Source: (2005) Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice. 3(3):214-234.
The study describes implementation of legislation that excludes youth offenders from juvenile
court jurisdiction and examines two elements of deterrence theory that underscored
the legislation’s rationale. Between-court analyses comparing youths decertified
to juvenile court with those remaining in criminal court report no between-court
differences concerning the certainty of punishment. Although the criminal court was
more likely to impose more severe sentences, controls on legal sentencing factors explained
the between-group differences. Legal and extralegal factors predicted the likelihood
of certainty and severity of punishment within the juvenile and adult systems
respectively. Implications for the restorative justice model are discussed. (authors’ abstract)
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