NCJ Number
147062
Date Published
1994
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the future of juvenile justice administration concludes that change is inevitable and will be imposed on the system by external agents rather than as a result of internal decisionmaking.
Abstract
These changes will result from the combined efforts of a frightened citizenry, concerned legislators, and increasing concerns about the failure of juvenile courts to control the serious delinquency problem. These changes will make the juvenile court more like the adult criminal courts than at any time in the past. The failure of top-level officials to demonstrate leadership and vision will provide the basis for such changes and will help us understand why the reinvention of government and the implementation of total quality management in juvenile justice administration will probably have little or no impact in the immediate future. The pressures for changing juvenile court operations and the management of youthful offenders will not abate unless the public's fear of crime and delinquency is substantially reduced, politicians reduce their rhetoric about the problem and the numbers and rates of violent crime by youthful offenders are substantially reduced. 24 references