U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Juvenile Corrections (From Corrections in the United States: A Contemporary Perspective, Third Edition, P 576-634, 2001, Dean J. Champion -- See NCJ-185013)

NCJ Number
185025
Author(s)
Dean J. Champion
Date Published
2001
Length
59 pages
Annotation
This chapter on juvenile corrections begins with a history of juvenile corrections, followed by discussions of types of juvenile offenders and their characteristics, the juvenile justice system, rights of juveniles, types of dispositions, correctional goals, and selected issues in juvenile corrections.
Abstract
First, a brief history of juvenile corrections in the United States is presented. Selected characteristics of juvenile offenders are discussed, together with some significant developments and trends that pertain to juvenile correctional processing. Several goals of juvenile corrections are reviewed, together with a delineation of the types of offenses normally included within delinquency designation. An overview of the juvenile justice system is presented, and each stage of this process is described. The intent of many juvenile courts is to divert juveniles away from the system, so that they will not develop self-definitions of delinquency. For some juvenile offenders, however, greater discipline and harsher treatment, including detention in secure facilities, are required. These facilities and programs are described and assessed. Finally, several key issues in juvenile corrections, including proposals for modifying the sorts of offenses that qualify for the delinquency label, are presented. Other issues addressed are privatization in juvenile corrections and capital punishment for juveniles. 2 tables, 1 figure, key terms, review questions, and 8 suggested readings