Examining How Juvenile Courts Respond to School-Based Offending

• In Event: Police Contact and School- and Community-Based Court Referrals for Juvenile First-Time Offenders

Abstract

Scholars cite zero-tolerance discipline policies and increased police presence in schools as contributors to the “school-to-prison-pipeline.” However, missing from this discussion is an examination of whether schools’ “get-tough” approach to youthful offenders also exists in the juvenile courts. For example, the juvenile court may respond to school-initiated referrals with similar punitiveness given court actors encounter many of the same factors that contribute to concerns over school safety (e.g., media attention to high-profile school shootings). Alternatively, the juvenile court may respond to school-initiated referrals with leniency. Critics of zero-tolerance policies argue schools frequently initiate referrals for minor deviant behavior that schools previously addressed informally through discipline. The logic of this critique suggests the juvenile court may respond with less severe dispositions or even dismissal given the triviality of the offense. We examine which of these approaches prevails in Florida juvenile courts by comparing adjudication and disposition outcomes of first-time referrals for school-based offending and community-based offending. These results address how the juvenile justice system responds to the “criminalization” of student misconduct by schools.

Authors

• Mark Andrew Greenwald, Florida State University

• Jennifer M. Brown, Florida State University

• Julie Brancale, Western Carolina University

• George Pesta, Florida State University

• Sonja Siennick, Florida State University