Risk Assessment for Juvenile Justice: A Meta-Analysis

Risk assessment instruments are increasingly employed by juvenile justice settings to estimate the likelihood of recidivism among delinquent juveniles. In concert with their increased use, validation studies documenting their predictive validity have increased in number. The purpose of this study was to assess the average predictive validity of juvenile justice risk assessment instruments and to identify risk assessment characteristics that are associated with higher predictive validity. A search of the published and grey literature yielded 28 studies that estimated the predictive validity of 28 risk assessment instruments. Findings of the meta-analysis were consistent with effect sizes obtained in larger meta-analyses of criminal justice risk assessment instruments and showed that brief risk assessment instruments had smaller effect sizes than other types of instruments. However, this finding is tentative owing to limitations of the literature.     

Juvenile Transfers to Adult Court: An Examination of the Long‐Term Outcomes of Transferred and Non‐Transferred Juveniles

Juveniles who are transferred to adult court are more likely to recidivate than non‐transferred juveniles, but limited research has examined how transfer can impact other life outcomes like attending college and employment. To examine this issue, data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997) were analyzed from 1998 to 2011. It was found that court involvement during adolescence does not harm educational attainment. However, prosecution of juveniles in adult court significantly impairs earning potential well into adulthood. The current study provides further evidence of the long‐term harms caused by transfer and demonstrates how transfer further disrupts the desistance process.     

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Juvenile Drug Court: Comparisons to Traditional Probation

Juvenile Drug Courts have been in operation in the United States for over 20 years, yet their effectiveness and design have been challenged throughout the literature. Using data collected from a Juvenile Drug Court (JDC) in Southeast Texas, this project sought to determine if the JDC intervention reduced recidivism compared to a comparison sample of juvenile offenders. Results indicate that the recidivism rates of participants in the JDC were lower than the comparison group, suggesting that the Drug Court intervention was successful. The program completion rates for JDC youths were also higher for those with fewer infractions. Although the JDC youths had statistically lower infractions, the intervention overall appears to need strengthening. A close inspection of program components could document which programmatic skills are tied to efficacy, leading to the achievement of better outcomes.     

How the Framework of Implementation Science Guided an Evidence‐Based Dependency Parenting Program Initiative in Florida

In Florida, like most states, many of the parenting programs that are being utilized with families in the dependency system are non‐evidence based, and fail to provide quantifiable data on parent progress during and after completion of the programs. Providing pertinent information in court on parents’ progress in a parenting program, as opposed to simply monitoring attendance, is a growing need voiced by dependency judges and child welfare case management professionals. Clear, reliable information related to parenting skills acquisition and insight can help to ensure that families involved in the child welfare system have access to quality services that improve outcomes for their children. The purpose of this paper is to detail how a statewide initiative to increase the number of Florida circuits providing evidence‐based parenting programs to their clients utilized implementation science to guide their process, and the degree to which the participating circuits achieved full implementation of evidence‐based parenting programs.     

MI Implementation in Juvenile Justice: A Case Report

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a communication style focused on enhancing clients’ own motivation towards change. In the justice system MI has evidence to support that it enhances communication and change behaviors in youth. As most MI training is designed for healthcare settings training and implementation of MI must be adapted to fit the juvenile justice model. This includes both rehabilitation and restorative justice. Here we describe the details that allowed one county small county in Pennsylvania to roll out MI training and initial skills review in less than 6 months. The case reviews the details of planning, trainings, and timing of activities. We then discuss what elements of those details fit into a greater implementation plan that may be applied elsewhere. Four key elements were instrumental to implementation: 1) appreciation of JPO time constraints, 2) cost containment 3) using blending to enhance JPO flexibility with MI use, and 4) policies that normalize use of MI. This outline may assist other courts in their own implementation efforts.     

Feedback on Forensic Mental Health Assessments in a Juvenile Court Clinic Certification Program

Public-sector mental health systems have set forth specialized practice competencies for forensic mental health clinicians conducting court-ordered examinations. This study examined a sample of feedback letters to clinicians who submitted mid-training and final reports for review as part of the requirements for certification as a juvenile court clinician. The most common feedback points were insufficient/irrelevant historical data, problems with clarity/organization of the report, problems with interview/mental status examination, and problems with competency to stand trial data/opinions. Clinicians had fewer deficiencies in their final report compared to their mid-training report, supporting the perspective that forensic training and supervision is associated with better quality reports.     

司法鉴定人出庭质证若干问题研究

诉讼实践中,司法鉴定人出庭率低已成为我国审判方式改革过程中的一大顽疾。这一问题的现实存在,不仅令鉴定意见质证流于形式,更使得直接言词原则无法在庭审中发挥其应用功效。诚然,我国已通过刑诉法、民诉法的修改,对司法鉴定人出庭作出了明确规定,但现行法律中对于司法鉴定人出庭权利与义务的规定严重失衡,出庭质证保护等规定亦极为笼统,缺乏可操作性。为此,有必要进一步从制度上保障司法鉴定人出庭质证的差旅费用和经济补偿,并加强对其出庭质证安全的保护措施。通过制度性构建与优化,探索司法鉴定人出庭质证的应然路径。     

裁判文书网上公开中的隐私问题研究

随着法院信息化建设的推进，裁判文书的公开方式呈现出从纸质到网络的发展趋势。加大了隐私扩散风险。针对法院是否应在网上公开裁判文书及公开的程度等问题，存在着三种观点：禁止说、区别说及同等说。为平衡公众知情权与个人隐私之间的冲突，对裁判文书中记载的敏感的个人信息或有损声誉的事实，需依据裁判文书公开的目的，决定是否将之公开在网上。同时，法院也应采取积极措施应对公众对隐私问题的关注，同等对待纸质公开和网上公开。     

Juvenile Court Context and Detention Decisions: Reconsidering the Role of Race,Ethnicity, and Community Characteristics in Juvenile Court Processes

The relationship between race/ethnicity, community dynamics, and juvenile court processes has long been established. Prior research has relied on city‐ or county‐level measures of community characteristics (e.g., racial composition, poverty) to examine how racial groups are processed within juvenile courts. To date, no study has utilized finer scale measures of geographic areas to examine how characteristics of juveniles’ communities impact court decisions. By utilizing official juvenile court data from a city in the southwest, this study draws upon attribution theory to examine how economic and crime community‐level measures directly and indirectly influence detention outcomes. Findings reveal that the effect of race and ethnicity in detention outcomes varies across communities, and the effect of ethnicity in detention decisions is mediated by economic community‐level measures. The theoretical and policy implications of the study findings are discussed.     

Juvenile Competency to Stand Trial: A Systemic Look Under the Hood: Reasonable Accommodations

Juvenile competency to stand trial has historically involved the intrinsic abilities of a juvenile to understand and appreciate the nature of the proceeding against the juvenile and the juvenile’s ability to assist in his/her defense and communicate effectively with defense counsel. The literature has not addressed the recursive systemic competency process between the juvenile, defense counsel, and hearing officer. This article discusses the communication skills of defense counsel and hearing officers as part of the systemic equation in a juvenile’s competency to stand trial. A case example is used to demonstrate the importance of reasonable accommodations as part of the systemic, recursive interactions between a juvenile and court personnel. The authors conclude with recommendations for training in the areas of linguistics and the psychosocial development of juveniles in the socio-cultural context in which they live.     

继承公证实务《物权法》适用若干探讨

以稳定财产关系和家庭关系为己任的继承公证是公证机构的重要业务之一。其办证依据主要来自《婚姻法》、《继承法》和《民法通则》的相关规定。《物权法》实施后作为规范财产关系的民事基本法，无疑也应成为办理继承公证所依据的重要法律。因此，正确认识《物权法》与《婚姻法》、《继承法》等在调整财产关系的分工和角色作用，正确认识《物权法》规定的物权登记、物权变动、物权优先效力等对判断被继承人遗产的影响和作用，必然也就成为继承公证实务的新课题。     

Family Conferencing for Juvenile Offenders: A Singaporean Case Study in Restorative Justice

Restorative justice has been or is being adopted in many parts of the world, including countries in Asia. In the case of Singapore, restorative justice was adopted by the court system in 1997 as its guiding philosophy in its approach towards juvenile offenders. This article traces the adoption of restorative justice by the Juvenile Court in Singapore and the use of family conferencing in the light of the principles of restorative justice. It concludes by suggesting areas where the family conferencing system in Singapore can be improved, and possible lessons for other jurisdictions considering adopting family conferencing.     

基础教育新课程实施的影响因素分析——重庆北碚实验区的个案调查

分析课程实施的影响因素对推动课程改革的发展来说十分重要.本文对重庆北碚实验区的两所学校进行了个案调查,从新课程本身的特征、宏观社会以及学校内部三个层面出发,分析了影响新课程改革的若干主要因素.就新课程的特征而言,尽管教师认为这次改革十分必要,但改革规模宏大,而且新课程实用性欠佳.从学校所处的宏观脉络来看,新课程改革的决策参与机制、教师发展与资源支持仍需改进.为促进新课程的实施状况,学校还应该进一步发挥校长的课程领导职能,改善学校组织结构,同时发展合作的教师文化.     

Programs for Men who Perpetrate Domestic Violence: An Examination of the Issues Underlying the Effectiveness of Intervention Programs

This review paper seeks to explore some of the reasons why rehabilitation programs for male perpetrators of domestic violence appear to be less effective in reducing recidivism than programs for other offender groups. It is argued that while the model of systems response to domestic violence has predominated at the inter-agency level, further consideration might be given to way in which men’s intervention groups are both designed and delivered. It is concluded that the program logic of men’s domestic violence programs is rarely articulated leading to low levels of program integrity, and that one way to further improve program effectiveness is to incorporate some of the approaches evident in more general violence prevention programs and from what is know about good practice in general about offender rehabilitation.

A Family Affair: The Juvenile Court and Family Violence Cases

Little attention has been devoted to studies of adolescent family violence offending, yet research on adult populations show that victim relationship may make a difference in how offenders are treated in the criminal justice system. Given that the intergenerational transmission of violence may operate through adolescent family violence, a detailed examination of these youth is warranted. Through an analysis of detained youth in a small northeastern state, this study examines differences in court treatment between family and non-family offenders. Family violence offenders are significantly more likely to be minor offenders and to be female than are non-family offenders. Results of logistic regression show that, all else being equal, family violence youth are treated more leniently by the court than non-family offenders. Finally, while most youth are released to community dispositions, there are no differences in court-ordered family counseling between family and non-family offenders. These findings point to areas of needed research on adolescent family violence offenders and larger policy questions about how such youth should be treated relative to other youth. A previous version of this paper was presented at the 2003 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Denver, CO.     

Assessing the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency: An Evaluation of a Court‐Based Delinquency Prevention Program

In 2002, the State of Ohio mandated juvenile courts to provide prevention for at‐risk youth. This study examined official court records to evaluate the effectiveness of a prevention program administered by the Greene County Juvenile Court. A sample of 362 youth referred to the program for the years 2002 to 2009 by concerned caretakers, teachers, and police was analyzed. Consistent with intake goals, 81.7% of clients were referred for at‐risk but not actually delinquent behaviors. Completion of the prevention program did not predict future court referrals, but neither did seriousness of referral behavior. Children with two biological parents were significantly more likely to complete the program, whereas referrals to Strengthening Families Program and substance abuse screening significantly predicted program noncompletion. Implications for policy and research are discussed.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:
• This article highlights efforts by county juvenile court to implement a secondary prevention program for at‐risk but not officially court‐referred youth.
• Delinquency prevention research depends on good juvenile court data and adequate comparison groups.
• Evidence‐based predelinquent interventions with external process and outcome evaluations should be the standard.

     

Non-Sexual Delinquency in Juvenile Sexual Offenders: The Mediating and Moderating Influences of Emotional Empathy

The theoretical linkage of empathy to sexually aggressive and antisocial behavior is reviewed, and assessment conducted on the role of emotional empathy in the non-sexual delinquent behavior of juvenile sexual offenders. In examination of developmental antecedents of empathy, self-reported parental attachment and positive fathering experiences were found to be positively associated with emotional empathy, while reported exposure to violence against females was inversely related. As hypothesized, emotional empathy was found to have both mediating and moderating influences on risk of engagement in non-sexual delinquency. Emotional empathy was found to be negatively associated with non-sexual delinquency and to partially mediate the positive influences of exposure to violence against females and hostile masculinity. Emotional empathy was also found to function as a moderator of hostile masculinity, with high empathy levels associated with an attenuated positive effect of hostile masculinity on non-sexual delinquency, and low levels with an accentuated effect. Possible mechanisms for this moderating influence are discussed, along with clinical implications of the findings and directions for future research.     

A Pre-Trial Domestic Violence Intensive Supervision Unit: Exploring Case Seriousness and Successful Disposition

This study measures the seriousness of domestic violence cases from the population of cases (N = 96) sentenced to a pre-trial domestic violence intensive supervision unit in one county probation office in Florida from April 1, 2006, to April 30, 2007. No significant differences were found in seriousness across sex, self-reported drug use, or attorney type. Furthermore, no relationship was found between the number of special conditions imposed by the court and the seriousness index value for a case. However, non-Whites had a significantly higher mean case seriousness index than Whites. Findings suggest that using the seriousness index presented in this study, some of the cases examined were not serious enough to warrant being sentenced to the pre-trial domestic violence intensive supervision unit. Implications for future research, including the use of lethality assessments, are addressed.     

Leniency Program: A New Tool in Competition Policy to Deter Cartel Activity in Procurement Auctions

This paper discusses the impact of a leniency program on incentives within cartels. The objective of this program is to encourage a cartel member to confess and implicate his co-conspirators with hard evidence about their collusive agreement. We develop a simple model of cartel behavior under a first-price sealed-bid procurement auction and we show how an effective leniency program can prevent the internal coordination of cartel members.     

Trouble-Makers and Interactionism: Reconsidering Quarrels in Institutions for Juvenile Delinquents

The tense relationship between ‘troublesome youth’ and conventional society does not end with incarceration or institutional treatment. Rather, it is transformed into an abundance of interpersonal conflicts within incarceration and treatment. This article uses an interactionist perspective to critically assess five research approaches that account for these phenomena in various ways: 1) quarrels as personality disorders, 2) quarrels as deviant subcultures, 3) quarrels as objects of social control, 4) quarrels and the micro-politics of trouble, and 5) quarrels and the sociology of youth and children. It is argued that an empirically open interactionism within and across the latter four approaches should be sharpened in order to better grasp the social nature and shifting emergence of quarrels in institutional treatment.