THE EFFECTS OF COURT STRUCTURE ON JUVENILE-COURT DECISION-MAKING

This article examines the differences in adjudications (delinquent or dismissal) and final dispositions (transfer of custody or no transfer of custody) of specialized juvenile courts compared to courts of general jurisdiction hearing cases involving juvenile defendants. The data are from juvenile court records of the state of Nebraska for 1982 through 1987. The study uses logistic regression to examine the differences in the behavior of the two types of courts while controling for extralegal, legal, and county environmental characteristics of the defendants. The authors found statistically significant differences in the adjudication decisions bur not in the final dispositions of the two kinds of courts. The findings are discussed within the framework of the parens patriae philosophy.