A comparison of juvenile delinquency in Tennessee and Georgia

Christina Gilliard, Tennessee State University

Abstract

A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive research design was used to explore the history of juvenile delinquency, national review of juvenile delinquency, and comparison between Tennessee and Georgia. In this study, the researcher compared and contrasted Tennessee and Georgia's juvenile justice systems and determined whether a model that included demographics and performance standards could be developed to compare the effectiveness of two state's juvenile justice systems. According to the MacArthur Foundation (2006), recidivism is one of the keys to measuring effectiveness of juvenile justice systems; however, since this critical indicator is not available to the public to determine if Tennessee and Georgia's juvenile justice systems are effective, the researcher developed a model that contained two elements (demographics and performance standards). Due to the lack of information contained in the model available, the study's major findings revealed that there was not enough information to determine which state's juvenile justice system is more effective; however, Tennessee was lower in terms of juvenile incarceration rate, arrest rates, deaths in state facilities, and annual budget. This data looks favorable for Tennessee as being effective, but Tennessee spends 56 percent more per juvenile per day. Information from this study was collected through an assortment of books, magazines, articles, journals, and Internet sources.

Subject Area

Law|Criminology

Recommended Citation

Christina Gilliard, "A comparison of juvenile delinquency in Tennessee and Georgia" (2008). ETD Collection for Tennessee State University. Paper AAI1456728.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI1456728

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