Changing Responses to Juvenile Arrests: Analyzing 30 Years of Juvenile Court Records

Abstract

This article assesses change in juvenile formal social control in the United States from 1985 to 2014. By combining national juvenile arrest and court data, I compute and analyze arrest-adjusted trends in court processing and case dispositions. Results indicate that the juvenile justice system now operates with a wider net of control through stronger connections with law enforcement and increased use of less-severe dispositions, especially those dispensed prior to adjudication. This increased exposure to formal system involvement, even if less severe, nonetheless raises concerns for youth and their social and developmental outcomes of system involvement.