NCJ Number
82605
Journal
Adolescence Volume: 17 Issue: 65 Dated: (Spring 1982) Pages: 141-152
Date Published
1982
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article examines the juvenile court system in the United States and traces its history and philosophy.
Abstract
It goes on to question the concept of 'juvenile delinquency' and the validity of such a concept, and looks at the 'status' offender. The article presents figures and statistics which pose questions involving the efficacy of the juvenile justice system and its treatment of the young and concludes by presenting some measures which have been suggested by studies set up to establish uniform standards relating to treatment of the young. ... The official delinquent, as distinguished from the juvenile who simply commits a delinquent act, is the product of social judgment ... He (she) is a delinquent because someone in authority has defined him (her) as one, often on the basis of the public face he (she) has presented ... rather than the kind of offense he(she) has committed. There is evidence, in fact, that ... the child receives the worst of both worlds: that he (she) gets neither the protections accorded to adults nor the solicitous and regenerative treatment postulated for children. (Publisher abstract)