NCJ Number
100012
Date Published
1984
Length
58 pages
Annotation
This study examines the United Kingdom's current policy and practice for submitting school reports on juveniles prior to sentencing, and offers recommendations for improvement.
Abstract
The review of current policy and practice focuses on government policy pertaining to the school report, report form and content, the production of school reports, the liaison between the schools and social services, and the presentation of school reports in court. Overall, the study concludes that inadequate statutory specifications and court rules have produced wide variation in the form, content, and presentation of school reports, thus hampering the dispensing of justice and appropriate treatment for juvenile offenders. Further, there is variance in practice regarding the disclosure of school reports to the involved juveniles and their parents. The study recommends that government policy require the full disclosure of reports and specify guidelines for interagency liaison in preparing school reports. It is also recommended that a standardized format and content be adopted for school reports so that they are relevant to the courts' dispositional decisionmaking. Recommendations also are offered for schools' production of the report and the report's presentation in court. 31-item bibliography.