NCJ Number
177634
Journal
Lay Panel Magazine Volume: 40 (September 1998) Issue: Dated: Pages: 2-7
Date Published
1998
Length
6 pages
Annotation
As Northern Ireland moves toward the next millennium, the juvenile justice system needs to be revitalized so that it will ensure immediate and appropriate sanctions, provide effective treatment, reverse trends in youth violence, and rebuild public confidence in and support for the system.
Abstract
The revitalized juvenile justice system should first have increased responsiveness. This can be achieved by providing additional referral and dispositional resources to increase system components' ability to identify, process, evaluate, refer, and track offenders. Second, the revitalized juvenile justice system should have increased accountability. Young offenders will be held accountable for their behavior, decreasing the likelihood of their developing into serious, violent, or chronic offenders. The juvenile justice system will be held accountable for controlling serious and chronic delinquency. Communities will be held accountable for providing community-based prevention and treatment programs as well as competency and life-skills development resources for youth. Third, the revitalized juvenile justice system will include increased community involvement. Involving the community in the juvenile justice system makes it more visible, understandable, and effective, thus enabling the system to deliver justice more swiftly and appropriately. Finally, the revitalized juvenile justice system will have increased program effectiveness. Effective intervention in the delinquent and criminal careers of juvenile offenders requires more information about what works best, for whom, and under what circumstances. Follow-up research and rigorous evaluation of programs implemented as a part of this strategy should produce valuable data.