Changing approaches of prosecutors towards juvenile repeated sex-offenders: A Bayesian evaluation.

ABSTRACT: Existing state-wide data bases on prosecutors' decisions about juvenile offenders are important, yet often un-explored resources for understanding changes in patterns of judicial decisions over time. We investigate the extent and nature of change in judicial behavior towards juveniles following the enactment of a new set of mandatory registration policies between 1992 and 1996 via analyzing the data on prosecutors' decisions of moving forward for youths repeatedly charged with sexual violence in South Carolina. We use a novel extension of random effects logistic regression model for longitudinal binary data via incorporating an unknown change-point year. For convenient physical interpretation, our models allow the proportional odds interpretation of effects of the explanatory variables and

SUBMITTER: Bandyopadhyay D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2923855 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature