Disposition Decisions by Juvenile Court Probation Officers and Judges: A Multivariate Analysis

Abstract

This study involves an examination of the relative impact of legal and extra-legal variables on dispositional outcomes bhi pre-court and court level officials in the juvenile court system. A number of studies have documented variations in case processing by police, probation officers and judges in the Juvenile Court. They reveal that differential criteria influence the disposition decisions of cases seen bY these officials. Results from this studi' demonstrate that legalfactors play a more important role in the official processing of juvenile offenders than extra-legal variables. Screening decisions by probation officers depend primarily on legal aspects of the case and secondarily on physical attributes of the defendant; legal variables and social variables are more salient in judicial level decision-making.