NCJ Number
93921
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 30 Issue: 2 Dated: (April 1984) Pages: 309-333
Date Published
1984
Length
25 pages
Annotation
For a variety of reasons, some valid, many irrelevant, it has become fashionable within sociological criminology to condemn juvenile diversion.
Abstract
Participants in the condemnatory rituals identify each other as insiders by catchy words and phrases (like 'widening the net'), and frequently substitute rhetoric for logic in their argumentation aimed both at gaining cultic recognition and winning over the unwary. Perhaps the most damaging consequence is the forfeiture of influence in an important social process by a large array of social scientists. Contrary to the predictions of some in the cult, diversion remains a flourishing mode of serving young offenders, as indeed it must so long as the present juvenile justice system remains in operation. (Author abstract)