Juvenile Probation on the Eve of the Next Millennium (From Juvenile Delinquency in the United States and the United Kingdom, P 115-138, 1999, Gary L. McDowell and Jinney S. Smith, eds. -- See NCJ-184940)

• NCJ Number: 184947
• Author(s): Ronald P. Corbett Jr.
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 24 pages
• Sale Source: St. Martin's Press
• Publication Format: Book (Hardbound)
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

After reviewing the scope of the work of juvenile probation and current trends in juvenile crime, this chapter considers what has been learned about successful correctional interventions and how these lessons can be applied to juvenile probation; a new model of juvenile justice is then proposed.

Abstract

Trends within the juvenile probation system are ominous. The number of delinquency petitions increased by 23 percent between 1989 and 1993, leading to a 21-percent increase in probation caseloads. At the same time, there has been no concomitant increase in resources provided to the juvenile courts, although the public demand for accountability and intensive treatment of juveniles before the courts has become pronounced. More worrisome still is the worsening profile of the juveniles coming before the courts; however, during 1995, for the first time in 10 years, the rate of juvenile homicide decreased for the second year in a row, by 15.2 percent. The rate of murders by juveniles is still high, and as the number of teenagers increases over the next several years, it will take hard work and good fortune to sustain the current downward trend in violent juvenile crime. Meta-analysis has found four common features of effective corrections programs. First, they are intensive and behavioral. Second, they target high-risk offenders and criminogenic needs. Third, treatment modalities and counselors must be matched with individual offender types; and fourth, they provide prosocial contexts and activities and emphasize advocacy and brokerage. Some recent efforts in juvenile corrections have included intensive probation supervision, a focus on violent offenders, the use of juvenile boot camp, and juvenile transfer to adult courts. Although these strategies have resulted in cost savings compared to incarceration, there is no evidence that they have significantly reduced juvenile recidivism. The proposed model of juvenile justice has five steps: Let research drive policy; emphasize early intervention; emphasize the paying of just debts; make probation character-building; and prioritize violence prevention. 34 references