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Youth Policy and Juvenile Justice Reform

NCJ Number
94911
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 30 Issue: 3 Dated: Special issue (July 1984) Pages: 339-346
Author(s)
J Galvin; G F Blake
Date Published
1984
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Several of the authors in this special issue devoted to youth policy and juvenile justice reform suggest that the juvenile justice system has shown considerable resistance to change.
Abstract
Initial focus is on current developments in four areas addressed by the reforms: status offenses, privatization of treatment, diversion, and female delinquency. Schneider identifies three basic strategies for removing two status offenses -- truancy and runaway -- from regular juvenile justice processing: decarceration, through restricting commitments of status offenders to secure facilities; diversion, by providing alternative services, and divesture, under which juvenile court jurisdictions over status offenses is eliminated. Schwartz et al. suggest one possible destination for offenders who are no longer processed and incarcerated by the juvenile system, namely alternative juvenile control systems operated by mental health, child welfare, or chemical dependency treatment agencies. Curran reports clear changes in the processing of female offenders, and Adler discusses gender bias, suggesting that females are being referred into a variety of diversion programs at a rate disproportionate to the seriousness of their offenses. A second section, focusing on the continuing need for change, includes Hufstedler's call for a revitalization of the reform movement in juvenile justice; Reichel and Seyfrit's documentation of one such effort, i.e., the creation of a peer jury system; Pink's proposal of ways to organize effective schools to stem the flow of juveniles into the justice system; and Polk's approach that blends education and work to integrate such youths into the mainstream. Tabular data and four references are provided.