Citation

Vose BA, Vannan K. J. Juv. Justice 2013; 3(1): 97-109.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, In Public Domain (U.S. Department of Justice OJJDP), Publisher CSR)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Teen court programs have gained widespread popularity throughout the United States over the past 30 years. The rapid growth of teen courts has outpaced the rate of research, resulting in a knowledge gap concerning best practices and overall effectiveness of teen court programs. This study contributes to the existing literature by identifying variables associated with recidivism among 478 teen court participants in Duval County, Florida, between 2009 and 2011. In this study, 20.1% of program participants recidivated within 1 year of program completion, and males were four times more likely to recidivate than females. Although males recidivated at a significantly greater rate than females, there was no significant difference in the number of days it took males and females to recidivate. The number of sanctions imposed on youth in our study was not associated with recidivism. Limitations and policy implications of this study are explored.

Keywords: teen court, peer court, juvenile recidivism, juvenile delinquency, effective interventions, juvenile justice

Language: en