Juvenile Diversion and the Family: How Youth and Parents Experience Diversion Programming

• DOI: 10.1177/00938548211013854
• Published date: 01 November 2021
• Author: Mark Magidson,Taylor Kidd
• Date: 01 November 2021
• Subject Matter: Articles

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2021, Vol. 48, No. 11, November 2021, 1576 –1595.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548211013854

Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions

© 2021 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

1576

JUVENILE DIVERSION AND THE FAMILY

How Youth and Parents Experience Diversion

Programming

MARK MAGIDSON

TAYLOR KIDD

University of California, Irvine

Despite extensive research into juvenile justice interventions, there is a limited focus on family engagement, including par-

ent–child experiences in these various programs. Even less research explores how families, specifically youth and parents,

are affected by diversion from the traditional juvenile justice system. The current study fills this gap by drawing from in-depth

interviews with 19 parents and 19 youths participating in a juvenile pretrial diversion program in Southern California. This

research highlights how a diversion program can influence how families understand the justice system and law-related behav-

iors. The themes discussed include how diversion programs shape parent–child bonds, how parents navigate negative indict-

ments of youth and themselves for participating in diversion, and the influence of external challenges and social forces

shaping youth and parent experiences. Findings support the theoretical contributions from social bond and labeling theory.

Implications and future research will also be discussed.

Keywords: juvenile delinquency; attitudes; criminological theory; parenting; perceptions; qualitative methods; social

bonds; stigma

Family-focused research into juvenile delinquency has repeatedly established the signifi-

cant role that parent–child dynamics play in shaping youth behavior (Burgess & Akers,

1966; De Coster, 2012; Steinberg et al., 2006). A large body of work supports the idea that

parents can protect their children from engaging in delinquency through emotional support

and attachment, positive legal socialization, and active supervision (Hoeve et al., 2009;

Palmer & Hollin, 2001; Steinberg et al., 2006; Tyler & Trinkner, 2017; Vidal & Woolard,

2016). Despite the literature demonstrating the importance of parent–child relationships,

limited research explores the role of parental involvement throughout youths’ juvenile jus-

tice system processing (Vidal & Woolard, 2016). In fact, parents and families may be char-

acterized by juvenile justice officials and/or programs as sources contributing to their child’s

involvement in the justice system (Burke et al., 2014; Cox, 2018). Although justice system

AUTHORS’ NOTE: We have no conflicts of interest to disclose. Correspondence concerning this article

should be addressed to Mark Magidson, Department of Criminology, Law and Society, University of California,

Irvine, 2340 Social Ecology II, Irvine, CA 92697-7080, USA; e-mail: magidson@uci.edu.

1013854CJBXXX10.1177/00938548211013854Criminal Justice and BehaviorMagidson, Kidd / JUVENILE DIVERSION AND THE FAMILY

research-article2021

Magidson, Kidd / JUVENILE DIVERSION AND THE FAMILY 1577

programming may attempt to “engage in a positive and supportive role with parents while

still meeting the larger societal goals of community or child protection” (Burke et al., 2014,

p. 40), research has found that youth case officers’ perceptions of families as good or bad

can influence the punitiveness of their decisions concerning youth outcomes (Rodriguez

et al., 2009). Parents may accept these negative characterizations and internalize blame for

their child’s actions.

Although studies have highlighted the complex relationship that parents of juvenile justice–

involved youth have with their children, community, and system officials (Rodriguez et al.,

2009; Vidal & Woolard, 2016), less attention has been paid to the experiences of parents of

youth—and the youth themselves—diverted from the traditional justice system. A wide

variety of diversion programs exist, commonly catering to first-time, low-level youth, who

admit responsibility for their behaviors and attempt to rectify their actions (Rasmussen,

2004). These programs may occur in various forms, such as individual or family counsel-

ing, cognitive-behavioral therapy, community service, juvenile drug court, and teen court

(Schwalbe et al., 2012). Parents, as opposed to the state or justice system officials, typically

assume a supervisory role to ensure that their child is adhering to program requirements

(Abdulla & Goliath, 2015; Schlesinger, 2018). In addition, parents must consent to their

child’s participation in diversion and are often responsible for the financial costs of program

participation (Harvell et al., 2004).

Despite the literature demonstrating the importance of parent–child relationships, there

is a lack of research exploring parents’ involvement in youth diversion programming. It is

necessary to address this gap in the literature because diversionary programs are popular

interventions that seek to prevent youth from being formally processed in court, but existing

evidence has not substantiated their effectiveness, particularly in their ability to reduce

recidivism (Manski & Nagin, 1998; Regoli et al., 1985; Schwalbe et al., 2012; Wilson &

Hoge, 2013). Given the high level of parental involvement throughout diversion program-

ming, the instrumental role parents play in supporting their child throughout diversion, and

the knowledgeable insight parents have about their child’s needs, it is important to address

how parents perceive their experiences with diversion. It is a particularly worthwhile con-

sideration because diversion strives to reduce youths’ future contact with the justice system,

but programs and/or program officials may typify parents as partly responsible for their

child’s actions, similar to formal officials’ characterizations of parents of justice-involved

youth (Burke et al., 2014; Cox, 2018). As the juvenile justice system continues to transform,

embracing family engagement and restorative justice–based approaches, it is important to

consider the direct impact of these procedural changes on the population of youth and fami-

lies that they seek to help to ensure that these practices are implemented appropriately

(Rozzell, 2013).

LITERATURE REVIEW

THE THEORETICAL IMPORTANCE OF PARENT–CHILD RELATIONSHIPS

The relationship between parents and children is a prominent factor of support and/or

stress for youth, particularly teens (De Coster, 2012). This finding is consistent across mul-

tiple perspectives, including social bond theory. Seeking to explain why some individuals

do not commit crimes, Hirschi’s (1969) social bond theory proposes that weakened or bro-

ken ties to society may facilitate a person’s engagement in deviancy. In the absence of