AN EMPIRICAL-APPROACH TO THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON SENTENCING IN A YOUNG OFFENDER COURT

Based on interviews with parents of a sample of young offenders appear ing before a family court, this paper presents a quantitative test of five theoretical perspectives on sentencing. The results indicate that despite legislative change, status offenders are still a reality in C anadian courts and factors associated with court outcomes differ depen ding on whether the offence is of a traditional criminal nature or is a status offence. Contrary to recent research findings, results do not support a liberal/consensus perspective. Legally relevant variables a re not found to affect court outcomes for either type of offence. Resu lts for traditional offenders provide considerable support for a femin ist perspective on court decision-making processes, suggest that socia l class effects on court outcomes may be the opposite to that predicte d by a strictly neo-Marxian perspective, and provide some support for the notion that courts are 'loosely coupled' to other sectors of the j uvenile justice system. Results for status offenders point in the dire ction of a social control explanation for court outcomes.