Transfer of Juveniles to Adult Court

This bulletin presents findings from the Pathways to Desistance study about the effects of transfer from juvenile court to adult court on a sample of serious adolescent offenders in Maricopa County, AZ. The authors compare the extant literature with findings from the Pathways study and discuss the possible implications of these findings for future changes in transfer statutes. Following are some key points: - Adolescents in the adult system may be at risk for disruptions in their personal development, identity formation, relationships, learning, growth in skills and competencies, and positive movement into adult status. - Most of the youth in the study who were sent to adult facilities returned to the community within a few years, varying widely in their levels of adjustment. Youth were more likely to successfully adjust when they were not influenced by antisocial peers. - Prior work indicates that transferred youth are more likely to commit criminal acts than adolescents kept in the juvenile justice system. - Findings from the Pathways study indicate that transfer may have a differential effect (either reducing or increasing offending), depending on the juvenile's presenting offense and prior offense history.