Abstract
Although several studies have examined the differences in sentencing decisions by gender for adult offenders, a limited amount of research on the role of gender in the post-adjudication disposition determination exists for juvenile offenders. Specifically related to the role of gender and the rate of incarceration, previous research has developed a commonly accepted consensus that female juvenile offenders are often detained pre-adjudication for less serious offenses than their male counterparts. This article evaluates the results of previous studies regarding the role of gender in disposition decisions, and the process of bootstrapping juvenile offenders into incarceration. This study examines whether the role of gender and the process of bootstrapping results in similar gender bias decisions in post-adjudication dispositional decisions as has been demonstrated by previous literature for pre-adjudication detention decisions. The results of the study indicate that there is no empirical support to indicate that gender plays a role in the post-adjudication decisions resulting in out of home placement or incarceration. In fact, the main effect of the study indicates that females are actually less likely to be removed from their home and placed in residential care as a condition of their post-adjudication disposition than their male counterparts. These findings suggest that the differences in the level of the adjudicated offense accounted for more of the variance in disposition decisions than that of gender. Thus, this study found little support for the increasing argument for the sex stratification of theories of delinquency.
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In addition to thanking the reviewers for their diligence in reviewing this article, the authors would like to acknowledge Dr. Jon Sorensen with Prairie View A&M University, the staff with the Texas Juvenile Crime Prevention Center at Prairie View A&M University, Vonzo Tolbert, Director of Planning and Behavioral Health at the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (TJPC), Nancy Arrigona, Director of Research TJPC, John Posey, Researcher with TJPC, Rebecca Eichelberger with University of Texas San Antonio, and Dawn Turner for their assistance and support with this paper. We would like to extend a special thanks to Dr. Chad Trulson, Ph.D at the University of North Texas.
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Espinosa, E.M., Belshaw, S.H. & Osho, G.S. Justice by Gender: Understanding the Role of Gender in Disposition Decisions Involving Out of Home Placement for Juvenile Offenders. Am J Crim Just 33, 267–281 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-008-9040-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-008-9040-4