Disability and Type/Level of Offense Committed by Juveniles Transferred versus Not Transferred to the Adult Court System

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare two groups of males in Arizona Department of Corrections (ADJC) custody with regard to three factors. The first group consisted of youth sentenced to ADJC who later received criminal charges for which they were transferred to the adult court system, ("Transferred" group), and the second group involved youth sentenced to ADJC who did not receive any additional criminal charges for which they were transferred, ("Non-Transferred" group). The variables examined were: youth with versus without a special education disability diagnosis, most serious level of offense for which the youth was imprisoned, and ethnicity. Due to the lack of prior research in this area, only null hypotheses were formulated. The first hypothesis was there would be no significant differences between the two groups on the observed versus expected frequencies of each of the variables studied. The second hypothesis was that there would be no significant association between the two groups with regard to their disability status on each of the variables.The results showed that regarding disability status, the null hypothesis was not rejected. The frequency of disabilities represented in both groups and the proportion of youth eligible to receive special education services was not different. Regarding the seriousness of offense level, the null hypothesis that both groups were identical was not rejected; indicating that the Transferred group was not significantly different from the Non-Transferred group in frequency of most serious offense level. In terms of disability status, and level of offense committed, the null hypothesis was also not rejected. Finally, regarding ethnic representation, no significant associations were found for the groups.The groups studied showed a larger percentage of youth receiving special education services, in comparison to the percentage of youth receiving special education services within the whole educational system. The groups also had a larger percentage of minorities compared to the latest Arizona census information on ethnic backgrounds of children under age 18. The results highlight the similarities between the Transferred and Non-Transferred groups and discuss the implications of the findings, future research directions, and the study's limitations.