Juvenile Justice System: Contemporary Juvenile Justice System and Juvenile Detention Alternatives
Past Issues and Historical Trends in Juvenile Justice
Contemporary juvenile justice is in trouble. For nearly a century, the juvenile justice system was designed to protect young people and provide them with rehabilitation programs and services that would mitigate problems and prevent further delinquency. Young offenders would be treated less as criminals and more as persons in need of assistance, with the state often serving as parens patriae, a de facto parent for wayward youth (Marcus, 2004, p. 1). As effective and compassionate as the juvenile justice system in America was, recent trends in criminal justice have shifted away from separate juvenile proceedings. “Tough on crime” and rhetoric of intolerance has fueled the rise of punitive measures. Punitive measures, such as trying young people in the adult justice system, undermines the core values and intentions of juvenile justice. In fact, research in psychology and brain development show that adolescent brains are structurally different from adult brains. The rehabilitation and prevention model of juvenile justice reflects scientific evidence showing that juveniles are “less blameworthy” and “have a greater capacity to change,” (Juvenile Law Center, 2017).
Originally, the American juvenile justice system was created as a distinct and separate system in order to respond to the need for more sensible treatment for young people. The first formal juvenile justice system evolved in Chicago in 1899. By 1925, most states had some sort of separate juvenile justice structure, system, and process (ACLU, 2017). Throughout the 20th century, juvenile justice processes in the United States were informal in nature, “often nothing more than a conversation between the youth and the judge,” (Juvenile Law Center, 2017). Instead of focusing on the crime or delinquent behavior, the system would focus on the child’s situation including home life. Juvenile justice was also based more on a rehabilitation model. Often, young people would not need an attorney and the judge would make decisions in the best interest of the child (McCord, Widom & Crowell, 2001). Far from being lenient, the traditional model of juvenile justice was designed to advocate on behalf of all young people, while also achieving the public safety goals of the criminal justice system.
The Structure...
References
ACLU (2017). ACLU fact sheet on the juvenile justice system. Retrieved online: https://www.aclu.org/other/aclu-fact-sheet-juvenile-justice-system
Bonnie, R.J., Johnson, R.L., Chemers, B.M. & Schuck, J.A. (2013). Current practice in the juvenile justice system. In Reforming Juvenile Justice. Washington: National Academy Press.
Juvenile Law Center (2017). Youth in the justice system: An overview. Retrieved online: http://jlc.org/news-room/media-resources/youth-justice-system-overview
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2017). Juvenile justice system structure and process. Retrieved online: https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/structure_process/case.html
Marcus, P. (2004). The juvenile justice system in the United States. Revue Internationale de Droit Penal 75(1): 535-552.
McCord, J., Widom, C.S. & Crowell, N.A. (2001). The juvenile justice system. Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
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