NCJ Number
145063
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 39 Issue: 4 Dated: (October 1993) Pages: 403- 424
Date Published
1993
Length
22 pages
Annotation
The juvenile court, which originally was an informal, rehabilitative institution, has been transformed into a second-class criminal court that punishes delinquent offenders and waives serious offenders to the adult criminal justice system.
Abstract
Despite supposedly child-protective attitudes, cultural and legal conceptions of children have produced institutional arrangements that exalt social control over social welfare. The author discusses likely scenarios that would develop under each of three plausible policy responses: 1) return the juvenile court to its original therapeutic function, 2) accept its punitive role with some procedural modifications, and 3) abolish the juvenile court and try young delinquents in adult criminal court with substantive procedural modifications. In any case, children's lesser capacity warrants that they receive more, not less, protection than adults. Also included are discussions of such topics as procedural convergence between juvenile and criminal courts, and jury trials in juvenile court. Case citations and 60 references