NCJ Number
58255
Journal
LEGAL ACTION GROUP BULLETIN Dated: (OCTOBER 1977) Pages: 227-229
Date Published
1977
Length
8 pages
Annotation
A COMPARISON OF THE ENGLISH AND SCOTTISH SYSTEM OF CHILDREN'S HEARINGS INDICATES THEIR SIMILARITY.
Abstract
THE INTENTION OF THE 1969 BRITISH CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS ACT WAS THAT JUVENILE COURT MAGISTRATES WOULD MAKE DISPOSITIONS BASED ON THE NEEDS OF THE CHILD RATHER THAN ON TRADITIONAL VALUES OF JUSTICE AND EQUALITY. PARENTAL PARTICIPATION IN DECISIONMAKING WAS ALSO SEEN AS PART OF THE NEW PROCESS. THIS REPORT EXAMINES WHETHER CLIENTS PERCEIVE THE JUVENILE COURT IN WELFARE TERMS AND WHETHER PARENTS AND CHILDREN HAVE BECOME MORE ACCEPTING OF SOCIAL WELFARE. CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS APPEARING BEFORE ONE PARTICULAR JUVENILE COURT DURING A 3-MONTH PERIOD WERE ASKED TO COOPERATE IN THE RESEARCH. A SAMPLE OF 27 AND 29 PARENTS AGREED TO TAKE PART; THEY WERE INTERVIEWED BEFORE AND AFTER THEIR APPEARANCE IN COURT. THE MAJORITY OF THE CHILDREN IN THE SAMPLE WERE FIRST OFFENDERS AND LEGAL REPRESENTATION WAS RARE. THE MAJORITY OF THE CHILDREN HAD RECEIVED A FINE OR CONDITIONAL DISCHARGE. THEY SAW THE COURT PRIMARILY AS AN AGENCY TO PUNISH OFFENDERS AND WAS SEEN AS HELPFUL ONLY TO THE EXTENT THAT IT HAD PUNISHED THE CHILD FOR WRONGDOING. THE CHILDREN ALSO FELT THAT THEY HAD LITTLE INFLUENCE ON THE OUTCOME OF THEIR CASES AND THAT THE MAGISTRATES WERE NOT INTERESTED IN THEM AT ALL. PARENTS' VIEWS WERE SIMILAR. FROM THIS EVIDENCE, THERE SEEMS TO BE NO RADICAL CHANGE FROM THE VIEW EXPRESSED BY PARENTS AND CHILDREN OF 1952, DESPITE MAJOR LEGISLATIVE INTERVENTIONS AIMED AT FURTHERING THE WELFARE ORIENTATION OF THE JUVENILE COURT. IT ALSO RAISES THE QUESTION OF WHETHER JUVENILE COURT MAGISTRATES SHARE THE VIEWS OF THEIR CLIENTS AND WHETHER THEY MAKE DECISIONS ON WELFARE PRINCIPLES. IT WAS FOUND THAT THE SCOTTISH SYSTEM MIRRORED THE BRITISH. NOTES ARE APPENDED. (MJW)