The current study advances past research by studying the impact of juvenile justice decision making with a geographically and ethnically diverse sample (N = 1,216) of adolescent boys (ages 13–17 years) for the 5 years following their first arrest. Importantly, all youth in the study were arrested for an eligible offense of moderate severity (e.g., assault, theft) to evaluate whether the initial decision to formally (i.e., sentenced before a judge) or informally (i.e., diverted to community service) process the youth led to differences in outcomes. The current study also advanced past research by using a statistical approach that controlled for a host of potential preexisting vulnerabilities that could influence both the processing decision and the youth's outcomes. Our findings indicated that youth who were formally processed during adolescence were more likely to be re-arrested, more likely to be incarcerated, engaged in more violence, reported a greater affiliation with delinquent peers, reported lower school enrollment, were less likely to graduate high school within 5 years, reported less ability to suppress aggression, and had lower perceptions of opportunities than informally processed youth. Importantly, these findings were not moderated by the age of the youth at his first arrest or his race and ethnicity. These results have important implications for juvenile justice policy by indicating that formally processing youth not only is costly, but it can reduce public safety and reduce the adolescent's later potential contributions to society.

中文翻译：

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少年司法的十字路口：初审决定对首次被捕后 5 年的青少年的影响

目前的研究通过使用地理和种族多样化的样本研究少年司法决策的影响来推进过去的研究(N =1,216) 青少年男孩（13-17 岁）在第一次被捕后的 5 年内。重要的是，研究中的所有青少年都因符合条件的中等严重性犯罪（例如，袭击、盗窃）而被捕，以评估最初的决定是正式（即，在法官面前判刑）还是非正式（即，转为社区服务）程序。青年导致结果的差异。目前的研究还通过使用一种统计方法来推进过去的研究，该方法控制了可能影响处理决策和青少年结果的一系列潜在的预先存在的漏洞。我们的研究结果表明，在青春期接受正式处理的青少年更有可能再次被捕，更有可能被监禁，参与更多暴力，报告与犯罪同龄人有更大的联系，报告入学率较低，不太可能在 5 年内从高中毕业，报告抑制攻击性的能力较低，并且对机会的感知低于非正式处理的青年。重要的是，这些发现并没有受到他第一次被捕时年轻人的年龄或他的种族和民族的影响。这些结果表明，正式处理青少年不仅成本高昂，而且会降低公共安全并减少青少年后来对社会的潜在贡献，因此这些结果对青少年司法政策具有重要意义。这些调查结果并没有受到他第一次被捕时的年龄或他的种族和民族的影响。这些结果表明，正式处理青少年不仅成本高昂，而且会降低公共安全并减少青少年后来对社会的潜在贡献，因此这些结果对青少年司法政策具有重要意义。这些调查结果并没有受到他第一次被捕时的年龄或他的种族和民族的影响。这些结果表明，正式处理青少年不仅成本高昂，而且会降低公共安全并减少青少年后来对社会的潜在贡献，因此这些结果对青少年司法政策具有重要意义。