Juvenile justice sentencing: Do gender and child welfare involvement matter? Christina C. Tam a, ⁎, Laura S. Abrams a , Bridget Freisthler a , Joseph P. Ryan b a Department of Social Welfare, University of California, Los Angeles, United States b School of Social Work, University of Michigan, United States abstract article info Article history: Received 30 October 2015 Received in revised form 28 February 2016 Accepted 28 February 2016 Available online 2 March 2016 For young people who come into contact with the juvenile justice system, how they are sentenced following an arrest may profoundly influence the course of their development and adjustment as adults. Much of the research to date has focused on racial and ethnic disparities in juvenile justice sentencing policies and practices, and less is known about sentencing disparities based on other youth characteristics. Using Los Angeles County administra- tive data, this study investigates the effects of gender and child welfare statuses on sentencing for young people who are arrested for the first time (N = 5061). Results indicate that both young men and women are sentenced more harshly dependent upon the disposition, such that girls were more likely to be sentenced to group homes compared to boys, but boys were more likely to be sentenced to correctional facilities compared to girls. Child welfare-involved youth with a recent placement history are prone to more punitive sentences compared to their non-child welfare counterparts. Further, child welfare young women were not more likely to be sentenced to a harsher disposition compared to child welfare young men or non-child welfare young women. Implications for practice and future research are discussed. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Juvenile justice Sentencing disparities Gender Child welfare Crossover youth 1. Introduction Adolescence is a critical stage of development during which pro- found physical, emotional, and social transitions occur. For young peo- ple who come into contact with the juvenile justice system, their interactions with the juvenile court and, in particular, how they are sen- tenced following an arrest may greatly influence the course of their development and adjustment as adults (Aizer & Doyle, 2013; Bullis & Yovanoff, 2006; Chung, Little, & Steinberg, 2005). Although rates of juvenile incarceration in the United States (U.S.) declined over 40% in the past 15 years, there are still over 1.2 million mi- nors handled annually in juvenile court (Sickmund, Sladky, & Kang, 2014). Among these cases, 31.1% are dismissed, 36.1% result in a proba- tion sentence, 23.8% receive an “other” type of sentence, such as restitu- tion or community service, and 7.8% are sentenced to an out-of-home placement (Sickmund et al., 2014). When youth are shuffled further into the system (i.e., sentenced to an out-of-home placement), they are more likely to recidivate, have lower educational and vocational at- tainment, and to experience a host of additional negative consequences (Aizer & Doyle, 2013; Mendel, 2011). Harsher sentencing contributes to recidivism even upon a first arrest (Ryan, Abrams, & Huang, 2014). Hence, sentencing policies and practices are critical to preventing the harm associated with out-of-home stays and lengthy incarceration. Sentencing disparities refer to systematic differences for certain groups (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender) in judicial decisions for similar crimes. Much of the research to date has focused on racial and eth- nic disparities in juvenile justice sentencing policies and practices (e.g. Bishop, Leiber, & Johnson, 2010, Moore & Padavic, 2010, Rodriguez, 2010). However, less known about other factors, including gender and child welfare status, that may also contribute to sentencing disparities among vulnerable groups of young people. Using Los Angeles County ad- ministrative data, this study builds upon this disparities research and in- vestigates gender and child welfare status, both alone and in conjunction, as risk factors for receiving harsher sentences while controlling for crime type. 1.1. Sentencing disparities among juvenile justice youth Empirical research on disparities in juvenile justice sentencing has focused largely on race and ethnicity. Investigating racial and ethnic dis- parities is crucial given the disproportionate representation of minori- ties within the juvenile justice system. While Black youth comprised 16% of the total juvenile population in the U.S. in 2002, they comprised 29% of those referred to juvenile court (Kempf-Leonard, 2007). Further, Black and Hispanic youth were nearly five times and two times, respectively, as likely to be incarcerated as White youth (Bishop, 2005). Racial disparities in sentencing continue to pervade the juvenile Children and Youth Services Review 64 (2016) 60–65 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: christinatam@ucla.edu (C.C. Tam), abrams@luskin.ucla.edu (L.S. Abrams), freisthler@luskin.ucla.edu (B. Freisthler), joryan@umich.edu (J.P. Ryan). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.02.028 0190-7409/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Children and Youth Services Review journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth