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American Juvenile Justice System
The American juvenile justice system is the primary system used to handle minors who are convicted of criminal offenses. The system is composed of a federal and many separate state, territorial, and local jurisdictions, with states and the federal government sharing sovereign police power under the common authority of the United States Constitution. The juvenile justice system intervenes in delinquent behavior through police, court, and correctional involvement, with the goal of rehabilitation. Youth and their guardians can face a variety of consequences including probation, community service, youth court, youth incarceration and alternative schooling. The juvenile justice system, similar to the adult system, operates from a belief that intervening early in delinquent behavior will deter adolescents from engaging in criminal behavior as adults. History and background Pre-1900 Juvenile delinquency punishments trace back to the Middle Ages when crimes were severely punished by t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juvenile Delinquency In The United States
Juvenile delinquency in the United States refers to crimes committed by children or young people, particularly those under the age of eighteen (or seventeen in some states). Juvenile delinquency has been the focus of much attention since the 1950s from academics, policymakers and lawmakers. Research is mainly focused on the causes of juvenile delinquency and which strategies have successfully diminished crime rates among the youth. Though the causes are debated and controversial, much of the debate revolves around the punishment and rehabilitation of juveniles in a youth detention center or elsewhere. Causes Although juvenile delinquency existed throughout American history, there was an increase of attention on the issue in the 1950s. At this time, such delinquency was attributed to a breakdown in traditional family values and family structures, as well as a rise in consumerism and a distinct teenage culture. More recent research shows that children with incarcerated paren ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deterrence Theory
Deterrence theory refers to the scholarship and practice of how threats or limited force by one party can convince another party to refrain from initiating some other course of action. The topic gained increased prominence as a military strategy during the Cold War with regard to the use of nuclear weapons and is related to but distinct from the concept of mutual assured destruction, which models the preventative nature of full-scale nuclear attack that would devastate both parties in a nuclear war. The central problem of deterrence revolves around how to credibly threaten military action or nuclear punishment on the adversary despite its costs to the deterrer. Deterrence is widely defined as any use of threats (implicit or explicit) or limited force intended to dissuade an actor from taking an action (i.e. maintain the status quo). Deterrence is unlike compellence, which is the attempt to get an actor (such as a state) to take an action (i.e. alter the status quo). Both are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Social Control Theory
In criminology, social control theory proposes that exploiting the process of socialization and social learning builds self-control and reduces the inclination to indulge in behavior recognized as antisocial. It derived from functionalist theories of crime and was developed by Ivan Nye (1958), who proposed that there were three types of control: * Direct: by which punishment is threatened or applied for wrongful behavior, and compliance is rewarded by parents, family, and authority figures. * Indirect: by identification with those who influence behavior, say because his or her delinquent act might cause pain and disappointment to parents and others with whom he or she has close relationships. * Internal: by which a youth refrains from delinquency through the conscience or superego. Definition Social control theory proposes that people's relationships, commitments, values, norms, and beliefs encourage them not to break the law. Thus, if moral codes are internalized and individ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Social Learning Theory
Social learning is a theory of learning process social behavior which proposes that new behaviors can be acquired by observing and imitating others. It states that learning is a cognitive process that takes place in a social context and can occur purely through observation or direct instruction, even in the absence of motor reproduction or direct reinforcement. In addition to the observation of behavior, learning also occurs through the observation of rewards and punishments, a process known as vicarious reinforcement. When a particular behavior is rewarded regularly, it will most likely persist; conversely, if a particular behavior is constantly punished, it will most likely desist. The theory expands on traditional behavioral theories, in which behavior is governed solely by reinforcements, by placing emphasis on the important roles of various internal processes in the learning individual. History and theoretical background In the 1941s, B. F. Skinner delivered a series of lect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Positive Youth Development
Positive youth development (PYD) programs are designed to optimize youth developmental progress. ''Youth.gov'' states that "PYD is an intentional, prosocial approach that engages youth within their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, and families in a manner that is productive and constructive; recognizes, utilizes, and enhances young people’s strengths; and promotes positive outcomes for young people by providing opportunities, fostering positive relationships, and furnishing the support needed to build on their leadership strengths." PYD differs from other approaches to youth in that it rejects an emphasis on trying to correct what is considered wrong with children's behavior or development. Instead, youth development professionals live by the motto originally coined by Karen Pittman, "problem free is not fully prepared" as they work to grow youth into productive members of society. Moreover, seen through a PYD lens, young people are not regarded as "problems to b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Recidivism
Recidivism (; from ''recidive'' and ''ism'', from Latin ''recidīvus'' "recurring", from ''re-'' "back" and ''cadō'' "I fall") is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of that behavior. It is also used to refer to the percentage of former prisoners who are rearrested for a similar offense.Henslin, James. ''Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach'', 2008. The term is frequently used in conjunction with criminal behavior and substance abuse. Recidivism is a synonym for "relapse", which is more commonly used in medicine and in the disease model of addiction. Norway has one of the lowest recidivism rates in the world at 20%. Prisons in Norway and the Norwegian criminal justice system focus on restorative justice and rehabilitating prisoners rather than punishment. United States According to an April 2011 report by the Pew Center on the States, the average national recidivism rate for released prisoner ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Youth Incarceration In The United States
The United States incarcerates more of its youth than any other country in the world through the juvenile courts and the adult criminal justice system, which reflects the larger trends in incarceration practices in the United States. In 2010, approximately 70,800 juveniles were incarcerated in youth detention facilities alone. As of 2006, approximately 500,000 youth were brought to detention centers in a given year. This data does not reflect juveniles tried as adults. As of 2013, around 40% were incarcerated in privatized, for-profit facilities. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act The system that is currently operational in the United States was created under the 1974 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act called for a "deinstitutionalization" of juvenile delinquents. The act required that states holding youth within adult prisons for status offenses remove them within a span of two years (t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
School-to-prison Pipeline
In the United States, the school-to-prison pipeline (SPP), also known as the school-to-prison link, school–prison nexus, or schoolhouse-to-jailhouse track, is the disproportionate tendency of minors and young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds to become incarcerated because of increasingly harsh school and municipal policies. Additionally, this is due to educational inequality in the US. Many experts have credited factors such as school disturbance laws, zero-tolerance policies and practices, and an increase in police in schools in creating the "pipeline". This has become a hot topic of debate in discussions surrounding educational disciplinary policies as media coverage of youth violence and mass incarceration has grown during the early 21st century. In recent years, many have started using the term ''school–prison nexus'' in place of ''school-to-prison pipeline'' to challenge the idea of a unidirectional pipeline that begins in schools in order to show that schools wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zero Tolerance Policies
A zero-tolerance policy in schools is a strict enforcement of regulations and bans against behaviors or the possession of items deemed undesirable by said schools. Public criticism against the enforcement of such policies has arisen due to potential negative consequences when acts deemed intolerable are done in ignorance, by accident, or under extenuating circumstances, in addition to its connection to educational inequality in the United States. In schools, common zero-tolerance policies concern possession or use of illicit drugs or weapons. Students, and sometimes staff, parents, and other visitors, who possess a banned item for any reason are always (if the policy is followed) to be punished. In the United States and Canada, zero-tolerance policies have been adopted in various schools and other education venues. Zero-tolerance policies in the United States became widespread in 1994, after federal legislation required states to expel for one year any student who brought a fir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reform School
A reform school was a penal institution, generally for teenagers mainly operating between 1830 and 1900. In the United Kingdom and its colonies reformatories commonly called reform schools were set up from 1854 onwards for youngsters who were convicted of a crime as an alternative to an adult prison. In parallel, " Industrial schools" were set up for vagrants and children needing protection. Both were 'certified' by the government from 1857, and in 1932 the systems merged and both were 'approved' and became approved schools. Both in the United Kingdom and United States, they came out of social concerns about cities, poverty, immigration, and vagrancy following industrialization, as well as from a shift in society's attitude from retribution, punishing the miscreant to reforming. They were distinct from borstals (1902-1982 UK), which were enclosed juvenile prisons. History Social reformers in America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries almost invariably found fault ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Youth Detention Center
In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC),Stahl, Dean, Karen Kerchelich, and Ralph De Sola. ''Abbreviations Dictionary''. CRC Press, 20011202. Retrieved 23 August 2010. , . juvenile detention, juvenile jail, juvenile hall, or more colloquially as juvie/juvy, also sometimes referred as observation home or remand home is a prison for people under the age of majority, to which they have been sentenced and committed for a period of time, or detained on a short-term basis while awaiting trial or placement in a long-term care program. Juveniles go through a separate court system, the juvenile court, which sentences or commits juveniles to a certain program or facility. Overview Once processed in the juvenile court system there are many different pathways for juveniles. Some juveniles are released directly back into the community to undergo community-based rehabilitative programs, while others juveniles may pose a greater thre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
