-419.
2.
Cernkovick, S., & Giordano, P. (1987). Family relationships and delinquency. Criminology, 25, 295-321.
3.
Cornish, D., & Clarke, R. (1986). The reasoning criminal. New York: Springer-Verlag.
4.
Corrado, R. R. (1992). Introduction. In R. Corrado, N. Bala, R. Linden, & M. LeBlanc (Eds.), Juvenile justice in Canada: A theoretical and analytical assessment. Toronto, Canada: Butterworths.
5.
Corrado, R. R., Odgers, C., & Cohen, I. M. (2000, April). The incarceration of female young offenders: Protection for whom? Canadian Journal of Criminology, 42, 189-207.
6.
Dembo, R., Williams, L., LaVoie, L., Berry, E., & Washburn, M. (1987). Physical abuse, sexual victimization, and illicit drug use: A structure analysis among high risk adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 10, 13-34.
7.
Deutsch, M. (1985). Distributive justice. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
8.
Dunford, F. W., & Elliott, D. S. (1984). Identifying career offenders using self-reported data. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 21, 57-86.
9.
Elliott, D., Huizinga, D., & Meynard, S. (1989). Multiple problem youth: Delinquency, drugs, and mental health problems. New York: Springer-Verlag.
10.
Ervin, L., & Schneider, A. (1990). Explaining the effects of restitution on offenders: Results from a national experiment in juvenile courts. In B. Galaway & J. Hudson. (Eds.), Criminal justice, restitution and reconciliation. New York. Criminal Justice Press.
11.
Feld, B. (1993a). Criminalizing the American juvenile court. In M. Tonry (Ed.), Crime and justice: A review of the research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
12.
Feld, B. (1993b). Juvenile (in)justice and the criminal court alternative. Crime & Delinquency, 39, 403-424.
13.
Feld, B. (1997). Abolish the juvenile court: Youthfulness, criminal responsibility, and sentencing policy. Journal Of Criminal Law and Criminology, 88(1), 68-136.
14.
Feld, B. (1999). Bad kids: Race and the transformation of the juvenile court. New York: Oxford University Press.
15.
Gendreau, P., & Ross, R. (1987). Revivification of rehabilitation: Evidence from the 1980s. Justice Quarterly, 4, 349-408.
16.
Hagan, J., & McCarthy, B. (1997). Mean streets: Youth crime and homelessness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
17.
Lempert, R. (1982). Organizing for deterrence: Lessons from a study of child support. Law & Society Review, 16, 513-568.
18.
Leschied, A., Austin, G., & Jaffe, P. (1988). Impact of the Young Offenders Act on recidivism rates of special needs youth: Clinical and policy applications. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 20(3), 323-331.
19.
Loeber, R., & Farrington, D. (1998). Serious and violent juvenile offenders: Risk factors and successful interventions. London: Sage.
20.
Mears, D. P., & Field, S. H. (2000). Theorizing sanctioning in a criminalized juvenile court. Criminology, 38, 983-1019.
21.
Morris, A., & Giller, H. (1987). Understanding juvenile justice. New York: Croom Helm.
22.
Nagin, D. (1978). General deterrence: A review of the empirical evidence. In A. Blumstein, J. Cohen, & D. Nagin. (Eds.), Deterrence and incapacitation: Estimating the effects of criminal sanctions on crime rates. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.
23.
Parker, H., Casburn, M., & Turnbull, D. (1981). Receiving juvenile justice: Adolescents and state care and control. London: Basil Blackwell.
24.
Paternoster, R. (1987). The deterrent effect of the perceived certainty and severity of punishment: A review of the evidence and issues. Justice Quarterly, 4, 173-217.
25.
Paternoster, R. (1989). Decisions to participate in and desist from four types of common delinquency: Deterrence and the rational choice perspective. Law & Society Review, 23, 7-40.
26.
Paternoster, R., & Piquero, A. (1995). Reconceptualizing deterrence: An empirical test of personal and vicarious experiences. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 32, 251-286.
27.
Piliavin, I., Gartner, R.-I., Thornton, C., & Matsueda, R. L. (1986). Crime deterrence, and choice. American Sociological Review, 57, 101-119.
28.
Piquero, A., & Paternoster, R. (1998). An application of Stafford and Warr’s reconceptualization of deterrence to drinking and driving. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 35, 3-39.
29.
Schneider, A. (1990). Deterrence and juvenile crime: Results from a national policy experiment. New York: Springer-Verlag.
30.
Sherman, L. W. (1993). Defiance, deterrence, and irrelevance: A theory of the criminal sanction. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30, 123-135.
31.
Snyder, H. N. (1998). Serious, violent, and chronic juvenile offenders—An assessment of the extent of the trends in officially recognized serious criminal behavior in a delinquent population. In R. Loeber & D. Farrington (Eds.), Serious and violent juvenile offenders: Risk factors and successful interventions. London: Sage.
32.
Stafford, M. C., & Warr, M. (1993). A reconceptualization of general and specific deterrence. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30, 123-135.
33.
Tolan, P. H. & Gorman-Smith, D. (1998). Development of serious and violent offending careers. In R. Loeber & D. Farrington (Eds.). Serious and violent juvenile offenders: Risk factors and successful interventions. London: Sage.
34.
Williams, K. R., & Hawkins, R. (1986). Perceptual research on general deterrence: A critical review. Law & Society Review, 20, 545-572.
