Two UTD Professors to Study How Juvenile Justice Responds to Girls Who Are Arrested

RICHARDSON, Texas (Jan. 27, 2004) — Dr. Kimberly Kempf-Leonard and Dr. Bruce Jacobs, two professors of criminology, sociology and political economy in the School of Social Sciences at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), have been awarded $72,000 by the state Criminal Justice Division to study how the juvenile justice system in Texas responds to the growing number of girls arrested.   The funds are part of a larger federal challenge grant program from the U. S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

A goal of the research project will be to help ensure that female juvenile offenders (up to age 16) in the Dallas County Juvenile Justice System are treated equitably and effectively.   Specifically, the UTD research will try to determine whether, how, and at which stages there may be differential processing based on gender and to assess current difficulties in the delivery of services for girls and ways in which modifications can make the system better.

Kempf-Leonard and Jacobs say they hope to improve the quality of services provided to girls and to decrease the situations that put girls at risk of crime and criminal justice processing.   They plan to complete their study by early next year.

This is the second grant in as many months that UTD has received to study criminal justice for youths in the Dallas area.   In early December, Dr. Simon Fass, associate professor of public affairs at UTD, received a $52,000 federal grant from the U. S. Department of Justice to evaluate the effectiveness of Dallas County’s juvenile drug court program in reducing juvenile delinquency. 

About UTD
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor®, enrolls about 13,700 students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s web site at www.utdallas.edu.