Juvenile Delinquents Educated Under Constraint: Responsibilisation, Discipline and the Return to a Republican Utopia in the French Youth Justice System

• NCJ Number: 246466
• Journal: Deviance et societe Volume: 38 Issue: 1 Dated: 2014 Pages: 77-102
• Author(s): Nicolas Sallee
• Date Published: 2014
• Length: 26 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Description; Historical Overview
• Language: French
• Country: France
• Note: English Summary

Annotation

Using a socio-historical approach, this article explains France's model for juvenile corrections.

Abstract

This article notes that youth justice systems in a majority of Western countries have developed a variety of policies intended to increase the severity of dispositions for offenses committed by juveniles. The author uses a socio-historical perspective in examining the impact of this trend in France. In France, juvenile offender rehabilitation is administered by the Youth Judicial Protection Service (Protection judiciaire de la jeunesse, PJJ) under the Ministry of Justice. The PJJ uses an education model rather than a punitive model in juvenile corrections. The model is implemented under a custodial regime in order to ensure that juvenile offenders receive the full battery of education resources. The article labels this model as a "revitalized Republican Utopia." 2 figures and 84 references