Cited by 77Criminal Justice and Corrections AnalysisCrime Patterns and InterventionsCriminal Justice and Penology

Differential Effects of Adult Court Transfer on Juvenile Offender Recidivism

Open access
Loughran, Thomas A., Mulvey, Edward P., Schubert, Carol A., Chassin, Laurie A., Steinberg, Laurence, Piquero, Alex R., Fagan, Jeffrey, Cota-Robles, Sonia +2 more·2010·Law and Human Behavior

Abstract

Prior research indicates that adolescent offenders transferred to adult court are more likely to recidivate than those retained in the juvenile system. The studies supporting this conclusion, however, are limited in addressing the issue of heterogeneity among transferred adolescents. This study estimates the effect of transfer on later crime using a sample of 654 serious juvenile offenders, 29% of whom were transferred. We use propensity score matching to reduce potential selection bias, and we partition the sample on legal characteristics to examine subgroup effects. We find an overall null effect of transfer on re-arrest, but evidence of differential effects of transfer for adolescents with different offending histories. These results suggest that evaluating the effects of transfer for all transferred adolescents together may lead to misguided policy conclusions.

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This study estimates whether transfer to adult court affects later re-arrest among serious juvenile offenders, using propensity score methods to reduce selection bias. It finds no overall effect of transfer, but exploratory evidence that effects differ by charge type, with person-crime transfer associated with lower re-arrest.

Key findings

  • Among 654 serious juvenile offenders in Maricopa County, AZ, 29% (193/654) were transferred to adult court; after exclusions, the working transfer sample was 128.
  • The overall estimated average treatment effect on the treated was −.23 arrests per year (SE = .22; t = −1.03), described as a null effect and roughly one fewer arrest every four years.
  • Before adjustment, transferred youth averaged about .91 arrests per year versus about .93 for retained youth.
  • Subgroup analyses found a negative and significant interaction between adult court transfer and person-crime charge, suggesting lower re-arrest for transferred person offenders; the property-crime base coefficient was positive but not statistically significant.
  • For prior petitions, there was no significant interaction with transfer; having 0 or 1 prior petition was associated with lower re-arrest regardless of court setting.

Methods

  • Data came from the Pathways to Desistance study, using the Maricopa County, AZ subsample of adolescents adjudicated for serious offenses, mostly felonies, who were 14–17 at the qualifying offense and averaged 17 at baseline.
  • The outcome was yearly rate of re-arrest, calculated from juvenile petitions and FBI adult arrest records, divided by time on the street after disposition or release through the 48-month follow-up.
  • The main analysis used propensity score estimation with 59 baseline covariates, subclassification into quintiles, and balance checks; subgroup analyses used regressions with charge type or prior petitions, transfer status, their interaction, and controls for 16 initially imbalanced covariates.

Limitations

  • The paper states that subgroup sample sizes were too small to estimate conditional treatment effects with propensity score methods, so subgroup findings are exploratory and need replication in larger samples and other jurisdictions.
  • The paper states that group-specific effects can control for but not fully rule out selection bias from observable covariates, and that the analyses do not address drug or sex offenders because of Pathways design limits.
  • The paper states that the most serious offenders charged with murder, rape, or arson were screened out because they were confined for the entire recall period, and that results should not be extrapolated outside the 14–18 age range, especially to youth younger than 14.
  • Evident from the text: transfer was not randomly assigned, so causal inference depends on the adequacy of the propensity score and covariate balance rather than experimental design.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1007/s10979-009-9210-z

Cites

37 of 37 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Claims the paper makes

4 of 22 cited sources checked · 3 supported · 0 flagged · accuracy not yet measured

  • Study design and conductcitation

    The authors used propensity score matching to lessen selection bias.

    “We use propensity score matching to reduce potential selection bias”
    • Also stated in: § Current Focus · plain
      “the current empirical study uses propensity score methodology (Rosenbaum & Rubin, 1983), an alternative statistical method selected to account for selection bias.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Rosenbaum & Rubin, 1983 source
  • Premisecitation

    Conditional on two individuals having the same propensity score, treatment status is independent of all observed characteristics.

    “Rosenbaum and Rubin (1983) show that, conditional on two individuals, one treated and one control, having an identical propensity score, the difference in treatment status becomes independent of all observable characteristics.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Rosenbaum and Rubin (1983) source
  • Findingown data

    The study found evidence that transfer effects differ for adolescents with different offending histories.

    “but evidence of differential effects of transfer for adolescents with different offending histories”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: After propensity score matching, no unmeasured confounding remains, so the estimated transfer effects can be interpreted causally.
    • Rests on an assumption: The 65 excluded transferred cases do not substantially bias the estimated transfer effects.
    • Rests on an assumption: The re-arrest measure based on JOLTS and FBI records accurately captures subsequent criminal involvement.
    • Rests on an assumption: The four-year follow-up period is long enough to capture the effects of transfer on recidivism.
  • Findingown data

    After subclassification, the estimated average treatment effect on the treated of transfer on re-arrest is -.23 (SE = .22; t = -1.03).

    “After accounting for the potential selection biases in the initial covariates using subclassification, the estimated ATT is −.23 (SE = .22; t-statistic = −1.03).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: There are no unmeasured confounders beyond the covariates included in the propensity score or subgroup models that affect both transfer and recidivism.
  • Findingown data

    There was a negative and significant interaction between adult court and person crime, indicating a reduction in offending associated with transfer for person offenders even after controlling for primary selection factors.

    “In contrast, note that there is a negative and significant interaction effect between adult court and person crime, which suggests that there is a reduction in offending associated with transfer for those who engage in person crimes, even when controlling for primary selection factors.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims. 18
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 18
  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Bishop et al. and Winner et al. found transferred youth were more likely to recidivate and reoffended sooner than non-transferred youth.

    “They also found that transferred youth had an increased likelihood of recidivism and re-offended more quickly than their non-transferred counterparts.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Bishop, Frazier, Lanza-Kaduce, and Winner (1996) source

      The retrieved passages contain a STARS bibliography page and an abstract, but no passages from the paper’s body or results. Searches for recidivism rates and time to failure did not retrieve full-text evidence, so the claim cannot be verified from the available paper text. (LLM, conf=0.75)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
    • cites Winner, Lanza-Kaduce, Bishop, and Frazier (1997) source
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    Myers concluded that transferred youth had higher recidivism rates.

    “Using statistical controls for selection bias, Myers also concluded that transferred youth had higher rates of recidivism.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Myers (2003) source
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Before subclassification, the mean re-arrest rate was about .91 per year for transferred individuals and about .93 per year for retained individuals, a negligible difference.

    “Prior to subclassification, the mean rate of re-arrest for those individuals transferred to adult court was about .91 arrests per year, compared to about .93 arrests per year for those individuals retained in the juvenile system. The difference in arrests per year is essentially negligible, suggesting that there is no difference between rate of re-arrest as an outcome for these two groups overall.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    In the prior-petition model, there was no significant interaction between low priors and transfer, so a differential effect of transfer by number of priors could not be established.

    “Notice in this case, while there is no significant interaction effect of low priors and transfer, which would suggest a differential effect of transfer, there is a significant main effect of low priors which remains even after controlling for the initial selection factors.”
    • Also stated in: § Exploring Potential Treatment Effect Heterogeneity · hedged
      “However, we are unable to reject a null hypothesis of a differential effect of transfer conditional on number or priors.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    In the charge-type regression, the adult court coefficient was positive, indicating higher re-arrest for transferred property offenders than retained property offenders, but the difference was not statistically significant.

    “Notice that the coefficient for adult court is positive, suggesting that for individuals charged with property crimes (i.e., the base category) the rate of re-arrest is actually higher for those transferred than those retained in juvenile court, although this difference fails to approach conventional statistical significance.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The charge-type subgroups contained 45 transferred property offenders with 138 juvenile cases and 63 transferred person offenders with 136 juvenile cases; the prior-petition subgroups contained 65 transferred individuals with 0 or 1 prior and 180 juvenile cases, and 63 transferred individuals with 2 or more priors and 205 juvenile cases.

    “For the division based on charge type, there are only 45 transferred individuals in the property crime subgroup (with another 138 juvenile cases), and only 63 transferred individuals in the person crime subgroup (136 juvenile cases). For the division based on prior petitions, there are 65 transferred individuals with either 0 or 1 prior petitions (with another 180 juvenile cases), and there are 63”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Study design and conductown data

    The study checked covariate balance between groups before adjudication.

    “Fortunately, we were able to check for covariate balance, that is, differences between groups prior to adjudication.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S1 (asserted).

    Interpretationreasoning

    The overall null effect of transfer may mask differential effects within subgroups of transferred individuals.

    “The overall null effect may actually be masking differential effects within different groups.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Study design and conductown data

    In the subgroup analyses, the authors controlled for the 16 covariates that were initially imbalanced to attempt to control for selection.

    “Also, we control for the 16 covariates which were initially out of balance between the adult and juvenile groups to provide some reasonable attempt at controlling for selection (though by no means eliminating it).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The 16 initially imbalanced covariates are the primary selection factors sufficient to provide reasonable control for selection in the subgroup regressions.
  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Those reforms raised the transfer rate and probably increased the diversity of youth sent to adult court.

    “As a result of these changes, there was an increase in the rate of transfer and a likely increase in the heterogeneity of the youth sent to adult court, with considerable variability in the adolescents constituting this expanded pool of adult court cases (Schubert et al., 2009).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Schubert et al., 2009

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisereasoning

    Because there is no random assignment to transfer, the two groups are not directly comparable, which blocks confident causal inferences.

    “In formal statistical parlance, since there is no random assignment to the ‘treatment condition’ of transfer to adult court, the two groups are not directly comparable. This phenomenon prevents researchers from making confident causal inferences about the effects of adult court transfer on important outcomes.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductown data

    The retained group had more time at risk in the community; transferred youth spent 33% of the recall period in a facility versus 21% for retained youth.

    “Time at risk in the community, however, was greater for the group retained in the juvenile court. Youth transferred to the adult court spent, on average, 33% of the recall period in a facility while youth retained in the juvenile system spent, on average, 21% of their time in a facility.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationown data

    The estimated ATT is not statistically significant at conventional levels and is small in magnitude, about one fewer arrest every four years, so it is not practically or policy meaningful.

    “However, not only is this estimate not statistically significant at conventional levels, but its small magnitude (indicating only about one less arrest every four years for adult cases as compared to those retained in juvenile court) suggests that it is not very meaningful in either a practical or policy sense.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisenone given

    Factors such as age, offense, and prior petitions may affect whether a case is transferred to criminal court.

    “Several factors, including but not limited to age, offense, and number of prior petitions, may influence the likelihood that an individual's case is transferred to criminal court.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisenone given

    Earlier research gave little attention to possible differential transfer effects on subgroups.

    “Prior research has paid only limited attention to the possible differential effects of transfer on subgroups of offenders.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductcitation

    A standardized bias percentage above 20 indicates a covariate may be out of balance.

    “Rosenbaum and Rubin offer that a standardized difference percentage value greater than 20 for any covariate would suggest that the covariate is out of balance.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Rosenbaum and Rubin

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductreasoning

    Excluding the most serious offenders, those charged with murder, rape, or arson, may bias the overall treatment effect estimate.

    “Another possible limitation is the screening of the most serious offenders from the sample (i.e., those charged with murder, rape or arson, all of whom spent the entire recall period in confinement), as it may be creating a biased estimate of the overall treatment effect of transfer.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Youth charged with murder, rape, or arson would almost always be transferred to adult court regardless of the statutory scheme.
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Study design and conductreasoning

    After exclusions, the working transfer sample contained 128 cases.

    “This yields a working transfer sample of n = 128.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisenone given

    Much research and debate treated transfer as having one universal effect across individuals and offense types.

    “Much of the research and debate on transfer policy has pointed toward a singular, universal effect of transfer across all individuals and offense types.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Study design and conductown data

    The charge-group coefficients should be interpreted with caution because of limited sample size.

    “As mentioned, we need to interpret our results, in particular the estimated coefficients for the charge group category, with ample caution, given the limited sample size involved.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationown data

    The results should not be extrapolated outside the transfer sample age range of 14 to 18, with less than 5% age 14, and provide no empirical basis for policy on transferring youth younger than 14.

    “Furthermore, with respect to age, we caution against extrapolating these results outside of the age range of our transfer sample (ages 14–18, with less than 5% 14 year olds).”
    • Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
      “Further, we emphasize that, even if the current results were replicated and/or strengthened in future studies, these results still provide no relevant empirical basis for policy regarding transfer of youth younger than age 14.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Current charge and prior offending history are legally relevant and readily ascertainable and are demonstrated indicators of likely future success in transferred youth.

    “Current charge and past offending history serve this purpose well. While obviously proxies for a variety of other offender characteristics, they are both readily ascertainable and legally relevant, as well as demonstrated indicators of likely future success in transferred youth (Schubert et al., 2009).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Schubert et al., 2009

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    Multiple factors may affect both later recidivism and the probability of transfer, so unadjusted associations between transfer and recidivism may reflect confounding rather than a causal effect.

    “In summary, there are multiple factors which may be simultaneously affecting both later recidivism in offenders as well as the likelihood that that an offender is transferred to adult court. Thus, any basic associations relating transfer to adult court to later recidivism may, in fact, be due to the confounding of these factors and not by a causal mechanism.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductown data

    After subclassification, only one of the 59 main effects and none of the interaction effects were significant, indicating sufficient covariate balance.

    “Overall, only one of the 59 main effects, and none of the interaction effects, is significant, suggesting that we have achieved sufficient covariate balance.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationown data

    For some individuals transfer may reduce criminal activity and for others it may increase it, although the increases are not statistically significant.

    “Like other studies focusing on the effects of incarceration on subsequent criminal activity (Bhati & Piquero, 2007; Piquero & Blumstein, 2007), our results do suggest that, for some individuals, transfer may reduce criminal activity and, for others, it may increase it, although these increases are not statistically significant.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Bhati & Piquero, 2007

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

    • cites Piquero & Blumstein, 2007 source
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Interpretationcitation

    The Pathways data allow fuller exploration of heterogeneity among transferred individuals, an issue emphasized by others.

    “Perhaps most importantly, the Pathways data provide a unique opportunity to more fully explore the issue of heterogeneity among transferred individuals, the importance of which has been emphasized by others (Bishop, 2000; Zimring, 1998).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Bishop, 2000 source
    • cites Zimring, 1998 source
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Study design and conductown data

    The analysis considered 59 baseline covariates to rule them out as potential confounders.

    “Specifically, we considered 59 covariates measured at baseline, including demographic, family history, peer, legal, psychological, substance abuse, psychosocial maturity, and prior adjustment factors. Each of these factors was specifically selected to be ruled out as a potential confounder within the analysis.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductown data

    The analyses do not address transfer effects for drug or sex offenders, and the Pathways design limited the number of drug offenders, limiting applicability for generalized legal reform.

    “In addition, these analyses do not address the impact of transfer on drug or sex offenders. Although drug offenders may constitute a sizable proportion of transferred youth in some locales, the design of the Pathways study limited the number of drug offenders in the sample, thus limiting the applicability of these findings for generalized legal reform.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    According to earlier studies, adolescents sent to adult court reoffend at higher rates than those kept in juvenile court.

    “Prior research indicates that adolescent offenders transferred to adult court are more likely to recidivate than those retained in the juvenile system.”
    • Also stated in: § The Effects of Transfer · hedged
      “numerous commentators and scholars have come to the conclusion that transferred adolescents are more likely to “recidivate, recidivate at a higher rate, and be rearrested for more serious offenses, on average, than those retained in the juvenile system” (Bishop & Frazier, 2000).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Bishop & Frazier, 2000

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Reforms in the 1990s and early 2000s expanded who was eligible for transfer and the methods by which transfer could occur.

    “These statutory revisions both widened the net of eligibility and broadened the range of mechanisms by which transfer could be accomplished.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Griffin, 2003

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductcitation

    The study used the standardized bias statistic to assess balance.

    “Second, we also considered the standardized bias statistic (SBS) advised by Rosenbaum and Rubin (1985), to ensure that differences between the conditional variables were not dependent upon sample size.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Rosenbaum and Rubin (1985)

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Study design and conductcitation

    The propensity score model was selected iteratively with covariate balance as the primary goal rather than by explicitly modeling the selection process.

    “Model selection is conducted through an iterative process, with the primary goal of achieving covariate balance afterwards (Heckman, Ichimura, Smith, & Todd, 1998; Rosenbaum & Rubin, 1984), as opposed to explicit modeling of the selection process.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Heckman, Ichimura, Smith, & Todd, 1998 source
    • cites Rosenbaum & Rubin, 1984 source
  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Fagan found that transfer was linked to higher likelihood and quicker re-arrest for robbery offenders, but not for burglary offenders.

    “They found that, for robbery offenders, transfer was associated with a higher likelihood of, and quicker time to, re-arrest. While significant, these effects could only be generalized to robbery offenses, as the authors found no such significant differences for burglary offenders.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Fagan (1995)

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

    • cites Fagan, Kupchick, & Liberman, 2003

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisereasoning

    It is unclear whether the statistical controls in prior studies achieved their aim.

    “It is unclear, however, whether or not the statistical controls used to adjust for selection bias in these investigations achieved their goal.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductreasoning

    For group-specific effects, selection biases due to observable covariates can be controlled for but not completely ruled out, so those results are largely exploratory and need replication in larger samples and other jurisdictions.

    “Furthermore, for the group-specific effects, we can control for, but not completely rule out, selection biases due to observable covariates. Thus, these group-specific results should be thought of as largely exploratory, and they should be replicated in a larger sample and in other jurisdictions.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: There are no unmeasured confounders beyond the covariates included in the propensity score or subgroup models that affect both transfer and recidivism.
    • Rests on an assumption: The 16 initially imbalanced covariates are the primary selection factors sufficient to provide reasonable control for selection in the subgroup regressions.
35 of 35
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    After propensity score matching, no unmeasured confounding remains, so the estimated transfer effects can be interpreted causally.

    “This approach, when used in conjunction with the richness of the Pathways data, allows us to consider and subsequently rule out many pretreatment variables which may be confounders, instead of direct matching on only a limited number of them.”
    “As a result, we are able to estimate the causal effects of transfer to adult court more stringently (though never definitively) than previously possible.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The 65 excluded transferred cases do not substantially bias the estimated transfer effects.

    “We excluded from these analyses 65 cases that had been transferred to adult court because the case was either dismissed in adult court (n = 15), there was missing court record information (n = 8), a missing follow-up interview prevented us from knowing when the youth was first released from his/her disposition stay (n = 14), or the adolescent was not released from their disposition stay before the”
    “We consider the implications of excluded cases in the discussion below.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The re-arrest measure based on JOLTS and FBI records accurately captures subsequent criminal involvement.

    “We used rate of re-arrest as a measure of subsequent involvement in criminal activity. Indicators of arrest prior to age 18 were based on reports of petitions to juvenile court recorded in the Juvenile On-Line Tracking System (JOLTS) used in Maricopa County. Arrests after age 18 were based on nationwide FBI arrest records.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The four-year follow-up period is long enough to capture the effects of transfer on recidivism.

    “Adolescents in the sample were followed from the date of their baseline interview (within 45 days of their juvenile court adjudication or within 90 days of their adult court arraignment) through the date of their 4-year follow-up interview.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    There are no unmeasured confounders beyond the covariates included in the propensity score or subgroup models that affect both transfer and recidivism.

    “After accounting for the potential selection biases in the initial covariates using subclassification, the estimated ATT is −.23 (SE = .22; t-statistic = −1.03).”
    “Furthermore, for the group-specific effects, we can control for, but not completely rule out, selection biases due to observable covariates.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Youth charged with murder, rape, or arson would almost always be transferred to adult court regardless of the statutory scheme.

    “Indeed, an individual in this age group charged with such a serious crime will almost always be transferred to adult court, regardless of the statutory scheme governing this practice.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The 16 initially imbalanced covariates are the primary selection factors sufficient to provide reasonable control for selection in the subgroup regressions.

    “Also, we control for the 16 covariates which were initially out of balance between the adult and juvenile groups to provide some reasonable attempt at controlling for selection (though by no means eliminating it).”
7 of 7

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

  • Transfer percentage rounds to 30%, not 29%

    Minor

    The stated 193 transferred participants out of 654 equal 29.51%. Rounded to a whole percent, that is 30%, rather than the reported 29%.

    Reported 29 · recomputed 29.510703

1 of 1

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

3 of the 40 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Fagan, J., & Zimring, F. E. (Eds.). (2000). The changing borders of juvenile justice: Transfer of adolescents to the criminal court. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
  2. Zimring, F. E. (2000). The punitive necessity of waiver. In J. Fagan & F. E. Zimring (Eds.), The changing borders of juvenile justice: Transfer of adolescents to the criminal court (pp. 207–224). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Loughran, T. A., Mulvey, E. P., Schubert, C. A., Chassin, L. A., Steinberg, L., Piquero, A. R., Fagan, J., Cota-Robles, S., Cauffman, E., & Losoya, S.
Affiliations
  • University of South Florida (US)
  • University of Pittsburgh (US)
  • Arizona State University (US)
  • Temple University (US)
  • Florida State University (US)
  • Columbia University (US)
  • University of California, Irvine (US)
Corresponding author
Mulvey, Edward P.
Venue
Law and Human Behavior
Published
2010-12
Volume
34
Issue
6
Pages
476-488
ISSN
  • 0147-7307 (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-661X
OpenAlex
W2083209261
Cited by
77
References
40
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 7
FWCI
20.66
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Law and Human Behavior (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Griffith Research Online (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Justice
  • John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
  • William T. Grant Foundation
  • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
  • William Penn Foundation
  • Center for Disease Control
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA019697)
  • Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency
  • Arizona Governor’s Justice Commission
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime Patterns and Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Law › Criminal Justice and Penology
Keywords
adult court, juvenile recidivism, serious juvenile offenders, subgroup heterogeneity, rearrest, juvenile justice policy
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Arizona, Criminal Law, Female, Humans, Juvenile Delinquency, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Pennsylvania, Propensity Score

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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

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