Juvenile Justice System Term Paper

juvenile justice system in America. The writer discusses the start of the system and the major changes that have taken place in the system over the past 100 years. There were four sources used to complete this paper.

Following events such as Columbine the American public began to demand a re-evaluation of the juvenile justice system in this nation. What many people do not know is that the American juvenile justice system has undergone many changes over the past 100 years. Those changes have come on the heels of events such as the Columbine shooting, teen rapes, and other violent crimes. They have also been implemented as a proactive step to try and prevent future problems. The past 100 years of the juvenile justice system have seen several major changes in its operation and policy (History of America's Juvenile Justice System (http://www.juvenilejusticefyi.com/history_of_juvenile_justice.html)

History

The problem of juvenile offenders is not new to this society. It is something that authorities and the American public have been dealing with since the turn of the century. There is a long history of trying to walk the line between dealing with juveniles, being ever mindful of their young age, while remembering juveniles can and do commit crimes (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquent System (http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/).

Before 1899 juveniles who committed crimes or were accused of committing crimes were processed through the same system that adults were in. They were sentenced with the same guidelines that adults were sentenced with. By the turn of the century people and authorities began to question the treatment of juveniles when it came to crimes and accusations of crimes. In 1899 the first American juvenile courthouse was opened. It took less than 50 years for the rest of the nation to follow suit and by 1945 every state in America had their own juvenile justice system that included juvenile courts.Like the adult system, throughout most of the 20th century, the juvenile justice system was based upon a medical/rehabilitative model. The original goals of the juvenile court were to investigate, diagnose, and prescribe treatment for offenders, not to adjudicate guilt or fix blame. The court operated under the doctrine of parens patriae that meant that the state would step in and act as a parent on behalf of a misbehaving juvenile. Proceedings were informal and a juvenile court judge had an enormous amount of discretion in the disposition of juvenile cases, much like the discretion afforded judges in adult criminal settings until the 1970s (Innovative Practices in the Criminal And Juvenile Justice Systems Report:

Sentencing - Corrections - Diversion November 1998 (http://www.kci.org/publication/innovative_practices/juvenile_system.htm)."

Some of the major changes that took place during the birth and growth of the juvenile justice system around the nation was the way it handled its cases. The system did not punish as much as it worked at guiding the juveniles to make better choices when they reached adult life. One of the things that was used on a regular basis in the early years involved reformatories. Often called reform schools or reform farms they were set up to house juveniles who had found their way into the system.

The founding theory of reform housing was to keep the juvenile away from bad influences.

Contrary to the underlying theory, throughout the first part of the century, the institutions that housed juveniles were often dangerous and unhealthy places where the state warehoused delinquent, neglected, and abandoned children for indefinite periods. Common problems included lack of medical care, rehabilitation programs, and even food. Some poor conditions persist even today (Innovative Practices in the Criminal And….....