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 Justice Philosophy in Minnesota

NCJ Number
89424
Journal
Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 34 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1983) Pages: 93-102
Author(s)
N G Kittel
Date Published
1983
Length
10 pages
Annotation
A survey of the attitudes of Minnesota's juvenile court judges toward propositions taken from both the rehabilitation and justice models of the juvenile justice system shows that more than 20 percent of the judges embraced the tenets of the justice model.
Abstract
Minnesota was chosen because of its reputation for a progressive corrections system. A written survey was mailed to all judges in Minnesota having juvenile jurisdiction, yielding a 64.5 percent response rate. The rehabilitation model focuses on treating delinquent youth and assessing individual juvenile needs. Institutionalization is seen as a last resort for those who are a danger to the community. The justice model holds that the juvenile justice system generally has failed to rehabilitate delinquent youth, that delinquent acts are a product of free will rather than of environmental or social influences. Those holding this orientation believe that punishment is more desirable than rehabilitation. Results from the survey are detailed, and implications are examined. A total of 28 notes are included.