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Development of the Juvenile Court

Development of the Juvenile Court. Urbanization Child savers Development of institutions and organizations for the care of delinquent and neglected children Houses of Refuge Juvenile reformatories. Houses of Refuge. Developed for dependent/neglected/destitute children

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Development of the Juvenile Court

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  1. Development of the Juvenile Court • Urbanization • Child savers • Development of institutions and organizations for the care of delinquent and neglected children • Houses of Refuge • Juvenile reformatories

  2. Houses of Refuge • Developed for dependent/neglected/destitute children • Work for room and board, a form of slavery • Ex parte Crouse upheld them (1840s) • Mother committed daughter to house, father objected • Government can take custody

  3. Ex parte Crouse • Children acknowledged as different from adults, due process not necessary • Supported Houses of Refuge

  4. Juvenile reformatories • Lyman School for Boys (1847), Mass. • Girls school in Mass, 1855 • Included all types of problem children • Lyman school closed in 1971, reopened in the 1990s (see Jerome Miller, Last One Over the Wall)

  5. Other movements • Children’s Aid Society, founded 1853 • Rescue youths from harsh environments, placing-out plan, sent children to western farms • Orphan trains—families wishing to take in children would meet the train and select children • SPCC, prevention of abuse, removal and placement of abused children

  6. Juvenile Court • First juvenile court: Chicago, 1899 • Parens patriae: court was to act as a kindly parent, in loco parentis • Help children in all types of trouble • Dependent, neglected and abused (physical, sexual) • Delinquents (violated penal codes

  7. Juvenile court • Status offenders (acts against the family codes, forbidden because of status—age) • Status offenses • Running away • Truancy • Drinking • Curfew violations

  8. Juvenile court • Habitual disobedience, incorrigibility • Lack of morals (promiscuity) • Currently includes such designations as status offender, unruly child, PINS, MINS, CHINS, JINS

  9. Juvenile court • These courts were civil • Differences between civil and criminal courts • Lawyers • Punishment (criminal courts, not in juvenile court) • Standard of proof • Different standards of evidence

  10. Civil vs. criminal • Civil: lawsuits, contracts, divorces • Mental health commitments as a parallel to the JJS

  11. Juvenile court • Medical model: figure out problem and find best cure • Informal nature: meeting with judge, probation officer, guardian and professionals • Decisions were to help the child, standards of due process not necessary

  12. Juvenile courts • By 1925, juvenile courts were nationwide • Network of courts, probation and reform schools established (probation disposition of choice) • Little distinction between various groups of juveniles—it was all “help”

  13. Problems • Although supposedly help, reformatories were often punitive • A very strong class bias

  14. Juvenile courts • Delinquents mixed with status offenders and dependent/neglected (problems) • Although designed for treatment, this treatment tended to be absent. • Juvenile justice hit a low during the Great Depression, as conditions were very bad institutions (“era of shame”)

  15. Juvenile courts • During the 1930s, first major studies of delinquency were conducted (Gluecks) • By 1960s, serious objections to the juvenile justice system • Courts could do anything they wanted under parens patriae • Complete discretion

  16. Juvenile courts • Number of youths referred began to rise dramatically, with the rise in births • Overuse of institutionalization • Significant increase in the study of delinquency, especially gangs • Little legal protection • Horror stories about institutions (Weeping in the Playtime of Others, Wooden)

  17. 1960s and 1970s • Major movements • Due process • De-institutionalization • Diversion • Separation of status offenders and delinquents • Massachusetts and deinstitutionalization

  18. 1960s and 1970s • Major Supreme Court cases • Establishment of limited due process in the juvenile justice system • Compromise between criminal and civil system • More referral to DFS

  19. Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 • Deinstitutionalization of status offenders, dependent/neglected • Separation from adults in institutions • Separate detention facilities for juveniles • Disproportionate minority confinement

  20. Punitive era, 1980s • Perception that juveniles becoming more dangerous • More gun use & lethal violence • Changing view of mens rea for juveniles • More due process, adult model of corrections • Transfer of juveniles to adult court

  21. Balanced Juvenile Justice and Crime Prevention Act of 1996 • See p. 39 • Balance between punishment and treatment

  22. Punitive vs. Rehabilitative model • Mens rea: free will and intent • Are juveniles less developed? • Free will vs. environmental causes (free will would imply punitiveness, environment would imply treatment) • Protection of society (punitive) vs. protection of juvenile (rehab)

  23. Punitive vs. Rehabilitative • Punitive: need for due process in order to ensure fairness, Rehabilitative: no need for cumbersome procedures • Role of discretion: punitive model would limit it, rehabilitative would expand it • Role of records • Punishment vs. changing behavior

  24. The present system • Measurement of delinquency • UCR and other official statistics such as police and court records • Part I and Part II. Three status offenses (runaway, truancy and curfew violations) • Victimization surveys • Self-report studies

  25. Problems • Only those acts reported—many delinquent acts handled informally, especially status offenses • Many other options aside from the system • Sealing of records

  26. UCR • 2.3 million arrests of juveniles • 16% of all arrests • 30% of Part I crimes • 70 million juveniles, about 23%, of the population is under 18, and • Accounts for 15% of violent crime • 25% of property crime arrests

  27. Decline in violent crime • 1980s and early 1990s, increase in juvenile crime • “superpredators” • Not substantiated, juvenile crime has been decreasing • Greater decreases than for adults • 1300 homicides, about 8%

  28. UCR 2006 • 1.5 million arrests for Part II offense • 114,200 running away from home (60% female, decreasing) • 207,700 disorderly conduct, increasing • 196,700 drug abuse violations (increasing) • 152,900 curfew violations

  29. Other violations • Larceny 278,100 • Aggravated assaults 60,700 • Simple assaults (249,400) • Burglary 83,900 • Motor vehicle 34,600 • Weapons 47,200 • DWI 20,100

  30. Other • Drunkenness 16,000 • Vandalism 117,500 • Prostitution 1600 • Sex offenses 15,900 • Rape 3610

  31. UCR • Property crime peaks at age 16 • Violent crime peaks at 18 • Crime rates decline after these peak years • Arrests for juvenile violent crime began to increase in 1989, peaked in 1994, and then fell

  32. UCR • Property offense remained more stable, but have also showed recent decline • Juvenile murder rates more than doubled between the early 1980s and their peak in 1993; they have declined but remain higher than earlier levels

  33. Self-reports • Interviews or anonymous questionnaires • If truancy, alcohol consumption, theft, etc., are included, delinquency is almost universal • Most people admit to something for which they could have gone to juvenile court

  34. Self report • 50% admit to truancy • 1/3 defying parents • ½ to drinking • 10% to running away • 25% to shop lifting • 30% to destroying property • 1/3 to B & E • 10% to joyriding

  35. Self-report • It is estimated that 90% of status offenses are undetected

  36. Self-report • Delinquency problem far greater than reflected in UCR • Do not indicate that the delinquency rate is climbing • Problems with self-report • Validating against arrest statistics • Inclusion of many minor offenses • Exclusion of serious delinquents

  37. Juvenile victimization • Types of victimization: • 1. abuse (sexual, physical, emotional educational) • 2. crime victimization (i.e., assaults, thefts) • 2.9 million cases of abuse investigated, 25% substantiated

  38. Juvenile victimization • Of those substantiated, 61% were neglect, 19% physical, sexual 10% • Female perpetrators • Infants most likely, then the rate is fairly constant, begins rapid decline after age 14

  39. Other victimization • Most common away from school or on the way to school • Juveniles tend to be victims of theft, at higher rates than adults • 14% of males in one study indicated that they had been attacked, robbed or bullied

  40. Correlates of delinquency • Gender • Race: disproportionately African American, 12.5% of the population, but 31% of all arrests and 36% of index crimes • Reasons?

  41. Other correlates • Social class • Age • Criminal careers • Juvenile victimization

  42. Overview of juvenile justice process

  43. Reasons for increases in juvenile crime • Educational standards • Teenage pregnancies, although now declining (drop in teenage marriages, rise in premarital sex, beginning at an earlier age, better health) • Increase in alcohol and drug use • Increased opportunity for crime • Unemployment among the young

  44. Reasons (continued) • One parent homes • More mobility, less extended family • Standard of living issues

  45. Reasons for the decrease • More punitive measures? • Changing values? i.e., negative views of gangs, drugs, etc. • Community programs? • Regression to the mean? • Incapacitation, more beds for juveniles? • Aging population?

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