NCJ Number
184944
Date Published
1999
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This chapter argues that America's juvenile justice system is failing and reforms continue to be stymied by the opposition of those juvenile justice professionals who operate the current system.
Abstract
The burgeoning rate of serious juvenile crime is evidence that America's juvenile justice system is failing to do its job. The failure of the juvenile justice system is exacerbated by demographic trends and the growth of what criminologist John J. DiIulio calls "moral poverty." Ultimately, however, the failure can be traced to systemic defects in the country's century-old juvenile justice system; not only has the treatment model on which it is based always been unjust and ineffectual, but it is also incapable of responding to the level of serious and violent juvenile crime currently being experienced in the United States. The problem will become even worse in the next 10 to 15 years. America's current juvenile justice system must be fundamentally reformed, but reform has been and will continue to be obstructed by the opposition of those juvenile justice professionals who operate the current system and have a vested interest in its perpetuation. It is the unwillingness of juvenile court judges and other juvenile justice professionals to relinquish their discretion and to account publicly for their actions that stands in the way of fundamental reform that would ensure dispositions are closely linked to the nature of the delinquent acts and to the need of juveniles to be held accountable for the specific consequences of their acts. 2 tables, 7 notes, and 56 references