Juvenile Justice Systems and Processes

Course Description

A general orientation to the field of juvenile delinquency, including causation and the development of delinquent behavior. The problems facing juveniles today are addressed, and adult and juvenile justice systems are compared, including initial apprehension, referral, and preventive techniques. Specific issues examined include chemical dependency, mental illness, and compulsive and habitual offenders. Special attention is given to the problems inherent in the police handling of juveniles and the function of juvenile courts.

Topics and Objectives

The Nature and Extent of Delinquency

• Understand the development of childhood in the United States.
• Discuss the concept of delinquency and Parens Patriae.
• Provide a formal definition of juvenile delinquency as well as a description of juvenile delinquents.
• Differentiate between status offenders and delinquent offenders.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of holding parents criminally responsible for the delinquency of their children.
• Identify key sources of official and unofficial information about delinquency and its occurrence in the United States.
• Explain current statistical trends in juvenile justice.
• Discuss the correlation and trends in delinquency based upon gender, race, social class and/or age.

Classical, Biological and Psychological Theories of Delinquency

• Explain the rational choice theory and its application to juvenile delinquency
• Discuss the effect of deterrence and situational crime prevention methods in preventing juvenile delinquency
• Recognize the contribution of biological, biosocial, neurological and genetic factors to delinquency.
• Understand the relationship between psychological theories and juvenile delinquency.

Sociological Views of Delinquency

• Explain the application of Social Structure Theories to juvenile delinquency.
• Apply learning and control theories to juvenile delinquency.
• Understand the effect of labeling and stigma on juvenile delinquency.
• Explain the application of Social Conflict Theories to juvenile delinquency.

Gender and Delinquency

• Understand the developmental differences between the genders
• Recognize gender patterns in delinquency and violent behavior.
• Understand the biological and sociological views attempting to explain female delinquency.
• Examine the liberal and radical feminist views and apply these views to female juvenile delinquency.
• Understand the dual standards which may be applied by the juvenile justice system.

The Family and Delinquency

• Recognize and identify ways in which the family can influence delinquency.
• Examine the effect and consequences of child abuse on subsequent delinquency.
• Appreciate the role of the family in preventing delinquency.

The Juvenile Justice System in the United States

• Understand the history of the juvenile justice system.
• Examine the parens patriae doctrine as it applies to juvenile justice.
• Describe early events leading to the development of juvenile courts.
• Discuss alternative philosophies that have guided juvenile court actions during the past century.
• Examine the use of alternative dispute resolution and teen courts.

Juveniles and the Police

• Understand the discretionary powers of police with regard to juveniles.
• Define and describe situation-based discretion of police officers and certain implications for juveniles.
• Explore the range of dispositional options available to officers who encounter juveniles on the streets.
• Examine the limitations of dealing with juvenile suspects.
• Discuss the implications of divestiture and its influence on police discretion relating to juveniles.
• Compare and contrast police programs as intervention mechanisms designed to prevent juvenile delinquency.

Juvenile Court Participants

• Appreciate the role and discretionary powers of the intake officer in processing youthful offenders.
• Understand the role of the defense attorney, court appointed special advocates, and public defender services for children.
• Understand the discretionary powers of the prosecutor in Juvenile Court.
• Explore the increasingly adversarial nature of the juvenile courts and the roles of prosecutors and defense attorneys in such proceedings.
• Appreciate the role of the judge in juvenile court proceedings.
• Understand how the role of defense attorney, prosecutor and judge in juvenile court differs from their role in adult court.

Juvenile Court Procedures

• Understand the waiver process in juvenile justice.
• List and evaluate reasons for transferring juveniles to criminal courts.
• Examine the characteristics of youths most often transferred.
• Define different types of waivers, transfers, and certifications.
• Describe the consequences of waiver decisions for juveniles.
• Use legal cases relating to transfers to describe the legal implications of transfer decisions.
• Compare and contrast retaining jurisdiction in juvenile courts with relinquishing jurisdiction to criminal courts from the standpoint of juveniles.
• Explore trends relating to transfer decisions in various state jurisdictions.
• Examine the plea bargaining procedure in juvenile court.
• Understand trial procedures in juvenile court.
• Discuss landmark cases in juvenile justice that established legal rights for juveniles.
• Describe the growing bureaucratization and centralization of juvenile court proceedings.

Juvenile Disposition

• Understand the importance of prior offenses in determining sentencing severity.
• Identify the major categories of dispositional choices and list the common juvenile dispositions.
• Compare and contrast diversion programs and their weaknesses and strengths.
• Understand the benefits and limitations of risk assessment and prediction devices.
• Examine the application of the death penalty for juvenile offenders.

Juvenile Probation and Community-Based Corrections

• Describe standard probation programs and their impact on youthful offender management and control.
• Examine intermediate punishments for juvenile offenders and their aims.
• Compare and contrast different types of intensive supervised probation programs.
• Discuss electronic monitoring and home confinement.
• Understand shock probation.
• Analyze the importance of fines, restitution, and other forms of victim compensation as punishments for juveniles.

Juvenile Corrections: Custodial Sanctions

• Describe goals of juvenile corrections.
• Compare and contrast non-secure and secure detention.
• Describe foster homes, group homes, camps and ranches, experience projects, wilderness experiments and correctional boot camps.
• Describe juvenile detention resource centers and their functions.
• Compare and contrast short-term and long-term detention facilities for juveniles and their implications for offender rehabilitation.
• Analyze parole programs for juveniles, the characteristics of juvenile parolees, and the process of parole revocation.
• Discuss landmark cases in parole and probation revocation for adults that have application in juvenile proceedings.
• Explore the movement toward the privatization of juvenile corrections.

Juvenile Gangs and Groups

• Understand the correlation between peer relations and delinquency.
• Define youth gangs and understand their development.
• Examine contemporary gangs and their criminality.
• Understand the reasons why youths join gangs.
• Appreciate methods for controlling gang activity.

Schools and Delinquency

• Discuss the role of the school in modern American society.
• Understand the relationship between academic performance and delinquency
• Discuss the characteristics of crime committed within the school and identify methods to reduce school crime.
• Appreciate the role of the school in delinquency prevention
• Identify the civil rights applicable to schools and students.

Drug Use and Delinquency

• Identify frequently abused drugs and current studies about drug use today.
• Understand why youths use drugs.
• Identify the pathways to drug abuse.
• Understand the relationship between drug use and delinquency.
• Identify strategies for controlling drug use.