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American Juvenile Justice System in Crisis
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Examines the juvenile justice system, assumed to be a system in crisis. Determines the depth of the crisis & assesses causes & possible solutions.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Examines the juvenile justice system, assumed to be a system in crisis. Determines the depth of the crisis & assesses causes & possible solutions.
Paper Introduction:
INTRODUCTION
Public administration presents us with many institutions in which to observe organizational behaviors, and the very form and structure of these institutions illuminates how organizations are formed and what influence different behaviors have on that formation. Leaders and policy makers in these organizations respond to perceptions of success or failure. An examination of a particular institution in crisis - the juvenile justice system - shows how administrators view the problem, how the problem developed, and how policy makers are influenced in determining what to do about it.
METHOD OF INQUIRY
The method of inquiry begins with the inductive examination of the issues involved, thr
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46-47). 7).Present Situation Sandhu and Heasley (1981) find that the juvenile justice system wasinadequate to the task it set for itself. In the 186 s and 187 s,separate hearings were held for juveniles in some courts, and agents wereoften appointed to attend juvenile hearings to protect the interests of thechild. At the federal level, the changes that were brought aboutwere fundamental and derived from concern brought about by increasedjuvenile arrests and juvenile court cases, increased public concern aboutcrime, and criticism of the existing juvenile justice system. Much of this intention has withered away to be replaced moreand more by mandated prison sentences and an emphasis on punishment. 68). However, it was in Chicago where welfare and civic organizationscreated the juvenile court after a long period of campaigning. This came ata time when the Kennedy Administration was taking an activist approach byraising the issues of juvenile justice to the national level (p. This is one of the main problems facing such programs in gainingcommunity acceptance. What has emerged isa bifurcated system in which public facilities are responsible forinstitutionalized corrections and the private sector administers themajority of open-environment programs (pp. The one theorist taking a forward,innovative view is Bennett, and the accuracy of her analysis depends oncertain demographic changes coming to pass as predicted. New York: Numan Sciences Press, 1981.Schwartz, Ira M., (In)Justice for Juveniles. A more innovative approach is neededto change the institution and to solve the problem it faces. 68). 48). Wilson, The American Juvenile Justice System. Los Angeles: Epistemics Institute Press, 1985. In other words, even though the public perception is that thereis increased safety in a prison setting, such a setting also produces moreviolent crime in the future and is thus not a public benefit in the longrun. ReferencesBennett, Georgette, Crimewarps. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1985.Williams, William J., The Miracle of Abduction. 363-378). Fagan (199 ) notes that the basic problem of what to do with violentdelinquents has existed since the foundation of the juvenile court in 1899,and doubts about the efficacy of rehabilitation coupled with persistentlyhigh rates of juvenile crime have now placed juvenile offenders at thecenter of an ideological debate between proponents of traditional juvenilejustice policies and those who would restrict or eliminate the jurisdictionof the juvenile court. In thelong run, they said, the system actually created more crime. First, the system is seen as one incrisis, facing too great a work load, too many social problems with whichit is not equipped to deal, and too much community pressure for a quick andpermanent solution. The public feels safer with the publicsystem of incarceration, though there is also an argument to be made forthe fact that the system of public incarceration produces a generation ofhardened offenders who might have been rehabilitated in a community-basedprogram. The creation of a special court for juveniles involved a trade-off, onthe one hand denying children the due process and adversarial proceedingsof adult court and on the other providing informal and confidentialhearings and dispositions intended to do what was considered to be "in thebest interests of the child." Those who developed the court thought itwould be more of a social welfare agency than a court, with the child beinghelped rather than punished. Lexington, Massachusetts: D.C. Bennett offers some hope based on demographics if nothing else, notingthat as zero population growth is reached early in the next century, thecrime rate will enter a stage of permanent stability or decline for theyounger population. It is not only overloaded by increased delinquency, and at that byincreasingly violent acts of delinquency by inner city gangs in particular,but it is also a system seen as ineffective at the best of times. 47-48). The newphilosophy held that the court should take the role of parent in lieu ofthe real parents and should treat youthful offenders as wards. Leaders and policy makers inthese organizations respond to perceptions of success or failure. INTRODUCTION Public administration presents us with many institutions in which toobserve organizational behaviors, and the very form and structure of theseinstitutions illuminates how organizations are formed and what influencedifferent behaviors have on that formation. Asnoted, though, the public has shown less and less patience with any programexcept incarceration because of fears of street crime and the perception,justified or not, that the entire criminal justice system is too soft oncriminals and that violent criminals are being released to commit morecrimes. Williams (1985) has describedabduction as a process of innovation or second-order change. Community based corrections programs areseen as a viable alternative to "detention centers" in the eyes of thejustice system and other professionals who work with young offenders, butthe creation of such programs must also protect the public from juvenilecrime and will certainly come under increased criticism for any failure todo so. Third, every institution in the public administration is influencedby other institutions, notably the courts, and the courts have had a stronginfluence in this area. The juvenile justice system will be examined in terms of change overtime, and this will be the method to be communicated to show theorganizational behavior of the institution today leading to a considerationof developments for tomorrow. 15 -151). The very mandated sentences that are supposed to make lifeharder for criminals make it much more difficult to prosecute a youngster"(p. The court wasthe work of individuals and organizations dedicated to many social causesincluding prison reform, women's suffrage, the abolition of poverty, andchild welfare. Though some have called for the abolition of thesubstitute parent juvenile justice system, Gardner argues that the punitivemodel need not result in such an abolition or in the reincorporation of thejuvenile justice system into the adult system. This shows that it is not only community basedprograms which create fear but the juvenile justice system itself. The first juvenile court in the United States was founded in 1899 inCook County, Illinois, which includes the city of Chicago. Fagan believesthat policies to reallocate resources and reorganize juvenile correctionsservices should emphasize reintegration efforts to sustain institutionaltreatment through the process of community reentry (pp. This sanction gives a greater emphasis on personalresponsibility and less on external forces on the offender, such as povertyor family breakdown. The court was structured on the legal model of Britishinstitutions, first the Court of Chancery under which the king acted asparens patriae (or the father of his country) to exercise guardianship overwards of the state, and the presumption in the English common law thatchildren are more innocent than adults. Heath, 1989.Vito, Gennaro F., Deborah G. Gardner (1987) discusses a recent trend in the emergence of thepunitive sanction in juvenile justice systems across the country inresponse to public concerns about safety and a changed view of theoffender. Faganstates that research has shown that effective and proportionatecorrectional interventions in the juvenile justice system can advance crimecontrol and rehabilitative policies alike and that the existence of suchprograms obviates the rationale for judicial or legislative exclusion ofviolent juvenile offenders from the juvenile justice system. Theysaw the existing system as treating children as if they had free will intheir actions when in fact they were less responsible than adults. Second, public administration choices are greatlygoverned by such community pressure, for good or ill, and often changesthat are made are responses more to pressure and perceived problemscreating pressure than to the actual parameters of the real problem orissue. A more creative approach is needed ifsecond-order change is to be effected in this area.CONCLUSION The juvenile justice system developed from a British view of the lawand of children, and in the American context it has continued to hold theseviews while bowing to court order to give young people more rights and tocommunity pressure to punish rather than rehabilitate becauserehabilitation is seen as a failure. The intent is to utilize an abductive frameworkfor decision-making about the issue. However, Gardner does seethat the shift to a model in which punitive considerations replace, or atleast share an equal role with, rehabilitative concerns requiressignificant reworking of the existing juvenile systems (pp. The philosophy that prevailed in the adult court system in thenineteenth century was one of deterrence. Reformers saw the criminal courtas harsh and oppressive, particularly in its treatment of children. Supreme Court in 1966. She also feels that get tough policies, though, willactually contribute to teenage crime rather than reducing it, sinceresearch shows that jailing juveniles simply speeds the commission ofsubsequent crimes (p. These ideas had been embraced bythe child welfare movement which established institutions for juveniles tokeep them out of New York and Boston adult jails. It is instead ananalysis of surveys and studies that have already been done with an eye todiscerning trends and perhaps the truth of the situation. The intention of dealing withjuveniles through probation, with the youth in the community under adultsupervision, was inadequate, and the system more and more relied onincarceration of children in institutions. Most juveniles tried in adult courts don't see the inside of ajail cell. New York: Anchor Books, 1989.Curran, Daniel J., "Destructuring, privatization, and the promise of juvenile diversion: Compromising community-based corrections," Crime and Delinquency (October 1988), pp. In turn, the decisions of the courts are based onunderlying principles filtered through an interpretive process, and thatinterpretive process is likely to be influenced by environmental factors atany given time. 93-133).Perception of the Future Bennett (1989) agrees that one of the consequences of increasingteenage crime and drug use has been a new intolerance expressed in thejuvenile justice system through programs emphasizing punishment.Rehabilitation had been a strong objective in juvenile justice even afterit had become discredited for adult offenders, with the idea being thatrehabilitation should be possible for young offenders before they becometoo hardened. Thesystem has instead done no more than respond to court order or communitypressure in immediate and cosmetic ways.EVALUATION AND JUSTIFICATION This inquiry method is necessary in examining an issue of this sortwithout conducting a direct empirical study or survey. The movement toward community-based programs has been based on many ofthe original conceptions underlying the creation of a separate juvenilejustice system, including the state as a substitute parent and the beliefthat rehabilitation of the young was both possible and necessary. 129-151). Anexamination of a particular institution in crisis - the juvenile justicesystem - shows how administrators view the problem, how the problemdeveloped, and how policy makers are influenced in determining what to doabout it. Therehas long been a tension in the system between the twin missions ofpunishment and rehabilitation, just as there is in the adult criminaljustice system. METHOD OF INQUIRY The method of inquiry begins with the inductive examination of theissues involved, through readings of observers and theorists in order todevelop a general concept of the problem and of the organizational behaviorresponding to the problem. To achievethis, it is necessary first to have a method enabling us to see the logicof the present culture and second to communicate this to others (133-135).Haney (1992) indicates the necessity of seeing the subject being studied interms of change over time so that we look to the past to see how it hasdeveloped and thus to the future to see how it will or can develop (423-424). It is alsoevident that while changes have been effected, these changes cannot beconsidered true transformations or innovations--there has been no leap to adifferent level of understanding and little leadership toward one. 69).EXAMINATION AND ANALYSIS An examination of the literature indicates several repeated conceptsand trends in the present situation. The probation system was inadequate because the probationofficer had little time for family counseling, and though he or she wassupposed to be a mentor and guide for the client, there were usually toomany clients for individual care to be possible (pp. One-third of all juvenilescharged with delinquency were transferred to adult courts or sent to statereformatories, and almost two-thirds of juvenile girls were committed tostate and local institutions. 129-151.Haney, William V., Communication & Interpersonal Relations. 93-133.Gardner, Martin R., "Punitive Juvenile Justice: Some Observations on a Recent Trend," International Journal of Law and Psychiatry (1987), pp. In a series of decisions, the Court foundthat juveniles were entitled to a broad range of procedural protectionsthat had been denied them (Schwartz, 1989: pp. juvenile correctionalsystem and finds a movement toward deinstitutionalization, accompanied bylegislation addressing the development of community-based corrections.Curran finds that there has been increased funding to allow for thetreatment of many nondelinquent juveniles outside the formal justice systemin private agencies, but existing public institutional facilities have alsobeen maintained. Much of this incarceration was seen asunnecessary. This philosophy would prevail for nearlyseventy years, until abuses in the system were brought to the attention ofthe U.S. Sucha reworking will still have to face the fears of the public about safetyand the need for a system that does not produce worse offenders than enterit originally. Curran believes that this dual system does not bode well for theprotection of the rights of juvenile offenders, and there are alsouncertainties in terms of security for the public in the face of privatelyoperated diversionary programs. Wayne Heasley, Improving Juvenile Justice. The courtwould have jurisdiction over children who were under the age of sixteen andwho were found to be dependent, neglected, or delinquent (Vito and Wilson:p. The actpassed in 1899 established a juvenile court in every county with apopulation of more than 5 , , which at the time applied only to CookCounty (Vito and Wilson, 1985: pp. As early as 1978, public dissatisfaction had causedall fifty states and the federal government to enact statutes under whichjuveniles could be tried in adult courts, but even this has not worked asintended: "Of all the juvenile cases waived to criminal courts, themajority are traffic, fishing, boasting, drinking, and other minorviolations. Curran (1988) examines the trends in the U.S. After the Supreme Court found flaws in the system, change was rapid.McGarrell (1988) cites change in the early 196 s at both the state andfederal levels with a substantial revision of juvenile codes to add many ofthe procedural safeguards called for by the Supreme Court decision invarious cases. New York: State University of New York Press, 1988.Nugent, Lois I., "A Model Juvenile Justice Program," Individual Psychology Journal of Adlerian Theory, Research and Practice (June 1991), pp. She offers nosolution herself but only believes one will come about on its own as aresult of demographic changes. 363-378.Fagan, Jeffrey, "Social and Legal Policy Dimensions of Violent Juvenile Crime," Criminal Justice and Behavior (March 199 ), pp. Homewood, Illinois: Irwin, 1992.McGarrell, Edmund F., Juvenile Correctional Reform. SUBJECT MATTERDevelopment The American juvenile justice system is considered a system in crisis. With juveniles, however, there is the added belief thatthe offenders are less responsible for their actions than are adults, thatthe system has a role as substitute parent, and that alternatives toincarceration are particularly valuable to combine these missions.However, as juvenile crime has increased in incidence and severity, thepublic has become less patient and has demanded punishment overrehabilitation, seeing this as a way to protect itself against thedepredations of young offenders. By1983, 48 states and the District of Columbia had taken away much of thediscretion of judges in setting sentences: "Mandated prison sentences havedisplaced a host of indeterminate sentences and unreliable parole boarddecisions" (p. While the juvenile population under direct governmentalsupervision has declined significantly since 197 , the total number ofyouthful offenders held in custody has changed little. The analysis of the juvenile justice system through time shows thatcertain underlying attitudes have remained constant within the system--youthful offenders have different degrees of responsibility from adultoffenders, society has a parental role to play, the youthful offender iscorrectable--even when social pressures are for a different view.Punishment may be emphasized more now over rehabilitation, but youthfuloffenders are still seen as less responsible than adults and as more inneed of protection and a stand-in parent where necessary. 189- 198.Sandhu, Harjit S., C. The method shows that this subject is complex and that thecomplexities have done more to overwhelm those analyzing the issue than toilluminate or lead to a solution.
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