NCJ Number
143982
Date Published
1991
Length
135 pages
Annotation
This report presents descriptive information on a specified population of juvenile offenders who were transferred to Pennsylvania's criminal courts during 1986.
Abstract
Pennsylvania's Juvenile Act provides two mechanisms for the transfer of juveniles to criminal court: judicial waiver and statutory exclusion. Judicial waiver provides for juvenile court judges to make the transfer decision based on a hearing of case merits. Statutory exclusion involves the designation of murder as an offense that must be handled through criminal court processing rather than in juvenile court. The juveniles selected for the study included all youths transferred to the criminal court on at least one occasion during 1986. A total of 221 juveniles met this criterion, involving 246 transfer dispositions in 1986. Data collection activities included the development of two survey instruments, one designed to capture juvenile court histories and the other to obtain information on criminal court convictions, dispositions, and sentences. Among the findings were that less than 1 percent of all 1986 juvenile court dispositions resulted in transfer to criminal court. Transferred juveniles were predominantly males (96 percent) and minorities (62 percent). The average age at transfer was 17.4 years. Theft offenses, robbery, and burglary comprised nearly 60 percent of all offenses that resulted in criminal court convictions. Transferred juveniles averaged 4.4 prior dispositions, 2.7 adjudications, and 1.4 placements. 38 tables