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Bringing Balance to Juvenile Justice

NCJ Number
200096
Date Published
November 2002
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This handout outlines an approach to juvenile justice that balances the justice issues of community protection, offender accountability, and competency development.
Abstract
The overriding approach to juvenile justice has tended to swing between the two extremes of offender rehabilitation and offender punishment. The handbook argues that neither approach is complete on its own, and that a juvenile justice system model that balances these concerns would be the most effective justice model for youthful offenders. Three principles are introduced that encompass the proposed approach: community safety, offender accountability, and competency development. The benefits of having a philosophy guide the justice system include enhanced consistency and fairness by guiding the considerable discretionary powers that exist within the justice system. The handbook offers an explanation of each of the three principles, along with strategies for implementing these principles and success measures that will help assess the effectiveness of the guiding philosophy. In conclusion, the handbook notes the importance of adopting a comprehensive approach to delinquency, one which operates in the best interest of children and communities.