CHAPTER 12 – JUVENILE JUSTICE IN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Multiple Choice
1. A criminal act is committed by a person under the legal age established by the
government, the act is considered _____.
A. Crime
B. Organized crime
C. Delinquency
D. Conspiracy
2. What is the most universally accepted age of adult criminal responsibility?
A. 12
B. 15
C. 18
D. 21
3. Which of the following is not an example of a status offense?
A. Drunk driving
B. Curfew violations
C. Truancy
D. Running away
4. Juveniles are most often committing which types of crime?
A. Violent crimes
B. Property crimes
C. White collar crime
D. Sex related crimes
5. Self-reports have been consistent in finding that most juveniles:
A. Will never commit any type of crime during their lifetime
B. Will engage in persistent or serious criminal behavior
C. Will break the law at one time or another
D. No self- report findings are ever consistent
6. An emphasis on due process in juvenile justice focuses on what?
A. The welfare and nurturing of the child
B. Fair and equitable treatment under law
C. Protecting the community from crime
D. Helping the juvenile reform
7. In New Zealand, the police unit of trained officers that diverts more than half of young
offenders out of the justice system is called:
A. Youth Aid Section
B. Regular Police
C. Youth Reformatory Unit
D. Probation/Parole Offices
8. Which of the juvenile justice adjudication initiatives involves achieving consensus
regarding whether or not juvenile court records can be used after the youth reaches
adulthood?
A. Specialized training for juvenile court judges
B. Specially trained police units for juveniles
C. Use of Juvenile Records
D. Parental Responsibility
9. Which of the international standards relating to juvenile delinquency pertains to the
standards of treatment of persons under age 18 when confined to any institution or
facility by the order of a court or similar body?
A. Convention on the Rights of the Child
B. Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice
C. Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of Their Liberty
D. Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency
10. Which of the international standards relating to juvenile delinquency, which defines a
child as a person under 18 years of age, and established many protections, such as
protections against cruel, inhuman, and capital punishment.
A. Convention on the Rights of the Child
B. Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice
C. Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of Their Liberty
D. Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency
11. What have estimates put the number of juveniles worldwide that are in custody at?
A. About 1 million
B. About 1 billion
C. Less than 250,000
D. More than 250,000 but less than 500,000
12. Which of the following is an attribute of the best correctional systems within juvenile
justice?
A. Use of threats and violence to scare offenders into behaving while in custody
B. Segregating the juveniles so that they can come to fully understand the scope of their
crimes.
C. Make dedicated efforts to prepare offenders for a productive life in the community
D. Shame the offender into conforming with ways of society
13. Which of the following is not one of the three principles that must be followed if
delinquency prevention is to be more effectively sought?
A. Learning from the past
B. Evaluation of existing efforts
C. Greater imagination in handling juveniles
D. Spending more money to make existing programs more effective
14. Which of our model countries distinguishes between three types of juvenile misconduct
under the law: juveniles between 14-20, offenders under 14, and juveniles who commit
status offenses?
A. France
B. Germany
C. Japan
D. Saudi Arabia
15. China has many non-judicial approaches to juvenile rehabilitation, such as _____.
A. Bangjiao (help and education) and work–study schools.
B. Supervised home confinement
C. Caning of juvenile offenders
D. Competitive sports for juvenile offenders involving cage fighting
Sentence Completion
1. __________________ are acts for which only juveniles can be held liable.
2. ______________ is one of our model countries that does not have status offenses
3. ______________ are anonymous interviews or questionnaires administered to juveniles
in which, they reveal the types and extent of the delinquency they have engaged in.
4. Self – reports reveal a much _______________ volume of offending than is found in
official arrest statistics.
5. ______________ refers to a medieval doctrine stating that the English Crown was able to
intervene in family matters if the parents were unable or unwilling to care for the welfare
of a child.
6. The underlying philosophy of _________________ involves serving the best interests of
public by making sure that public safety is not put in jeopardy.
7. The _______________________________________________ represent a proactive
approach to delinquency involving the roles of family, school, the community, media,
social policy, legislation, and the juvenile justice administration.
8. Children should be ___________ from the formal system wherever appropriate and
specifically to avoid being labeled as criminals.
9. Germany provides an example of a sincere effort to “correct” juveniles; there the juvenile
justice system is based on the principles of _______________ and ________________.
10. In schools, interventions that target change in the social context appear to
be______________, on average, than those that attempt to change individual attitudes,
skills, and risk behaviors.
11. In England, _____________________________ permits offenders to be referred to a
youth offender panel, which agrees on a contract and requirements to alter the juvenile’s
behavior with certain provisions.
12. In France, the guiding principle is to determine __________________ rather than
establishing guilt and punishment in terms of dealing with juvenile offenders.
13. China’s juvenile justice system emphasizes __________________ to balance the
protection of the juvenile and that of the community.
14. If a criminal act is committed by someone under the legal age established by the
government, the act is considered _______________. The same illegal act committed by
someone who has reached this age threshold is considered a _____________.
15. Most juveniles are arrested for ____________ crimes.
True/False
1. Juvenile delinquency is confined, in general terms, to the law violations of young people
between the ages of 7 and 18.
2. Delinquency is distinguished from crime not by the behaviors engaged in, but by the age
of the offender.
3. Drunk driving is an example of a status offense, in that only persons under 18 can be
punished for this crime.
4. Canada and Germany do not have status offenses.
5. The full and true extent of delinquency can be found by only looking into police reports
and court statistics.
6. Juveniles usually engage in violent crime such as criminal homicide, rape, and
aggravated assault.
7. Self-reports reveal a much higher volume of offending than is found in official statistics
because most offenders are never caught.
more likely to be arrested than females, middle class juveniles, and whites.
9. The differences in the treatment of juveniles versus adults in the adjudication process
after arrest largely reflects how juvenile misconduct is viewed in a society.
10. In the United States, declining rates of juvenile arrests over the last 20 years have resulted
in more punishment for juveniles rather than less.
11. Most self-reports conclude that very few juveniles will ever break the law, but the ones
that do will most likely go on to a further life of crime.
12. England’s approach to juvenile justice is extremely different from that of the United
States, in that they do not have a juvenile justice system.
13. Japans commitment to rehabilitation is reflected by the presence of nearly 50,000
volunteer probation officers who assist professional officers.
14. Saudi Arabia has a separate juvenile system, but the age of majority is not defined and is
not a controlling factor in the adjudicating process.
15. There is nothing we can do to better prepare ourselves for the future of juvenile justice.
Short Answers
1. Discuss self- reports as an alternate way to measure the extent of delinquency. Also, discuss
some of the interesting findings.
2. Discuss the three basic philosophies of juvenile justice. Be sure to include the adjudication
outcome.
3. Discuss the 5 juvenile justice adjudication initiatives.
4. Discuss the three key issues to the future of juvenile justice.
Essays
1. Discuss in detail the four primary international agreements that address juveniles and the legal
process.
2. Discuss the findings on delinquency prevention.
3. Explain the juvenile justice approach in two of our model countries.