Differential Effects of Juvenile Justice Reform on Incarceration Rates of the States

Abstract

Since the 1960s, juvenile justice systems in the United States have faced divergent calls for reform. Included have been demands to deinstitutionalize as well as demands to “get tough” on juvenile crime. This article examines the wide variation across the states in the use of incarceration in public facilities from the mid-1970s to 1987. The findings suggest that the level of change in juvenile incarceration rates is determined by a range of political, social structural, and bureaucratic factors. These factors appear to have led to varying political choices within the states, either supporting or disfavoring incarceration in public facilities. © 1991, SAGE PUBLICATIONS. All rights reserved.