UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Social Science Research Institute’s Evidence-to-Impact Podcast returns for a third season with its 17th episode, “Digging Deeper into the Juvenile Justice System.”  

The podcast’s moderator, Michael Donovan, the associate director of the Evidence-to-Impact Collaborative, spoke to Megan Kurlychek, professor of sociology, criminology, and public policy and associate director of the Criminal Justice Research Center at Penn State, and Rick Steele, executive director of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission, about their work in the juvenile justice field, the history of the juvenile justice system, prevention programs, recidivism, and other topics. 

“I think the most important fact to remember is that we have a separate system of justice for children because children are different from adults,” said Kurlychek, referring to why it is important to distinguish the juvenile justice system from the adult justice system. “I think that the public, even myself included, sometimes when you hear of it, a child committing a crime that seems serious or violent, you think of them as more mature than they are.” 
 
“The [juvenile] system really reflects the fact of that acknowledgment that kids are different. And as a result, we see a lot of slightly different, but certainly significantly impactful differences in both,” added Steele.  
 
Listen to the full episode here.  

The Evidence-to-Impact Podcast focuses on conversations between Penn State researchers from varied disciplines and government partners from across the commonwealth about relevant policy issues like poverty, criminal justice, substance use and healthcare. The discussions aim to bridge the gap between research insights and real-world solutions through the translation of complex evidence and data into real-world implications and impacts. 

Episodes are made available for multiple platforms including Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Blubrry, and more. Find previous episodes on the podcast’s website or follow the podcast on Twitter for updates.