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Reforming Justice by Geography - Organizational Responses to the Problem of Juvenile Crime

NCJ Number
105219
Journal
Law and Police Volume: 8 Issue: 4 Dated: (October 1986) Pages: 419-436
Author(s)
S G Ghezzi; L Kimball
Date Published
1986
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Growing public sentiment over the problem of juvenile crime has resulted in an administrative focus on 'toughening' and rationalizing the sanctions for serious offenders.
Abstract
Our analysis of 10 States examines two measures of organizational power, discretion, and jurisdiction, to specify the changing mandate of juvenile justice. A typology of reorganization strategies is developed which consists of three 'policy change' categories -regulation, negotiation, and displacement. Our findings have implications for defining the recent reforms in juvenile justice, distinguishing patterns within seemingly random geographical variation, and anticipating further directions in the control of serious youthful offenders. (Author abstract)