Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-2011
Publication Title
Youth Justice
Keywords
child maltreatment, detention, juvenile, mental health, race
Abstract
Detention and confinement are widely acknowledged juvenile justice system problems which require further research to understand the explanations for these outcomes. Existing juvenile court, mental health, and child welfare histories were used to explicate factors which predict detention length in this random sample of 342 youth from one large, urban Midwestern county in the United States. Data from this sample revealed eight variables which predict detention length. Legitimate predictors of longer detention length such as committing a personal crime or violating a court order were nearly as likely in this sample to predict detention length as other extra-legal predictors such as race, court disposition for mental health problems, child welfare involvement, and child physical abuse victimization. Many of the factors that increase duration of detention are actually disadvantages that these youth endure; therefore preventative and intervention measures are in order.
Recommended Citation
Mallett, Christopher A.; Stoddard Dare, Patricia A.; and Seck, Mamadou M., "Explicating Correlates of Juvenile Offender Detention Length: The Impact of Race, Mental Health Difficulties, Maltreatment, Offense Type, and Court Dispositions" (2011). Social Work Faculty Publications. 21.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/clsowo_facpub/21
Publication Status
1
DOI
10.1177/1473225411406383
Publisher's Statement
(c) 2011 Sage Publications
Included in
Criminal Law Commons, Juvenile Law Commons, Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons, Social Work Commons
