NCJ Number
116445
Date Published
1984
Length
405 pages
Annotation
The chapters of this book are organized around four major themes: the interaction between juvenile law and specific popular and theoretical notions about adolescence, the possibilities of a better fit between theories of delinquency and policy/practice, the unintended institutional and personal consequences of society's ambivalent attitudes toward juveniles, and the feasibility of integrating official and unofficial modes of dispute settlement.
Abstract
One chapter focuses on how popular, albeit misguided, perceptions of delinquency are related to the structural position of youth in American society. These misconceptions are exposed through a review of relevant empirical studies. A chapter sketches the evolution of juvenile law, the assumptions upon which it is based, and likely future developments, followed by a chapter that traces the origin of the modern notions of childhood and adolescence that provided justifications for State intervention to 'protect' juveniles. Five chapters summarize the explanations of delinquency proposed over the past 100 years to explain delinquent behavior. These chapters discuss how the theories have influenced policy and the routine functioning of the justice system. Another chapter presents criteria for evaluating delinquency theories based on the history of prevention efforts. Four chapters discuss societal reactions to delinquency in their institutional and community contexts, indicating how the law and popular conceptions of delinquency partly determine responses to it. The cases presented in these chapters show some of the undesirable outcomes of agency and community action. The final chapter assesses future directions of the juvenile justice system based on three relevant national reports. Chapter references, subject index. For individual chapters, see NCJ-116446-59