NCJ Number
171606
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 61 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1997) Pages: 38-46
Date Published
1997
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This article describes how juvenile offenders are investigated and supervised by the U.S. probation/pretrial services office for the District of South Dakota.
Abstract
This description follows a "typical" juvenile offender profile with a "typical" offense profile through the pretrial, presentence, and post-adjudication supervision processes. In the course of this description, the authors interject commentary about various related issues in order to explain the unique tasks and issues confronted by pretrial services and probation officers who work with juvenile offenders. The tasks of the pretrial services officer include the pretrial interview with the juvenile, a pretrial investigation, and the development of a treatment plan. In the case profiled, the juvenile admits the allegations against him. The court accepts the admission, finds the juvenile to be delinquent, and orders a presentence investigation. A probation officer conducts the presentence investigation. In this investigation, the officer must determine the reasons for the juvenile's delinquent behavior and develop a treatment plan that addresses these reasons. At the dispositional hearing, the court imposes the legal consequences of the juvenile's antisocial behavior; he is to be on probation until he is 21 years old. During this period of supervision and treatment, as the juvenile begins to progress in treatment and mature in his behavior, supervisory interventions by the probation officer diminish. The portrait of the probationary processing of the "typical" juvenile offender ends with him at home and involved with a variety of positive, self-improvement activities and preparing to take his GED when he reaches his 18th birthday. 7 notes