The Normative Erosion Hypothesis: The Latent Consequences of Juvenile Justice ractices*

The normative erosion hypothesis is that nonpunitive reactions by legal officials will erode offenders' normative evaluations of delinquency. Consistent with the hypothesis, survey data from Arizona high school students show that offenders who have been referred to a “hands-off” court express less condemnation (i.e., have lower perceived seriousness) of delinquency than do offenders with no court referrals. The findings also show that the perceived threat of legal punishment is positively related to offenders' perceptions of the seriousness of delinquency. The findings bear on the normative validation thesis in the sociology of law and have important policy implications for juvenile justice practices.