Abstract
How do socially relevant attributes influence juvenile criminal sentencing? While judicial decisions should, in principle, be fully based on legally relevant factors such as the seriousness of the offense and the defendant’s criminal record, I ask whether and how extralegal characteristics related to the adolescent’s position in structural relations affect the decision-making process. I propose a mixed-methods design to study mechanisms of criminal sentencing. Using data from a representative sample of the Sao Paulo juvenile justice system records, I estimate mixed-effects logistic models to assess the probability of being sentenced to confinement given certain extralegal attributes, while controlling for legally relevant variables. Interaction effects show that adolescents registered as full-time students and classified as drug users are more likely to be sentenced to confinement than their counterparts, even when the arraignment is the same. The second step involved weekly visits to the juvenile courthouse in Sao Paulo over four months to observe judicial hearings. Prosecutors are central to the decision-making process. The standard decision-making mechanism is based on police documents and legally relevant information. When there is a rupture in the definition of the situation (usually when non-minority defendants enter the courtroom), a new mechanism emerges and more lenient decisions are made.
Highlights
How do socially relevant attributes in luence juvenile criminal sentencing? While judicial decisions should, in principle, be fully based on legally relevant factors such as the seriousness of the offense and the defendant’s criminal record, I ask whether and how extralegal characteristics related to the adolescent’s position in structural relations affect the decision-making process
While I demonstrate that the standard social mechanism of judicial decisions in the Sã o Paulo juvenile justice system involves, as expected, the logic of criminal law, I ind that another mechanism can occasionally be activated whereby non-minority adolescents receive more lenient sentences
I argue that the methodological debate that began in the 1970s, and sought to predict criminal sentencing with legal and extralegal attributes, could advance considerably with mixed-methods research designs
Summary
I argue that the methodological debate that began in the 1970s, and sought to predict criminal sentencing with legal and extralegal attributes, could advance considerably with mixed-methods research designs. To demonstrate the impact of socially relevant attributes on the harshness of judicial decisions, as well as the advantages of mixed-methods approaches, I present the results of an explanatory mixed-methods design that aimed to investigate the likelihood of being sentenced the con inement disposition and the mechanisms of juvenile criminal sentencing in Sã o Paulo, Brazil. This is a fascinating scenario for two reasons. Are socially relevant attributes such as occupation and ethnicity signi icant predictors of the judicial decision even when the seriousness of the offense and the defendant’s criminal records are taken into account? To investigate the sentencing mechanisms of the Sã o Paulo juvenile justice system, I used an explanatory mixed-methods research design
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