Dissertation
Effects of trauma and child welfare history on potential sentencing jurors' decisions for youth prosecuted in criminal court
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
Jun 2020
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00000681
Abstract
Youth with trauma histories and child welfare involvement are disproportionately transferred to criminal court and receive harsher sanctions than justice-involved youth without such histories. Little is known about factors that contribute to these sentencing disparities. While 44 states in the United States delegate sentencing to judges, six states utilize sentencing juries to recommend sentences in felony cases: Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia. This study examined the effects of youths' trauma and child welfare history on potential jurors' sentencing recommendations for youth tried in criminal court. This study also evaluated potential reasons - including perceptions of the youth's threat to public safety and rehabilitation potential - that trauma histories may serve as mitigating or aggravating factors. Utilizing survey data from 1,537 jury-eligible residents in jury sentencing states, results revealed that youth with no trauma history who were found guilty of a felony offense were perceived to be a higher threat to public safety and have less potential for rehabilitation than youth with histories of trauma and child welfare involvement. Perceived threat to public safety and rehabilitation potential mediated the relationship between youths' trauma and child welfare histories and agreement that a youth should go to prison, the length of a proposed prison sentence, and the amount a youth should be fined for the crime. Results suggest that trauma history a mitigating factor when sentencing youth in criminal court. Findings have implications for future research and practice for systems serving justice-involved youth.
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Details
- Title
- Effects of trauma and child welfare history on potential sentencing jurors' decisions for youth prosecuted in criminal court
- Creators
- Mina Ratkalkar
- Contributors
- Naomi E. Goldstein (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- vii, 65 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences (Psychology); College of Arts and Sciences; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991015684343504721