NCJ Number
170895
Date Published
1997
Length
218 pages
Annotation
This book considers the current theories and practices in handling status offenders, i.e., those children who habitually resist the control of their parents and schools.
Abstract
Designed to respond to troubled and troublesome youths, State legislative policies for juvenile offenders are effective at different times for different reasons. This book assesses such policies in terms of three basic and competing philosophies: the so-called treatment, deterrence, and normalization rationales. In examining each approach, the authors address the quality and quantity of response to and for status offenders at local community service outlets in seven cities. By this method the authors determined whether such response practices conform with the ideological thrusts underlying State legislation. The findings of this national study show that agency characteristics, service delivery patterns, and youth clients can indeed reflect the treatment, deterrence, and normalization rationales, but in ways that have little bearing on the dominant viewpoint underlying State legislation. The book devotes special chapters to those minors most likely to slip through the safety net of youth services: chronic runaways and street kids. The book discusses the implications of these findings for legislators and policy makers. Extensive tables, 60 references, and a subject index