Youth Crime, Public Policy, and Practice in the Juvenile Justice System: Recent Trends and Needed Reforms

Social Work ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 324-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Jenson ◽  
M. O. Howard
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Youth Crime ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Recent Trends

The Impact of Victimization, Mental Health Problems, and Disabilities on Juvenile Justice Processing: Does Gender Matter?

2020 ◽  
pp. 001112872095002
Author(s):  
Allison T. Chappell ◽  
Scott R. Maggard
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Delinquent Behavior ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
The Impact

Victimization, mental health problems, and disabilities are associated with an increased likelihood of delinquent behavior, and girls in the juvenile justice system report higher rates of past trauma and victimization, sexual abuse, and mental health issues than boys. However, the influence of these problems on juvenile justice processing remains understudied. This study investigated the impact of victimization, mental health problems, disabilities, and comorbidity on intake and adjudication decisions across gender. Data on 74,636 intake cases were obtained from the centralized database of the juvenile justice office in a mid-Atlantic state (FY 2011–2015). Findings suggest that mental health problems, victimization, and disabilities are associated with increased punitiveness at intake but few consistent gender differences emerged. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

The Rights of Children in Conflict with the Law in Ghana

2011 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Kwame Ame
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Offenders ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Female Circumcision ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Daunting Task ◽  
Female Children ◽  
The Law ◽  
Key Questions

AbstractIn a country where implementing children's rights in general remains a major challenge, the idea of according rights to children in conflict with the law can be a daunting task. With too many other children's problems to deal with such as the millions of street children and child laborers, female circumcision, and sexual violence against female children, the needs and rights of juvenile offenders could easily be relegated to the bottom of the government's priorities for children. Nonetheless, by virtue of ratifying the UNCRC in 1990, Ghana has made a commitment to address the needs and respect the rights of children in Ghana including its juvenile offenders. Thirteen years after ratifying the CRC, the Ghanaian Parliament passed the Juvenile Justice Act 2003 (Act 653). What rights does the Act accord children in conflict with the law? Do the policies and practices of the new juvenile justice system measure up to the standards of the Convention? These are the key questions addressed in this paper. The paper concludes that vis a vis the CRC, the new Juvenile Justice Act looks good on paper but argues that there is a colossal gap between policy and practice. The paper ends with suggestions on how to effectively protect the rights of children in conflict with the law.

scholarly journals Parity or Disparity? Outcomes of Court-Involved Youth With and Without Disabilities

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 368-377
Author(s):  
Aleksis P. Kincaid ◽  
Amanda L. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Offenders ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Juvenile Court ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Youth With Disabilities ◽  
Court Involvement ◽  
Court Involved

Youth with disabilities are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system, but few studies have investigated the mechanisms by which this occurs. In this study, we considered how juvenile court adjudication and length of commitment in secure facilities contributed to disproportionality in court involvement and detention, addressing an important gap in the intersection of disability and juvenile justice literature. Using linked educational and juvenile justice records of 41,812 youth, we sought to ascertain whether, among juvenile offenders, youth with disabilities had higher likelihood of adjudication as delinquent or placement in secure facilities for longer periods of time compared to youth without disabilities. Results indicated that youth with and without disabilities were adjudicated and placed similarly, suggesting that disparities contributing to overrepresentation of youth with disabilities in detained populations may manifest earlier in youths’ involvement in the justice system. We conclude with implications for research, policy, and practice.

Juvenile Delinquents’ Use of Consumption as Cultural Resistance: Implications for Juvenile Reform Programs and Public Policy

1998 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie L. Ozanne ◽  
Ronald Paul Hill ◽  
Newell D. Wright
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Juvenile Delinquency ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Juvenile Delinquents ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Cultural Resistance ◽  
Current Reform ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
Shed Light

Each year, the juvenile justice system spends billions of dollars to handle approximately 700,000 youths. Yet the rate of recidivism remains high and suggests that this problem and its solutions are not understood fully. The problem of juvenile delinquency exacts a high toll on society in terms of the loss of property, life, and, each year, more disaffected youth. Using ethnographic data as a basis, the authors explore the experiential world of a group of institutionalized, young offenders. By focusing on the meaning of crime and consumption for these youths, the authors hope to shed light on how crime and consumption are used to produce a style of resistance. In the meaning of their possessions, these juvenile delinquents both affirm and disaffirm some of the dominant values in society. The authors use these impulses in the youths’ lives to inform the conduct of current reform programs, as well as public policy.

Collaborative Responses to Commercial Sexual Exploitation as a Model of Smart Decarceration

Social Work ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura S Abrams ◽  
Sarah M Godoy ◽  
Eraka P Bath ◽  
Elizabeth S Barnert
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Commercial Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Grand Challenge ◽  
Policy And Practice

Abstract Historically, youths who are affected by commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) in the United States have been implicated as perpetrators of crime and overrepresented in the juvenile justice system. As an intriguing example of the “smart decarceration” social work grand challenge, policy and practice initiatives have converged to decriminalize cisgender girls and young women experiencing CSE by reframing them as victims of exploitation rather than as criminals. To date, these efforts have largely focused on gender-specific programming for cisgender girls and young women. In this article, the authors describe how federal, state, and local policy and practice innovations have supported reframing CSE as a form of child maltreatment and rerouted girls and young women from the juvenile justice system to specialized services. Using Los Angeles County as a case example, the authors detail how innovative prevention, intervention, and aftercare programs can serve as models of smart decarceration for CSE-affected cisgender girls and young women with the potential to address the needs of youths with diverse gender and sexual identities.

Out of Care 30 years on

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Smith
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Targeted Intervention ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Juvenile Offending ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Critical Understanding ◽  
Juvenile Justice Policy

The article recalls the writing of Out of Care, often regarded as a key text for juvenile justice policy and practice in England and Wales in the 1980s. It dispels some misconceptions about the book’s arguments, showing that it argued for a ‘welfare’ rather than a ‘justice’ approach to juvenile offending, and offered a set of prescriptions for face-to-face practice as well as for a critical understanding of the local juvenile justice system. The article acknowledges some contradictions and ambiguities in Out of Care, but shows that it is a mistake to treat it as advocating minimum (as opposed to targeted) intervention, or as arguing that the content of direct work with young people is unimportant. The article traces some of the processes by which the ideas in the book were made available to audiences of practitioners and policy-makers, and how changes in policy in particular local authorities encouraged a wider process of reform.

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