Disentangling Dispositions: Varying Juvenile Court Responses and Outcomes for Girls

Abstract

Extant research on juvenile legal system (JLS) involved girls generally focuses on individual and proximal environmental levels that bring girls into contact with the JLS. There is less research on how the JLS responds to girls in case dispositions (e.g., sanction-based responses, treatment-focused services), and how combinations of dispositions relate to girls’ further system involvement. In this study, we apply latent class analysis (LCA) to the juvenile legal context to categorize system responses in a sample of 1,133 adjudicated girls. We identify four distinct classes, comprising different types and combinations of dispositions. We then further analyzed the classes using individual characteristics and risk factors of girls to understand precursors to the system’s response and further JLS involvement. Our findings offer insight into how packages of court dispositions are correlated with increased recidivism. We consider implications for JLS intervention with girls and provide suggestions for further research.