The chapter discusses the history and evolution of the juvenile justice system in the United States. It covers the origins of separate treatment of juvenile offenders beginning in the 18th century and key milestones like the establishment of the first juvenile court in 1899. The chapter also examines landmark Supreme Court cases that established due process rights for juveniles and the current three-phase process of intake, adjudication, and disposition for dealing with juvenile offenders.

1. Chapter 16
Juvenile Corrections:
End of an Era?
McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2013 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.

2. Juveniles
 According to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), juveniles accounted for
14 percent of all 2009 arrests and15
percent of all 2009 violent crime arrests.
16-2

3. A Brief History
 The English and American juvenile justice
systems use the doctrine of parens patriae .
 Latin term that refers to the state as guardian of minors
and incompetent people
 Historically, juvenile offenders in England were
confined with adults.
 In 1704, John Howard introduced a Roman
institutional model for juvenile offenders.
 American colonists brought his ideas to the new world.
 Reformers tailored Howard’s ideas to create
houses of refuge, reform schools, and industrial
schools for juveniles. 16-3

4. A Brief History – Continued
 In 1825, the first legally chartered American
custodial institution for juvenile offenders, the
New York House of Refuge, was established
by penal reformer Thomas Eddy, education
reformer John Griscom, and the Society for the
Prevention of Pauperism.
 The Lyman School, the first state-sponsored
reform school, opened in Massachusetts in
1848.
 Reform School – a penal institution to which
especially young or first-time offenders are committed
for training and reformation
16-4

5. The Juvenile Court
 People ex rel. O’Connell v. Turner (1870)– the
Illinois Supreme Court began the movement
toward creating a separate juvenile court
 That movement came to fruition in 1899, when
the Illinois legislature established the nation’s
first juvenile court in Cook County (Chicago)
16-5

6. Juvenile Euphemisms
 Delinquents  Criminals
 Taken into custody  Arrested
 Petition is filed  Charge filed
 Held on petition  Indicted
 Adjudicatory hearing  Trial
 Finding  Verdict
 Disposition  Sentence
 Adjudicated  Convicted
 Training school  Prison
 Aftercare  Parole
16-6

7. Landmark Cases
 Kent v. United States (1966) – in cases involving
transfer of jurisdiction, juveniles are entitled to
certain essential due process rights, such as a
hearing, an attorney, access to records, a
written statement of reasons for the transfer
 In re Gault (1967) – juvenile offenders have the
right to reasonable notice of charges, appointed
counsel, question witnesses, and protection
against self-incrimination
16-7

8. Landmark Cases – Continued
 In re Winship (1970) – the guilty beyond a
reasonable doubt standard should be required in
all delinquency adjudications
 McKeiver v. Pennsylvania (1971) – the due
process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
does not require jury trials in juvenile court
 Breed v. Jones (1975) – the double jeopardy
protection applies to juvenile adjudication
proceedings
 Shall v. Martin (1984) – preventive detention
may be used for juveniles
16-8

9. Juvenile Crime
 Delinquent offenses - acts committed by
juveniles that, if committed by adults, could
result in criminal prosecution
 Status offenses - acts that are law violations
only for juveniles such as running away, truancy,
or ungovernability
 Sometimes referred to as incorrigibility or being
beyond parental control
16-9

10. The Juvenile Justice Process
The three phases of the juvenile justice
process are:
 Intake
 Adjudication
 Disposition
16-10

11. Intake
 The first stage of the juvenile justice process.
 A court-appointed officer reviews the case and
recommends a course of action—
 dismissal,
 informal disposition,
 formal disposition, or
 transfer to adult criminal court
16-11

12. Detention
 Detention Hearing – a judicial review of the
intake officer’s detention decision
 Juvenile detention facility – a facility for
keeping juvenile offenders in secure custody, as
necessary, through various stages of the
juvenile justice process
 Guardian Ad Litem – a person appointed by
the juvenile court, often defense counsel, to
serve as a special guardian for the youth being
processed through the juvenile justice system
16-12

13. Adjudication
 The process by which a court arrives at a final
disposition in a case; also the second stage in
the juvenile justice process
 The court decides whether the offender is
formally responsible for (guilty of) the alleged
offense
 Equivalent to the trial in adult criminal cases
16-13

14. Disposition
 The third stage of the juvenile justice process in
which the court decides the disposition
(sentence) for a juvenile case
 Equivalent to the sentencing of an adult offender
 Predisposition report – a report that
documents (1) the juvenile’s background; (2)
educational history; (3) information gathered
from interviews with the juvenile, family
members, and others; (4) available placement
options; and (5) recommended dispositions
16-14

15. Types of Dispositions
 Probation
 Commitment to group homes
 A non-secure residential facility for juveniles
 Residential treatment
 A residential facility that provides intensive treatment
services to juveniles
 Boot camp
 Juvenile correctional institutions
 Blended sentencing
 A two-part (juvenile and adult) sentence in which the
adult sentence may be waved if the offender complies
with all provisions of the juvenile sentence 16-15

16. Evidence-Based Practice and
Juvenile Corrections
 Few studies have focused on reducing
recidivism among juvenile offenders
 Most effective strategy for treating and
rehabilitating juvenile offenders
 Prevention programming
 Continuum of pre-trial and sentencing placement
options
 Services and sanctions
 Aftercare programs
 An example is the approach used by the
California Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ)
16-16

17. Transfer
Juveniles may be transferred to adult court under
one of three provisions:
 Waiver Provisions – the juvenile court orders
transfer of the case to adult criminal court
 Direct File Provisions – the prosecutor
determines whether to initiate a case against a
juvenile in juvenile court or in adult criminal court
 Statutory Exclusion Provisions – the adult
criminal court jurisdiction for certain juvenile
cases is established by state law
16-17

18. Juvenile Correctional Facilities
 Juvenile corrections functions are placed in various
state agencies by the different states.
 Operating budgets for the agencies ranged from
$642 million (Florida) to about $10 million (North
Dakota).
 Nationwide, the number of delinquency cases
involving detention increased 42 percent between
1985 and 2002, from 231,400 to 329,800.
16-18

19. Teen Courts
 Courts in which youths adjudicate and impose
disposition for a juvenile offense
 Also called peer and youth courts
 Have become a popular alternative to the
traditional juvenile court for young or first-time
offenders
 Teen courts handled approximately 125,000
cases in 2005
16-19

20. Four Models of Teen Courts
 The Adult Judge model – an adult serves as
judge and youth serve as attorneys and court
staff
 The Youth Judge model – parallels the Adult
Judge model, with the exception that a youth
serves as judge
 The Tribunal model – youth attorneys present
the case to a panel of three youth judges
 The Peer Jury model – uses no attorneys; the
case is presented to the jury by a youth or adult
and the jury questions the defendant
16-20

21. Youth Gangs
 Gang: a criminal enterprise having an
organizational structure, acting as a continuing
criminal conspiracy, that employs violence and
any other criminal activity to sustain itself
 Youth gang: a gang whose membership is
generally comprised of people between the ages
of 12 and 24
 Street gang: an organized group of people on
the street often engaged in significant
illegitimate or criminal activity
16-21