Gender and Justice

The current study addressed the issues of
gender and racial differences in judicial waiver
decisions in one state. The study provides an
examination of existing juvenile justice research,
and augments a neglected area of research regarding
girls and judicial waiver. The present research
examines the variables that influence the judicial
waiver decision for girls and explores the
differences between girls and boys who were
judicially waived to adult court.
Utilizing juvenile court data from 1994 through
2000, the current findings provide a fairly complex
portrait of the effects of several variables on
judicial waiver. Based upon the variables that were
tested in this study, it is suggests that increased
delinquency prevention programs, such as truancy
prevention and increased counseling services for
girls, are warranted. The findings also indicate
that future research about the transfer of girls to
adult court is needed in order to attempt to
understand fully the variables that influence
judicial waiver.