NCJ Number
185072
Date Published
2000
Length
74 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines the unique qualities of juvenile justice.
Abstract
The chapter reviews the history of the Juvenile Court, examines houses of refuge and orphan asylums as far back as 1817, and describes the "child-savers." Those women viewed themselves as altruists and humanitarians but were in fact interested in integrating the poor into the established social order and protecting "respectable" citizens from the "dangerous classes" of people who might otherwise be drawn into social revolution or criminality. The chapter describes the functions of juvenile courts in various States across the Nation. Review questions at the chapter's end examine students' knowledge and understanding of, among other topics: how the juvenile court differs from the criminal court, how terminology used in the juvenile court reflects its philosophy, why the juvenile court should not punish children, waivers of juvenile court jurisdiction, blended sentences, why juvenile services provided to girls are usually inferior to those provided to boys, the meaning of "least restrictive alternative" and the purposes of juvenile aftercare. Figures