The Contexts of Juvenile Justice Decision Making

The Contexts of Juvenile Justice Decision Making PDF Author: Michael J. Leiber
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 079148663X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Get Book Here

Book Description
An in-depth examination of the contextual nature of decision making and the causes of disproportionate minority confinement in four relatively homogenous juvenile courts in Iowa, this book explores the subjective social psychological processes of juvenile court officers and the factors that influence those processes. Iowa, although a state with a predominantly white population, has one of the highest minority incarceration rates for juveniles. Michael J. Leiber focuses on the relationships between adherence to correctional orientations (such as retribution and rehabilitation) and decision-makers' views concerning race, crime, family, and respect for authority with judgments and differential outcomes for youth. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies are used to determine the extent to which correctional ideologies and decision-makers' stereotyping of minorities are fueled by a wide range of contingencies, the impact of case processing and outcomes of whites, African Americans, and Native Americans, and how it varies by jurisdiction.

The Contexts of Juvenile Justice Decision Making

The Contexts of Juvenile Justice Decision Making PDF Author: Michael J. Leiber
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 079148663X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Get Book Here

Book Description
An in-depth examination of the contextual nature of decision making and the causes of disproportionate minority confinement in four relatively homogenous juvenile courts in Iowa, this book explores the subjective social psychological processes of juvenile court officers and the factors that influence those processes. Iowa, although a state with a predominantly white population, has one of the highest minority incarceration rates for juveniles. Michael J. Leiber focuses on the relationships between adherence to correctional orientations (such as retribution and rehabilitation) and decision-makers' views concerning race, crime, family, and respect for authority with judgments and differential outcomes for youth. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies are used to determine the extent to which correctional ideologies and decision-makers' stereotyping of minorities are fueled by a wide range of contingencies, the impact of case processing and outcomes of whites, African Americans, and Native Americans, and how it varies by jurisdiction.

Reforming Juvenile Justice

Reforming Juvenile Justice PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309278937
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 463

Get Book Here

Book Description
Adolescence is a distinct, yet transient, period of development between childhood and adulthood characterized by increased experimentation and risk-taking, a tendency to discount long-term consequences, and heightened sensitivity to peers and other social influences. A key function of adolescence is developing an integrated sense of self, including individualization, separation from parents, and personal identity. Experimentation and novelty-seeking behavior, such as alcohol and drug use, unsafe sex, and reckless driving, are thought to serve a number of adaptive functions despite their risks. Research indicates that for most youth, the period of risky experimentation does not extend beyond adolescence, ceasing as identity becomes settled with maturity. Much adolescent involvement in criminal activity is part of the normal developmental process of identity formation and most adolescents will mature out of these tendencies. Evidence of significant changes in brain structure and function during adolescence strongly suggests that these cognitive tendencies characteristic of adolescents are associated with biological immaturity of the brain and with an imbalance among developing brain systems. This imbalance model implies dual systems: one involved in cognitive and behavioral control and one involved in socio-emotional processes. Accordingly adolescents lack mature capacity for self-regulations because the brain system that influences pleasure-seeking and emotional reactivity develops more rapidly than the brain system that supports self-control. This knowledge of adolescent development has underscored important differences between adults and adolescents with direct bearing on the design and operation of the justice system, raising doubts about the core assumptions driving the criminalization of juvenile justice policy in the late decades of the 20th century. It was in this context that the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) asked the National Research Council to convene a committee to conduct a study of juvenile justice reform. The goal of Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Approach was to review recent advances in behavioral and neuroscience research and draw out the implications of this knowledge for juvenile justice reform, to assess the new generation of reform activities occurring in the United States, and to assess the performance of OJJDP in carrying out its statutory mission as well as its potential role in supporting scientifically based reform efforts.

Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice

Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309172357
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 405

Get Book Here

Book Description
Even though youth crime rates have fallen since the mid-1990s, public fear and political rhetoric over the issue have heightened. The Columbine shootings and other sensational incidents add to the furor. Often overlooked are the underlying problems of child poverty, social disadvantage, and the pitfalls inherent to adolescent decisionmaking that contribute to youth crime. From a policy standpoint, adolescent offenders are caught in the crossfire between nurturance of youth and punishment of criminals, between rehabilitation and "get tough" pronouncements. In the midst of this emotional debate, the National Research Council's Panel on Juvenile Crime steps forward with an authoritative review of the best available data and analysis. Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice presents recommendations for addressing the many aspects of America's youth crime problem. This timely release discusses patterns and trends in crimes by children and adolescentsâ€"trends revealed by arrest data, victim reports, and other sources; youth crime within general crime; and race and sex disparities. The book explores desistanceâ€"the probability that delinquency or criminal activities decrease with ageâ€"and evaluates different approaches to predicting future crime rates. Why do young people turn to delinquency? Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice presents what we know and what we urgently need to find out about contributing factors, ranging from prenatal care, differences in temperament, and family influences to the role of peer relationships, the impact of the school policies toward delinquency, and the broader influences of the neighborhood and community. Equally important, this book examines a range of solutions: Prevention and intervention efforts directed to individuals, peer groups, and families, as well as day care-, school- and community-based initiatives. Intervention within the juvenile justice system. Role of the police. Processing and detention of youth offenders. Transferring youths to the adult judicial system. Residential placement of juveniles. The book includes background on the American juvenile court system, useful comparisons with the juvenile justice systems of other nations, and other important information for assessing this problem.

Our Children, Their Children

Our Children, Their Children PDF Author: Darnell F. Hawkins
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226319911
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 471

Get Book Here

Book Description
In Our Children, Their Children, a prominent team of researchers argues that a second-rate and increasingly punitive juvenile justice system is allowed to persist because most people believe it is designed for children in other ethnic and socioeconomic groups. While public opinion, laws, and social policies that convey distinctions between "our children" and "their children" may seem to conflict with the American ideal of blind justice, they are hardly at odds with patterns of group differentiation and inequality that have characterized much of American history. Our Children, Their Children provides a state-of-the-science examination of racial and ethnic disparities in the American juvenile justice system. Here, contributors document the precise magnitude of these disparities, seek to determine their causes, and propose potential solutions. In addition to race and ethnicity, contributors also look at the effects on juvenile justice of suburban sprawl, the impact of family and neighborhood, bias in postarrest decisions, and mental health issues. Assessing the implications of these differences for public policy initiatives and legal reforms, this volume is the first critical summary of what is known and unknown in this important area of social research.

Juveniles at Risk

Juveniles at Risk PDF Author: Christopher Slobogin
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019977840X
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 210

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this book, Slobogin and Fondacaro present their vision for a new juvenile justice system, founded on the evidence at hand and promoting the principles of rehabilitation and reintegration into society. The authors develop their juvenile justice policy proposals effectively by carefully addressing the problems with past policy approches and recent theoretical contributions.

The Age of Culpability

The Age of Culpability PDF Author: Gideon Yaffe
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019880332X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 252

Get Book Here

Book Description
Why be lenient towards children who commit crimes? Reflection on the grounds for such leniency is the entry point into the development, in this book, of a theory of the nature of criminal responsibility and desert of punishment for crime. Gideon Yaffe argues that child criminals are owed lesser punishments than adults thanks not to their psychological, behavioural, or neural immaturity but, instead, because they are denied the vote. This conclusion is reached through accounts of the nature of criminal culpability, desert for wrongdoing, strength of legal reasons, and what it is to have a say over the law. The centrepiece of this discussion is the theory of criminal culpability. To be criminally culpable is for one's criminal act to manifest a failure to grant sufficient weight to the legal reasons to refrain. The stronger the legal reasons, then, the greater the criminal culpability. Those who lack a say over the law, it is argued, have weaker legal reasons to refrain from crime than those who have a say. They are therefore reduced in criminal culpability and deserve lesser punishment for their crimes. Children are owed leniency, then, because of the political meaning of age rather than because of its psychological meaning. This position has implications for criminal justice policy, with respect to, among other things, the interrogation of children suspected of crimes and the enfranchisement of adult felons.

The Oxford Handbook of Juvenile Crime and Juvenile Justice

The Oxford Handbook of Juvenile Crime and Juvenile Justice PDF Author: Barry C. Feld
Publisher: OUP USA
ISBN: 0195385101
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 955

Get Book Here

Book Description
State-of-the-art critical reviews of recent scholarship on the causes of juvenile delinquency, juvenile justice system responses, and public policies to prevent and reduce youth crime are brought together in a single volume authored by leading scholars and researchers in neuropsychology, developmental and social psychology, sociology, history, criminology/criminal justice, and law.

Juvenile Justice

Juvenile Justice PDF Author: Richard Lawrence
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1412950368
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 625

Get Book Here

Book Description
Juvenile Justice: A Text/Reader offers a unique new spin on the core textbook format. Organized like a more traditional juvenile justice text, this text/reader is divided into eight sections that contain all the usual topics taught in a juvenile justice course. After a comprehensive overview, each section has an introductory "mini-chapter" that provides engaging coverage of key concepts, developments, controversial issues, and research in the field. These authored introductions are followed by carefully selected and edited original research articles. The readings, from prominent scholarly journals, were written by juvenile justice experts and often have a policy orientation that will help address student interest in the "so what?" application of theory. Key Features and Benefits Boasts extensive and unique coverage of the juvenile justice system, focusing on law enforcement, the court system, correctional responses to juvenile offending, and an overview of the causes of delinquency Features a unique "How to Read a Research Article"—tied to the first reading in the book—to give students a guide to understand and learn from the edited articles that appear throughout the text. Provides an introduction to each reading to give students an overview of the purpose, main points, and conclusions of each article. Utilizes photographs, boxes, and suggested Web resources to enhance the book's presentation and engage student interest. Offers a clear and concise summary of key terms and concepts in each section and discussion questions that enhance student comprehension Ancillaries A Student study site at www.sagepub.com/lawrencestudy provides self-quizzes, e-flashcards, additional readings, and more. Instructor Resource on CD include test questions for both the text and readings, PowerPoint slides, teaching tips, and other resources. Qualified instructors can request a copy by contacting Customer Care at 1-800-818-SAGE (7243), 6AM-5PM, Pacific Time. Intended Audience This Text/Reader is designed to serve as a replacement for a core text, or a supplement text for upper-level undergraduate Juvenile Justice courses in departments of criminal justice, criminology, sociology and related disciplines. Interested in a text/ reader for another criminology or criminal justice here? Explore other titles in the series.

Taking Juvenile Justice Seriously

Taking Juvenile Justice Seriously PDF Author: Christopher J. Sullivan
Publisher: Temple University Press
ISBN: 1439915792
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Get Book Here

Book Description
The juvenile justice system navigates a high degree of variation in youthful offenders. While professionals with insights about reform and adolescent development consider the risks, the needs, and the patterns of delinquency of youth, too little attention is paid to the responses and practicalities of a system that is both complex and limited in its resources. In his essential book, Taking Juvenile Justice Seriously, Christopher Sullivan systematically analyzes key facets of justice-involved youth populations and parses cases to better understand core developmental influences that affect delinquency. He takes a comprehensive look at aspects of the life-course affected by juvenile justice as well as at the juvenile justice system’s operations and its multifaceted mission of delivering both treatment and sanctions to a varied population of youths. Taking Juvenile Justice Seriously first provides an overview of the youth who encounter the system, then describes its present operations and obstacles, synthesizes relevant developmental insights, and reviews current practices. Drawing on research, theory, and evidence regarding innovative policies, Sullivan offers a series of well-grounded recommendations that suggest how to potentially—and realistically—implement a more effective juvenile justice system that would benefit all.

Juvenile Justice

Juvenile Justice PDF Author: Francine Sherman
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470497041
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 608

Get Book Here

Book Description
"The lessons in this book remind us that we can and that we must do better, for the sake of our children, their futures, and the sake of our nation. . . . This volume is a call to action, and I encourage everyone who reads it to take steps to ensure that all America's children are given an equal chance to succeed. We must all work together to replace the cradle-to-prison pipeline with a pipeline to responsible, productive adulthood." From the Foreword by Marian Wright Edelman, JD, President and founder, Children's Defense Fund, Washington, DC "Juvenile Justice: Advancing Research, Policy, and Practice appears at a critical time, when promising juvenile justice reforms are underway in so many jurisdictions across the United States. Sherman and Jacobs, and their impressive array of expert authors, fill a significant gap in the literature, making the current body of juvenile justice research and experience accessible to policy makers, researchers, and funders, and doing so through a practical and positive lens." Patrick McCarthy, President and Chief Executive Officer, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, MD "Most people have narrow views of what it means to be a delinquent youth. In Juvenile Justice: Advancing Research, Policy, and Practice, Sherman and Jacobs have diligently collected essays from the top experts in the juvenile justice field who tell an empirically based and powerful narrative of who is really in the delinquency system. As this book makes clear, until we ask and answer the right questions, we will remain unable to help the youth most in need." Alexander Busansky, President, The National Council on Crime and Delinquency, Oakland, CA A comprehensive reference presenting a rehabilitative, youth- and community-centered vision of juvenile justice Juvenile Justice: Advancing Research, Policy, and Practice brings together experts in juvenile justice, child development, and public health to explore the intersections between juvenile justice and needed development of programs and policies that look out for the health and well-being of the youth who enter this system. This timely book provides a usable framework for imagining juvenile justice systems that emphasize the welfare of juveniles, achieved primarily through connections within their communities. A must-read for professionals working in juvenile courts and within juvenile justice agencies, Juvenile Justice: Advancing Research, Policy, and Practice reflects both the considerable advances and the challenges currently evident in the juvenile justice system, with an emphasis on the development and implementation of policies that can succeed in building a new generation of educated young people able to embrace their potential and build successful futures.