Document Type
Thesis - University Access Only
Award Date
1997
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department / School
Rural Sociology
Abstract
This study tests the utility of a decision making model derived from structural organizational theory for understanding judicial decision making in a juvenile justice setting. The model describes the conditions under which selected legalistic and extralegal factors impact the likelihood that court dispositions will be severe. Using data from the South Dakota Unified Judicial System the study analyzes decisions made by two judges during a twelve month period. For the decisions of each judge, the study tests a series of hypothetical relationships between explanatory factors suggested by the model and the likelihood of being disposed to a juvenile corrections confinement. The explanatory factors include offense seriousness, offender personal characteristics, court workload, offense type, history of prior court involvement, and precedent setting prior court decisions. The findings of the study are supportive of the structural organizational perspective in that parts of the model regarding the impact of factors such as court workload and prior involvement with the court. The findings offer no support for a number of proposed interaction effects, however, indicating that other parts of the proposed model must be revised.
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Judicial discretion
Judicial process
Juvenile justice, Administration of --- South Dakota
Format
application/pdf
Number of Pages
177
Publisher
South Dakota State University
Recommended Citation
Froelich, Peter K., "An Investigation of Organizational Decision Making, Bounded Rationality, and the Exercise of Discretion in Judicial Decisions to Confine Juvenile Offenders" (1997). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 385.
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd2/385