Anthony Petrosino, Sarah Guckenburg, and Trevor Fronius of the WestEd Justice & Prevention Research Center and Jenna Terrell of WestEd’s Learning Innovations program contributed a chapter to The Oxford Handbook of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology, published earlier this year.

The chapter, “The Effects of Juvenile System Processing on Subsequent Delinquency Outcomes,” reviews the efficacy of alternate methods for criminal justice processing and examines these models’ impact on subsequent juvenile criminal behavior.

Drawing from over 30 randomized controlled trials, the chapter synthesizes findings using meta-analytic techniques and explores resulting implications for research and policy.

Abstract

This chapter summarizes nearly 30 randomized controlled trials (as reported through 2008) that collectively provide evidence on the effectiveness of alternative methods for handling juveniles using meta-analytic techniques. It first discusses the theoretical and empirical literature on the impact of juvenile criminal justice processing on subsequent juvenile criminal behavior. The chapter also discusses the policy question of interest. Next, the chapter discusses how the research team systematically gathered and analyzed reports of randomized trials that tested the efficacy of justice-processing on subsequent juvenile outcomes. The results of this meta-analysis and the implications for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners are then explained.

Read more about The Oxford Handbook of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology.

Learn about the WestEd Justice & Prevention Research Center’s work in justice, crime prevention, and safety for children, youth, and adults.