Changing Face of Juvenile Justice

• NCJ Number: 74777
• Author(s): W E Cavenagh
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 23 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom
• Note: Twenty-fourth Eleanor Rathbone Memorial Lecture held at the University of Birmingham (England), November 25, 1976.

Annotation

This speech, given by a professor of criminology, reviews the development of Great Britain's juvenile court system and discusses problems regarding care and supervision orders mandated by the 1969 Children and Young Persons Act (CYPA).

Abstract

Juvenile courts emerged as part of the broak movement to reform the penal system and criminal law which began in the 19th century. They have always had both criminal and civil jurisdiction and detained juveniles in facilities apart from adults. Before 1969, few modifications were made in the juvenile system. These courts are not open, have more lenient penalties, require social background reports on offenders, and permit no private prosecutions. The juvenile court is essentailly a peace-keeping device, but a high prosecutable age raises problems concerning how the community can handle persistently offending juveniles while preserving its welfare image. Since the end of World War II, penal sanctions for juveniles have been viewed increasingly as a last resort, particularly for first offenders and younger children. In 1969 CYPA moved closer to the welfare model by establishing cautioning procedures to divert some juveniles from court proceedings, substituting supervision orders with no penal sanctions for probation orders, absorbing remand homes into a system of community residences, and giving local authorities the right to supervise juvenile offenders. Deleterious effects of the act include inadequate community detention facilities and the failure of social service agencies to supervise a delinquent, so that society suffers and commitment to an institution finally results. In 1969, it was envisioned that detention centers would become unnecessary as more intermediate treatment programs developed. In reality, detention center committals have doubled, and this overcrowding has contributed to the increasing number of commitments to borstals. It is recommended that care and supervision orders be eliminated from criminal cases, and welfare cases be transferred to the magistrates' domestic court. In addition 16-year olds should be handled by the adult court, short sentences in detention centers or borstals could be used as deterrents, and fines for offenders under 14 years could be raised.