Date of Award

Summer 2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Sociology & Criminal Justice

Committee Director

Allison Chappell

Committee Member

Scott Maggard

Committee Member

Ruth Triplett

Abstract

Research shows that disparities still exist in the juvenile justice decision-making process, but there is a gap in our understanding of neighborhood characteristics that may affect those detention decisions. Therefore, this research examines structural factors influenced by social disorganization theory to explore the impact they have on juvenile detention decisions. Neighborhood parks and recreation centers are examined as important local institutions that provide informal social control to the neighborhood. The Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) for the city of Norfolk compiled juvenile justice data, and 2016 Census data were also used to obtain neighborhood structural information. Non-White juveniles were more likely to be detained than White juveniles. Males were more likely to receive detention. The older the juvenile, the more likely they were to be detained at intake. The more available recreation centers in a neighborhood, the less likely a juvenile will be detained at intake from the same neighborhood. Poverty and heterogeneity also showed significance in the decision to detain a juvenile at intake. The policy implications are discusses as well as limitations and directions for future research.

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In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/w2km-zf39

ISBN

9780438538320

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