The Effectiveness of the Juvenile Court System
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Kayla Graves
11.16.18
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The Effectiveness of the Juvenile Court System
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In order to ascertain whether the juvenile justice system is effective it may be wise to go
over briefly, it’s history it’s goals and it’s metrics for measuring success. At the conclusion we
have a better understanding of whether the Juvenile Justice system is closer to fulfilling it’s
goals. A separate juvenile system was established in the US about 100 years ago with the goal of
diverting youthful offenders from the destructive punishments of criminal courts and
encouraging rehab based on the juvenile’s needs. The system was to differ from criminal court
by focusing on the child as a person in need of assistance. The proceedings were informal and up
to the judge’s discretion.
According to Schlossman (1983, pg. 3) up until the early 19th century, children as young
as 7 could be tried in criminal court just as adults were, meaning that a child that was tried in
court could be sentenced to life or death in court. Schlossman (1983) found “The establishment
of special courts and incarceration facilities for juveniles was part of Progressive Era reforms,
along with kindergarten, child labor laws, mandatory education, school lunches, and vocational
education, that were aimed at enhancing optimal child development in the industrial city” (Van
Waters 1927:217) found according on records that reformers had a foundational belief that
society should avoid treating children as criminals was not only harsh, but the developmental
differences in cognition, and psychology made them more vulnerable to being corrupted by these
labels. It is clear that there was a strong need for some kind of intervention in society at this point
in history, objectively speaking an intervention was necessary to prevent children from being
tried and sentenced as adults; however, it is now unclear that the current U.S juvenile court
system is effective at achieving it’s goal. In order to gain a better understanding of this, it’s of the
upmost importance that the goal of the U.S juvenile system is clearly defined. According to
Nunez (1993 pg. 35) “The primary goals and tactics of the juvenile court system, in addition to
The Effectiveness of the Juvenile Court System
maintaining public safety, are skill development, habilitation, rehabilitation, addressing treatment
needs, and successful reintegration of youth into the community”
This information conveys that U.S society’s main goal with the juvenile justice system is
the successful re-assimilation of disaffected youth back into society while using the tactics of
skill development, habilitation and treatment. One metric in measuring the effectiveness of the
juvenile justice system would be juvenile recidivism; however, one huge problem remains here.
According to the U.S Department of Justice (2014) report, “There is no national recidivism rate
for juveniles. Each state’s juvenile justice system differs in organization, administration, and data
capacity. These differences influence how states define, measure, and report recidivism rates.
This also makes it challenging to compare recidivism rates across states.” In order to measure
recidivism, it’s imperative to take a macro look at recidivism across state lines. According to the
