Legal Professionals' Perceptions of Juvenile Engagement in the Plea Process

Criminal and juvenile court cases are often resolved through plea bargaining. Although the courts have decreed that plea decisions must be made knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily, little is known about legal professionals' broader perceptions of defendants' engagement in the plea pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Translational issues in psychological science 2019-06, Vol.5 (2), p.121-131
Main Authors: Woestehoff, Skye A, Redlich, Allison D, Cathcart, Elizabeth J, Quas, Jodi A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adjudication
Attitudes
Attorneys
Bargaining
Defendants
Female
Human
Judges
Juvenile Delinquency
Legal Personnel
Legal Processes
Male
Test Construction
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Summary:Criminal and juvenile court cases are often resolved through plea bargaining. Although the courts have decreed that plea decisions must be made knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily, little is known about legal professionals' broader perceptions of defendants' engagement in the plea process; in other words, professionals' views of whether defendants understand, attend to, and participate in the plea process. Perceptions of juvenile defendants are of particular interest, given that they are especially vulnerable to poor understanding and often participate minimally in their legal cases. The current research surveyed legal professionals about their perceptions of juvenile defendants' engagement in the plea process and examined whether perceptions differed by legal roles (prosecutor, defense attorney, or judge). We defined engagement as juveniles' legal understanding of and participation in the plea process. Overall, professionals viewed juvenile defendants as moderately engaged, although defense attorneys viewed juveniles as significantly less engaged than did judges and prosecutors. Given that research suggests juveniles are indeed less engaged than are their adult counterparts, improved methods of enhancing engagement in the plea process are needed. What is the significance of this article for the general public? As defined here, engagement broadly refers to defendants' understanding of and participation in the plea process. Our study suggests that legal professionals-particularly judges and prosecutors-do not always recognize the deficits in juvenile defendants' level of engagement. We suggest that training legal professionals regarding juveniles' knowledge and comprehension of the legal system, and encouraging juveniles' participation in proceedings, could be a valuable method to increase juveniles' engagement.
ISSN:2332-2136
2332-2179
DOI:10.1037/tps0000195