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CHAPTER 15
JUVENILE JUSTICE
Learning Objectives
2. Explain how the juvenile justice system developed, and the assumptions on which it was
based.
4. Describe how the juvenile justice system operates.
5. Name some of the issues facing the American system of juvenile justice.
Lesson Plan
Correlated to PowerPoints
I. Youth crime in the U.S.
Learning Objective 1: Describe the extent of youth crime in the United States.
A. Youth crimes about 10 percent of total
B. Causes
Cohort
What If Scenario
What if your school newspaper approached you as a key informant in wanting to do
a story on the extent to which youth are involved with crime in the U.S.? What
would you say in terms of youth involvement in the justice system and what key
issues it faces?
II. The development of juvenile justice
Learning Objective 2: Explain how the juvenile justice system developed, and the assumptions
on which it was based.
A. Parens patraie
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B. American juvenile justice history may be viewed in six periods:
2. Refuge period (182401899)
4. Juvenile rights period (1960-1980)
6. -present)
Decrease in the use of judicial waiver
Life without parole under focus
C. The puritan period
Emphasized that the child was evil
D. The refuge period
The state began to step into the place of parents who would not or could not
1. destitute
3. convicted of a crime
E. The Juvenile court period
juveniles
The act had four major elements:
1. A separate court for delinquent, dependent, and neglected children
3. Separation of children from adults in all portions of the justice system
4. Programs of probation to assist the courts in deciding what the best interest of the
state and the child entails
F. The juvenile rights period
Juvenile justice officials seemed to have too much discretion at times
In a series of significant precedents the U.S. Supreme Court refined and set out
basic constitutional protections for juveniles:
1. Kent v. United States (1966) juvenile has a right to attorney at a waiver
2. In re Winship (1970) applied the standard of proof beyond a reasonable
doubt to juvenile delinquency proceedings
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4. Breed v. Jones (1975) juveniles cannot be found guilty in juvenile court then
waived to adult court, which would constitute double jeopardy
5. Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974
Took status offenders out of correctional institutions
G. The crime control period
80 that also extended to
juvenile crime
Some believe that a new period in juvenile justice is developing
Roper v. Simmons (2005) people who commit a murder while under the age of 18
cannot be executed for the crime
The use of waiver to adult court has reduced sharply since 2000
Class Discussion/Activity
Should all of the criminal defendant
Class Discussion/Activity
In the last two decades of the twentieth century, the American public
tended to turn away from the concept of rehabilitation and embrace a get–
tough attitude toward criminal justice in general. This attitude included
What If Scenario
What if you were asked if persons under eighteen years of age should be tried as an
II. The juvenile justice system
Learning Objective 3: Identify what determines the jurisdiction of the juvenile justice system.
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A. Age of clients
The upper age range for juvenile court jurisdictions in all states is 16 to 18
B.
Delinquent children have committed acts that if committed by an adult would be
a crime
o Males commit 74 percent of reported delinquent acts
PINS Persons in Need of Supervision is a designation for juveniles who are
status offenders or on the verge of trouble
Class Discussion/Activity
In Chapter 15, the authors discuss six historical periods in the development
of the juvenile justice system. The authors refer to the final period as
What If Scenario
What if you had the ability to foresee the future? Given the various periods of
III. The juvenile justice process
A. Learning Objective 4: Describe how the juvenile justice system operates. Juvenile
justice philosophy focus primarily on the interests of the child
B. Juvenile justice bureaucracy based on an ideology of social work
C. Police interface police must make three major decisions with regard to processing of
juveniles:
See Assignments 2, 4,
and 6
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2. Intake officer presides over hearing and determines whether to refer the child to
juvenile court or some other action
E. Pretrial procedures
1. Initial hearing juveniles are informed of their rights and a voluntary plea taken
F. Adjudication
Is the trial stage of the juvenile justice process
G. Disposition
1. Besides dismissal, four other choices are available:
a. Probation
H. Corrections
1. Probation
3. Custodial care
Of juveniles declared delinquent, 22 percent are placed in facilities
4. Institutional programs
5. Aftercare
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6. Community treatment
Community-based facilities are becoming more common
Non-profit agencies contract to provide services
Media Tool
Media Tool
merged into one? Would the public be in support or against?
IV. Problems and perspectives
Learning Objective 5: Name some of the issues facing the American system of juvenile justice.
Gap between what is ideal and what transpires in practice
Role conflict and overload occurs with the many functions the juvenile justice system
attempts to administer
Class Discussion/Activity
Does the current juvenile justice system deliver adequate resources?
See Assignments 1
–
4
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Media Tool
What If Scenario
Lecture Notes
Throughout history, children have been viewed as possessing some redeemable element
that warranted a slightly different justice process. Though delinquents were considered evil in
matters involving children instead of using the common courts. The overriding philosophy was
parens patriae, which meant that the king (or the state) stood in place of a parent or guardian that
was incapable or unwilling to discipline a child. This helping philosophy is still prevalent in
What is
Key Terms
See Assignment 5
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aftercare – Juvenile justice equivalent of parole, in which a delinquent is released from a
custodial sentence and supervised in the community. (p. 513)
delinquent – A child who has committed an act that if committed by an adult would be a
criminal act. (p. 500)
dependent child – A child who has no parent or guardian or whose parents cannot give proper
care. (p. 501)
detention hearing – A hearing by the juvenile court to determine if a juvenile is to be detained or
released prior to adjudication. (p. 505)
PINS – Acronym for person(s)in need of supervision, a term that designates juveniles who are
either status offenders or thought to be on the verge of trouble. (p. 501)
status offense – Any act committed by a juvenile that is considered unacceptable for a child,
such as truancy or running away from home, but that would not be a crime if it were committed
by an adult. (p. 497)
waiver – Procedure by which the juvenile court waives its jurisdiction and transfers a juvenile
case to the adult criminal court. (p. 498)
McKeiver v. Pennsylvania (1971) – Juveniles do not have a constitutional right to a trial by jury.
(p. 497)
Schall v. Martin (1984) – Juveniles can be held in preventive detention if there is concern that
they may commit additional crimes while awaiting court action. (p. 498)
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Assignments
1. In 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court issued their ruling in the case of McKeiver v.
Pennsylvania. This ruling came as a continuation of a series of rulings during the 1970s
that applied the rights of the U.S. Constitution to juveniles in the criminal justice system.
2. Research the juvenile justice system in the state or jurisdiction in which you live. Describe
the procedures that a juvenile experiences before final disposition. What are some of the
alternatives to secure detention that are available to adjudicated delinquents? [LO 3, 4]
3. Investigate the use of juvenile detention facilities in the United States? How do the
facilities differ from adult correctional institutions? Do the facilities/institutions offer
rehabilitation/reintegrative programs or opportunities? [LO 4]
4. Who should make decisions about diversion? Should there be established guidelines for
broad discretion? Is diversion a good idea? Would the system be more fair and effective if
5. There is
When does this become an issue that those involved in juvenile justice should be
concerned with? When should they interfere? Where do you draw the line from bullying
to actual criminal activity? Do individuals become braver when they sit behind a computer
screen? Are they more likely to become involved with activities that they ordinarily would
not? [LO 5]