NCJ Number
51278
Journal
Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 29 Issue: 3 Dated: (AUGUST 1978) Pages: 9-15
Date Published
1978
Length
7 pages
Annotation
IT IS ARGUED THAT JUVENILE JUSTICE IS INDEED A SYSTEM AND THAT SYSTEMS ANALYSIS CAN BE USED TO IMPROVE BOTH THE TOTAL SYSTEM AND EACH COMPONENT. TECHNIQUES FOR SUCH ANALYSIS ARE SUGGESTED.
Abstract
IT IS POSTULATED THAT, CONTRARY TO OPINIONS OF SOME OTHER AUTHORS, THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM IS A TRUE SYSTEM AND THAT THE ACTIONS OF ANY ONE COMPONENT AFFECT THE OPERATIONS OF ANOTHER. THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS AMONG POLICE, COURTS, AND CORRECTIONS ARE BRIEFLY REVIEWED. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE CURRENT PRACTICE OF ALLOCATING MONEY TO POLICE WITHOUT CORRESPONDING ALLOCATIONS TO COURTS AND CORRECTIONS HAS CAUSED GREAT PROBLEMS. FLOW CHARTS AND DISCUSSION ILLUSTRATE THE USE OF SYSTEMS ANALYSIS TO EXAMINE THE CLIENT-SYSTEM INTERACTION, SUBSYSTEM PATTERNS, AND SUBSYSTEM INTERRELATIONSHIPS. IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT A DATA BASE BE DEVELOPED TO MONITOR CHANGES IN THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM, AND THIS DATA USED AS THE BASIS FOR NEED ASSESSMENTS, PROGRAM DESIGNS, AND PREDICTION MODELS. A LIST OF 14 QUESTIONS WHICH SHOULD BE ASKED IN A SYSTEMS ANALYSIS OF JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM ARE GIVEN. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT SYSTEMATIC EVALUATION OF YOUTH SERVICES DOES NOT EXIST IN MOST COMMUNITIES. STATEWIDE EVALUATION AND ANALYSIS IS CALLED THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO DEVELOP IMPROVED METHODS FOR HANDLING YOUNG OFFENDERS. TWO FIGURES ILLUSTRATE THE SYSTEMS MODEL. REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (GLR)