Expected recidivism among young offenders: Comparing specific deterrence under juvenile and adult criminal law

This paper contributes to the literature on specific deterrence by addressing the issue of selecting adolescents into adult and juvenile law systems. In Germany, different from the U.S. and most other countries, turning a critical cutoff age does not cause a sharp discontinuity from juvenile to adult penal law, but rather implies a shift to a discretionary system of both adult and juvenile law, dependent on the courts' impression of moral and mental personal development of the adolescent at the time of the act. The German legal system draws the line of adulthood at some fuzzy age interval between 18 and 21, which is well above the thresholds prevailing in the U.S. (16 to 18 years, state specific) and other countries. Thus, the German evidence entails some external evidence to the previous literature mostly relying on U.S. data. Based on a unique inmate survey and Two-Equation Models controlling for selectivity problems, results show that application of adult criminal law instead of juvenile penal law decreases expected recidivism of adolescents.

► This article studies specific deterrence for adolescents (18 to 21 years). ► In Germany, adolescents are either treated as juveniles or adults. ► Selection of criminal law depends on courts' impression of “personal development”. ► Application of Bivariate Probit and Treatment Effects Models. ► Treating adolescents as adults decreases expected recidivism.