How and why do many serious adolescent offenders stop offending while others continue to commit crimes? The Pathways to Desistance study, a multidisciplinary investigation that attempts to answer this question, followed more than 1,300 serious juvenile offenders for 7 years after their conviction. In this bulletin, the authors investigate the link between perceptions of the threat of sanctions and deterrence from crime among serious adolescent offenders. Specifically, they examine the following questions: (1) Do deterring juveniles' offending and punishment experiences mold offenders' perceptions of risks and consequences of offending (which relate directly to their propensity to be deterred from crimes)? (2) Does placing offenders in a correctional facility have any tangible deterrent effects? and (3) Does longer placement have a more deterrent effect on juveniles? Selected findings include: (1) There was no meaningful reduction in offending or arrests in response to more severe punishment (e.g., correctional placement, longer stays); (2) Policies targeting specific types of offending may be more effective at deterring youth from engaging in these specific offenses as opposed to general policies aimed at overall crime reduction; (3) In response to an arrest, youth slightly increased their risk perceptions, which is a necessary condition for deterrence; and (4) Creating ambiguity about detection probabilities in certain areas or for certain types of crime may have a deterrent effect by enhancing the perceived risk of getting caught. The authors conclude with a discussion of directions for future applied research into deterrence and consider some broader implications for juvenile justice policy and practice.