Abstract

What role does political landscape play in relation to juvenile justice outcomes? This paper uses data from a U.S. Department of Justice- funded research study on youth justice policy environments and their effects on youth confinement rates. The study includes youth outcome rates and political trends in all states and the District of Columbia from 1996 to 2016. The current study explores the relationship between state political progressiveness and youth diversion from the juvenile justice system, using an integration of existing literature and regression analyses. Discussion includes program and policy implications for the implementation of alternatives to legal routes of juvenile rehabilitation.