Adolescent Passage and Entry Into the Juvenile Justice System (From Children, Mental Health, and the Law, P 233-255, 1984, N Dickon Reppucci, et al, eds. -See NCJ-109808)

• NCJ Number: 109814
• Author(s): E Seidman
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 23 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Adolescence is a phase of development that requires the passage of biological, ontogenetic, and sociocultural hurdles to adulthood. Much of what is labeled social deviance in youth may simply be a natural concomitant of adolescent passage in Western society.

Abstract

To integrate the expanding biological, hormonal, cognitive, affective, and social awareness that accompanies adolescence with the changing pressures of parents, peers, schools, and the larger society with as little conflict as possible is a task of major proportions. To negotiate these dilemmas without some conflict and behavioral deviance is almost unheard of and an unrealistic expectation. Consequently, the policies and programs of the juvenile justice system must be informed by these normative characteristics and developmental tasks. The history of the juvenile justice system has been characterized by expanding definitions of 'delinquency,' which taken together with various social constructions and processes have resulted in solutions more suited to extreme and atypical forms of deviance than to normal adolescent development. Given the lack of efficacy of institutional placement, diversion seems an appropriate response. However, such diversion programs often have resulted in net-widening, labeling, and stigmatization. 1 note and 51 references.