Race, Geography, and Juvenile Justice: An Exploration of the Liberation Hypothesis

Abstract

A large body of research indicates that both geography and race influence juvenile justice outcomes, with the exact magnitude and direction of the relationships still under dispute. In either case, differential outcomes likely stem from the varying influence of legal and extralegal factors. This study uses the spirit of the liberation hypothesis to explore how legal and extralegal factors contribute to geographic and racial disparities in juvenile court outcomes. Logistic and multinomial logistic regression are used to examine factors that influence preadjudication and disposition outcomes between an urban and suburban county, with the data partitioned by race within each county. Contrary to predictions, the analyses found more varying effects of legal and extralegal factors across race in the urban county than in the suburban county. Explanations of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The Liberation Hypothesis Perspective and Juvenile Court Outcomes: Implications for an Understanding of the Interplay Between Offender and Offense Characteristics

“…However, our investigation is not aligned with these assumptions. Rather, our findings are consistent with those of other studies (Guevara et al, 2011; Taylor et al, 2012) where extralegal factors such as race/ethnicity and gender continue to influence decision-making in complex ways, even in the context of severe cases. This suggests that perhaps such extralegal variables are especially salient when decisions are reached throughout juvenile court processes.…”

“…Whereas past research (e.g., Spohn & Cederblom, 1991; Spohn & DeLone, 2000) has found support for this theoretical approach when explaining prison sentencing for adult offenders, others report mixed or minimal support among this population (Cassidy & Rydberg, 2020; Hauser & Peck, 2017) and the applicability of this approach to juvenile court decision-making remains understudied (cf. Guevara et al, 2011; Taylor et al, 2012). The current study sought to fill this gap in the research by exploring the applicability of the liberation hypothesis in predicting juvenile court outcomes.…”

“…Support for these predictions did not materialize but, rather, results were contrary to expectations. In all, the authors reported more varying effects of legal and extralegal factors across race in the urban setting (Taylor et al, 2012).…”

“…The research by both Guevara and colleagues (2011) and Taylor and colleagues (2012) is noteworthy as it represents the limited scope of the application and relevancy of the liberation hypothesis for juvenile court proceedings. 1 Yet, neither the joint relationships between crime severity or a prior referral with race/ethnicity and gender were examined, nor were any specific subgroup interrelationships (i.e., race/ethnicity/gender) with the variables of interest as compared with Whites, males, or White males.…”

“…The selection of variables for inclusion in the analyses was based on earlier tests of the liberation hypothesis perspective and prior research on juvenile court outcomes (e.g., Guevara et al, 2011; Taylor et al, 2012). The distributions and coding schemes for all independent variables of interest, controls, and dependent variables are presented in Table 1.…”