Objectives

To assess variation in public support for involving violent juvenile offenders in the adult criminal justice system based on the mechanism of that involvement—waiver or blended sentencing—and whether the sentence is described as emphasizing punishment or rehabilitation.

Methods

Participants read a vignette describing a violent, repeat juvenile offender and were told he would normally receive a sentence in the juvenile system that emphasized punishment and accountability. Each participant was subsequently randomly assigned to receive information about one of seven alternative sentencing schemes that varied the venue and emphasis. The dependent variable measured willingness to pay additional taxes for the alternative.

Results

Willingness to pay varied significantly across conditions. Respondents were willing to pay relatively more for a juvenile sentence that emphasized rehabilitation than for any provision for waiver or a blended sentence. These results held even after controlling for the perceived appropriateness of the sentence length.

Conclusions

People are willing to involve violent juvenile offenders in the adult criminal justice system, but they prefer juvenile justice sentences and an emphasis on rehabilitation.

中文翻译：

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延伸法律的长臂：惩罚和改造作为公众支持处理成年暴力少年的动机

目标

根据参与的机制（放弃或混合量刑）以及该判决是否被描述为强调惩罚或康复，评估公众支持在成人刑事司法系统中涉及暴力少年犯的变化。

方法

参与者阅读了一个描述暴力、屡犯的少年犯的小插曲，并被告知他通常会在少年系统中受到强调惩罚和问责的判决。随后，每个参与者被随机分配接收有关改变地点和重点的七种替代量刑方案之一的信息。因变量衡量为替代方案支付额外税款的意愿。

结果

不同条件下的支付意愿差异很大。受访者愿意为强调康复的少年判刑支付相对较高的费用，而不是任何放弃或混合判刑的规定。即使在控制了句子长度的感知适当性之后，这些结果仍然成立。

结论

人们愿意将暴力少年犯纳入成人刑事司法系统，但他们更喜欢少年司法判决并强调康复。