A Critique of Diversionary Juvenile Justice

1978 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Bullington ◽  
James Sprowls ◽  
Daniel Katkin ◽  
Mark Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Offenders ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Troubled Youth ◽  
Parens Patriae

The increasingly zealous support today for diversion of youth from the juvenile justice system is a consequence of several widely held notions: ( 1) Traditional strategies for dealing with juvenile offenders have not worked; ( 2) informal diversion is used both widely and effectively now; and ( 3) the most humane treatment of troubled youth is based upon the parens patriae philosophy of justice. Yet, the authors contend, diversion may be seen as potentially dangerous and harmful, and they present several arguments against expansion of diversionary services: (1) The concept's ambiguity allows many to promote expansion of the juvenile justice system in the form of diversion "to" other programs, while true diversion "from" the system is nonexistent; ( 2) the goals of diversionary programs-such as elimination of stigmatizing labels and formal duplica tion of existing informal processes-are unattainable; ( 3) formal diversion is incompatible with due process ideals. Until these difficulties have been resolved, diversionary options should be viewed with caution.

JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 697-697
Author(s):  
L. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Detention ◽  
The State ◽  
Juvenile Courts ◽  
Detention Centers ◽  
State Statutes ◽  
Parens Patriae

Today, when some critics of our juvenile-justice system are complaining that the system is incompetent in dealing with violent young criminals, other critics are complaining that it is showing amazing efficiency in locking up—often for long periods—troubled young people who have not been charged with committing any crime, violent or otherwise. Such young people, they point out, represent approximately forty per cent of the hundred thousand-odd children who will be sent to jail this year for at least twenty-four hours and of the twelve thousand who will be placed in juvenile-detention centers every day. These children, who are variously labelled Persons in Need of Supervision (PINS), Children in Need of Supervision (CINS), Juveniles in Need of Supervision (JINS), or Wayward Minors, depending on the state they live in, will be guilty of nothing more serious than being a burden or a nuisance. They are not juvenile criminals—they have committed no act for which an adult could be prosecuted. Mainly, they are children who are truant from school, who have run away from home, or whose parents (the majority of them poor) find them too difficult to manage. Under one name or another, the PINS judicial category is written into the laws of forty-one states, and children who are assigned to it occupy, according to one estimate, as much as forty-one per cent of the case load of juvenile courts.... Underlying all the state statutes [is] the doctrine of parens patriae drawn from English chancery law—that the court could act to resolve the problems of troubled children as if it were a parent.

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.

Alcohol and Drug Offenders in the Juvenile Justice System: Are There Differentials in Handling?

1982 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles F. Frazier ◽  
Roberto Hugh Potter
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Offenders ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Control Policy ◽  
Treatment Programs ◽  
Drug Offenders ◽  
Alcohol And Drug Use ◽  
And Control ◽  
Drug And Alcohol

The American stance on law and control policy relating to alcohol and drug use has been replete with vacillations. Decriminalization and treatment oriented responses have emerged alongside continued support for laws calling for stiffer penalties and stepped up enforcement. In this situation, concern has grown over the possibilities that liberal legislation is subverted in actual practice to serve other purposes. It is feared offenders may be coerced into alternative sentences in the name of treatment and that such treatments may ultimately be more restrictive than traditional punitive dispositions. The present study examines the dispositions of juvenile offenders at three levels in the justice system. Alcohol and drug of fenders are compared to other offender types. Our data show no significant differentials in the severity of disposition alcohol and drug offenders receive. Moreover, the data show that youths violating drug and alcohol statutes are no more likely than other offender types at the same level of offense seriousness of being coerced into treatment programs.

Lesbian, Bisexual, Questioning, Gender-Nonconforming, and Transgender (LBQ/GNCT) Girls in the Juvenile Justice System

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Irvine ◽  
Aisha Canfield ◽  
Jessica Roa
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Gender Nonconforming ◽  
Care Services ◽  
System P ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Harmful Effects

LGBTQ youth’s involvement with the juvenile justice system occurs in the context of family conflict, parental rejection of homosexuality, trauma, and hostility at school and in the community. As they run away from abuse, LGBTQ youth are more likely to commit survival crimes and get arrested for offenses related to homelessness. This chapter focuses on the experiences of lesbian, bisexual, queer, and gender-nonconforming girls in juvenile justice settings and examines how biases about gender and sexual orientation affect court decisions and correctional practices. Lack of awareness and training about LGBTQ issues compounds the harmful effects of homophobia, transphobia, and racism and adversely impacts lesbian, queer, and gender-nonconforming girls’ rights to due process, as well as their access to appropriate health care services. This chapter makes recommendations for LGBTQ-affirming practices in juvenile justice settings.

Psychometric Properties of the MAYSI-2 Among Latino Adolescent Offenders

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 1252-1268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley Zannella ◽  
Jennifer Eno Louden ◽  
Patrick Kennealy ◽  
Tamara Kang
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Offenders ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Mental Health Treatment ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Latino Youth ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analyses

The Massachusetts Youth Screening Inventory-Second Version (MAYSI-2) has been widely adopted by juvenile justice agencies to identify adolescents in the juvenile justice system who have a mental disorder. Despite this, evidence of the ability of the MAYSI-2 to generalize across different ethnic groups is limited. Because Latinos are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system, we examined the psychometric properties of each subscale in a sample of 472 Latino juvenile offenders using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), Pearson’s correlation coefficients, and simple linear regressions. The CFA models suggest adequate fit for Latino youth, and the correlations and regressions show strong convergent validity with the K-SADS-PL for a number of MAYSI-2 subscales, lending support to the generalizability of the MAYSI-2 to Latino adolescents. These results may be particularly beneficial for juvenile justice system administrators who render mental health treatment recommendations for youth offenders of different ethnicities.

提高刑责年龄: 保护或伤害? (RAISING THE AGE OF CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY: PROTECTION OR HARM?)

1999 ◽  
Vol 33 (01n02) ◽  
pp. 87-96
Author(s):  
铁荣 卢
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Offenders ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Criminal Responsibility ◽  
Juvenile Court ◽  
Substantial Improvement ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Major Factors ◽  
Protection Order

香港的刑事责任年龄是七岁，即七岁以下的儿童，是不会被推定为有罪。这刑责年龄是国际标准上最低之一。近日本地的法律改革委员会建议将它提高至十岁，香港儿童权利委员会更建议以十四岁为刑责年龄。提高刑责年龄的后果，是所有在法定刑责年龄以下的违法少年都不再需要负法律责任，他们不需要经警司警诫或司法审讯，极其量只能由少年法庭引用保护令来保护他们。本文讨论影响青少年犯罪的三种重要因素，现时处理违法少年的方法，和在研究提高刑责年龄的可行性时，在少年司法制度中需要考虑的因素，特别是在没有彻底改善现行的少年司法制度时，广泛地运用保护令所带出之问题，最后建议一些处理方法。 In Hong Kong, the age of criminal responsibility is seven, i.e. any person aged below seven shall not be convicted of a crime. This age is one of the lowest in the world. Recently, the Law Reform Commission has recommended to raise the age to ten; the Committee on Children's Rights even suggested raising it to 14. If the age of criminal responsibility is to be raised, juvenile offenders would no longer be cautioned by the police or prosecuted in the juvenile court, although care or protection order can be granted o them. This article outlines the major factors affecting juvenile crimes and the current methods in handling juvenile offenders. It also identifies several crucial factors for consideration, in particular the negative effect of using care or protection order when no substantial improvement in the juvenile justice system has been made, if the age of criminal responsibility is to be raised. Several recommendations to improve the juvenile justice system are highlighted too.

The Exploration of Risk and Protective Score Differences Across Juvenile Offending Career Types and Their Effects on Recidivism

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Cox ◽  
Peter Kochol ◽  
Jennifer Hedlund
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Offenders ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Court ◽  
Risk Assessments ◽  
Assessment Data ◽  
Juvenile Offending ◽  
Chronic Offenders ◽  
Court Referrals

Despite an abundance of research on serious and violent juvenile offenders, few studies have linked juvenile offending career categories to juvenile court risk assessments and future offending. This study uses juvenile court referrals and assessment data to replicate earlier categorizations of serious, violent, and chronic offenders; to examine risk and protective score differences across these categories; and to assess whether risk and protective score constructs differentially predict adult criminality across these offender categories. Based on a sample of 9,859 juvenile offenders who aged out of Connecticut’s juvenile justice system between 2005 and 2009, we found that (1) our categorization of juvenile career types mirrored earlier work, (2) comparing risk and protective factors across and within juvenile career types identified distinct patterns, and (3) the juvenile risk and protective assessment subscales were not predictive of adult arrests for chronic offenders but were predictive for nonchronic juvenile career types.

scholarly journals Police restorative approach in the juvenile justice system

Temida ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 41-55
Author(s):  
Vesna Stefanovska
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Offenders ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Foreign Expert ◽  
Different Response

Restorative justice is a new, different response to crime, response that offers and tries to establish justice again. Not going into aims, impact and basic principles of restorative justice, as well as into substance of different restorative practices, in this article we will concentrate on restorative interventions that lead to avoidance of the formal justice system. Concretely, we will analyze the role of the police in applying restorative interventions in the juvenile justice system. Particular emphasis will be put on the meaning and the aim of diversion procedures towards juvenile offenders that have committed minor offences and more serious ones for which they come in conflict with the law. In the foreign expert literature the concept of restorative policing is recognized (restorative approach in police conduct), as an attempt to introduce a new reform in performing police affairs. This subject should be approached very carefully and fundamentally, if we want consistent implementation of the new tendency and practices in the juvenile justice systems in accordance with the international standards.

scholarly journals Victim’s interests and the role of probation officers in victim-offender mediation: Theoretical analysis and the Greek juvenile justice system

Temida ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-106
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Panagos
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Offenders ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
Probation Officers ◽  
Third Party ◽  
General Nature ◽  
Mediation Process

The present paper focuses on the role of probation officers for juvenile offenders in victim-offender mediation and on the main challenges for the protection of victims? interests. The general nature of probation officers? duties has been characterized as ?offender-focused?. However, according to the Directive 2012/29/EU, restorative justice includes processes through which the victim and the offender can participate actively in resolving the problems that occur from the offence, with the help of an impartial third party. The Greek juvenile justice system will be examined as a case study. The analysis reveals that the Greek legislator has adopted a ?quasi-restorative? practice that promotes juvenile offenders? rehabilitation and socialization. This fact raises concerns regarding the ?legitimation? of mediation process from a victimological perspective. Special emphasis is given to the significance of the informed consent that should be provided by the victims in order to participate in the process based on the procedural justice theory.

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.

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