Abstract

Examining the practical utility of a structured decision-making tool and its impact on actual case dispositions for juveniles charged with sexual offenses is an important question to answer. While research has confirmed that structured decision-making contributes to positive youth and system outcomes, addressing how well these broad policies serve specific groups of offenders, such as juveniles charged with sexual offenses, has not yet received adequate empirical attention. Therefore, this dissertation sought to examine the strengths and limitations of using Florida's statewide disposition recommendation policies for juveniles who have been charged with sexual offenses. Specifically, the study sought to examine 1) the association between delinquency risk to reoffend and disposition alignment with the disposition recommendation provided by the FDJJ among juveniles charged with a sex offense and juveniles charged with other against-person felony offenses, 2) differences in dynamic risk domains across disposition match among juveniles charged with a sex offense and juveniles charged with other against-person felony offenses, and 3) whether being charged with a sex offense, compared to being charged with other against-person felony offenses, increased the likelihood that a juvenile would receive residential commitment. To answer these questions, administrative data was obtained from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. The data included juveniles whose cases were disposed in Florida between 2012 and 2017 and included juveniles who were charged with sex offenses and juveniles who were charged with other against-person felony offenses. A variety of bivariate (crosstabs, chi-squares, ANOVAs) and multivariate (logistic regression) statistical techniques were employed. The results of the proposed study may be used to improve Florida juvenile justice disposition recommendation practices for juveniles who have committed sexually-related offenses.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2021

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Fisher, Kristina Childs

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Community Innovation and Education

Department

School of Public Administration

Degree Program

Public Affairs; Criminal Justice

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0008655;DP0025386

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0025386

Language

English

Release Date

August 2026

Length of Campus-only Access

5 years

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Campus-only Access)

Location

UCF Downtown

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Restricted to the UCF community until August 2026; it will then be open access.

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