What Predicts the Use of Blended Sentences Among Eligible Juveniles? A State-Wide Examination

• Date: 01 February 2022
• Published date: 01 February 2022
• DOI: 10.1177/08874034211028273
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/08874034211028273

Criminal Justice Policy Review

2022, Vol. 33(1) 99 –115

© The Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/08874034211028273

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Article

What Predicts the Use of

Blended Sentences Among

Eligible Juveniles? A State-

Wide Examination

Jessica M. Craig1,

Haley Zettler1, and Chad Trulson1

Abstract

In response to critiques of traditional juvenile justice processing and waiver to adult

court, several states have adopted blended sentencing. These sentences fall in between

these two approaches as they offer the benefits of the more rehabilitative-oriented

juvenile system, with the option to deploy more punitive adult criminal sanctions.

While previous research has indicated violent offenders were more likely to receive

a blended sentence, it has not distinguished between those who were eligible for

a blended sentence but did not receive this sanction. The current study seeks to

address this gap and examine legal and extralegal predictors of receiving a blended

sentence among those eligible. The analyses indicated that while those adjudicated for

homicide and aggravated robbery were most likely to be given a blended sentence,

other predictors such as prior probation failure and previous violence toward the

family were associated with a decreased likelihood of receiving this sentence.

Keywords

juvenile justice, sentencing, juveniles

Introduction

In response to critiques that waiver to adult court was too harsh for some juvenile

offenders but the traditional juvenile justice system was too lenient (see, for example,

Bishop & Frazier, 2000; Kupchik, 2007), in the last several decades states have

1University of North Texas, Denton, USA

Corresponding Author:

Jessica M. Craig, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, University of North Texas, 1155 Union Circle

#305130, Denton, TX 76203-5017, USA.

Email: jessica.craig@unt.edu

1028273CJPXXX10.1177/08874034211028273Criminal Justice Policy ReviewCraig et al.

research-article2021

100 Criminal Justice Policy Review 33(1)

pursued blended sentencing as an alternative sanctioning vehicle for certain juvenile

delinquents. Broadly, blended sentences allow for the possibility of adult sanctions

after a juvenile has completed their juvenile sentence. Although blended sentencing

laws vary among the states, these schemes offer the benefits of the more rehabilitative-

oriented juvenile justice system with the potential to apply more punitive adult crimi-

nal justice sanctions. In essence, blended sentences offer a middle ground sentencing

vehicle for serious and violent juvenile offenders.

Despite the growth of blended sentencing, little is known regarding the types of

juvenile offenders who receive these sentences. While Brown and Sorensen (2014),

among others, indicated those who engaged in serious violent offenses were more

likely to receive a blended sentence, this research has not distinguished between those

who were otherwise eligible for a blended sentence but did not receive this sanction.

The current study seeks to address this gap by examining potential legal and extralegal

predictors of receiving a blended sentence among juvenile offenders adjudicated of a

blended-sentence-eligible offense. Prior to presenting the results of the study, a discus-

sion regarding predictors of juvenile court outcomes in general and blended sentences

in particular is first offered.

Predictors of Juvenile Court Outcomes

Research has extensively examined predictors of juvenile court outcomes in general,

identifying a number of extralegal and legal factors associated with more severe pun-

ishment (Caudill et al., 2013; Cauffman et al., 2007; Kalmbach & Lyons, 2012; Leiber

& Johnson, 2008; Mears et al., 2014; Mears & Field, 2000; Tracy et al., 2009).

Overall, a juvenile’s age, sex, race/ethnicity, offense severity, and prior delinquency

are associated with harsher treatment. The literature has examined the effects of

these characteristics in various contexts, ranging from formal case processing, out-

of-home confinement, and waiver to adult criminal court.

Extralegal Predictors

Age. Older juveniles are more likely to receive harsher sentences in juvenile court,

including formal processing, out-of-home confinement, and waiver to adult court

(Leiber & Johnson, 2008; Mears & Field, 2000; Minor et al., 1997). Among first-time

juvenile delinquents, older youth are more likely to receive harsher sanctions (Kalm-

bach & Lyons, 2012). Using a large sample of Florida juvenile court referrals in 2008

(N = 71,388), Mears and colleagues (2014) found that younger juveniles were more

likely to be informally processed than older youth. However, the effects of age on

formal dispositions weakens as youth receive subsequent referrals (Caudill et al.,

2013). Furthermore, there is evidence that older youth are more likely to be waived to

adult court and upon arrival, receive harsher sentences than their younger adult coun-

terparts (Cheesman et al., 2010; Steiner, 2005). Specifically, juveniles transferred to

adult court receive longer sentences than young adults in these courts (Kurlychek &

Johnson, 2004).