Juvenile Sentencing: Exploring the Interaction Between School Status and Legal & Extra-Legal Factors Across Neighborhoods

• In Event: Contextual and Mediating Effects in Juvenile Justice Outcomes

Abstract

While research examining the role of school status in juvenile justice processing has increased, there is a notable gap in understanding how school status interacts with other significant factors, such as employment, risk level, etc. This underscores the need for more nuanced studies that can explore the multifaceted influences on juvenile sentencing outcomes. Recognizing this gap, the focus of this study will be to investigate the interaction between school status and legal and extra-legal factors, and their collective impact sentencing outcomes. By utilizing six years of juvenile court data (2010-2015) from a large southeastern state, this research aims to provide a deeper understanding of how these factors interplay with each other. Moreover, this study will examine how the influence of school status and employment on sentencing outcomes varies across different neighborhoods, specifically across census tracts.

Author

• Rimonda Maroun, Endicott College