Citation

Lamiell JT. Crim. Justice Behav. 1979; 6(1): 76-101.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1979, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/009385487900600111

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Recent statements by social scientists and legal professionals have pointed to the need for a general research framework within which discretionary practices in the juvenile justice system can be empirically described and evaluated. The present article proposes social judgment theory as one framework suitable for addressing these issues. Based on the premise that discretion serves largely to discriminate juveniles in terms of risk of future misbehavior, the article describes how this judgment process can be described and evaluated using the lens model of human judgment. Specific procedures for applying this framework are outlined, and the major advantages and limitations of the approach are discussed.

Language: en