1. Chapter 15
The Juvenile Offender

2. The Juvenile Offender
Juvenile Delinquents – minors who violate the law
Status Offenders – those youth who have not broken the law but who commit behaviors forbidden for underage children
Common status offenses include truancy, running away from home, and being incorrigible

3. History of the Juvenile Justice System
Juvenile justice in the United States began in the colonial period and continued English practices.
The only law enforcement officials were town fathers, magistrates, sheriffs, and watchmen
As children got older, however, the likelihood increased that they would be dealt with more harshly by colonial law

4. The Concept of Parens Patriae
parens patriae—A medieval English doctrine that sanctioned the right of the Crown to intervene in natural family relations whatever a child’s welfare was threatened
In 1899 the child saving movement culminated in passage of the Illinois Juvenile Court Act of 1899, which established the nation’s first independent juvenile court
By 1928 almost all states had followed suit

5. Contemporary Juvenile Justice
Within a framework of treatment and rehabilitation, correctional treatments available for juveniles can be divided into two major categories:
Community treatment - efforts to provide care, protection, and treatment for juveniles in need. These efforts include probation, treatment services
Institutional treatment facilities are correctional facilities that restrict the movement of residents through staff monitoring, locked exits, and interior fence controls

6. Similarities between Juvenile and Adult Correctional Systems
Both consist of three basic subsystem and interrelated agencies
The basic vocabulary is the same, and even when it differs the intent is the same
Both systems are under fire to “get tough”
Both must deal with excessive caseloads and institutional overcrowding
Both must deal with underfunding and high staff turnover

7. Juvenile Corrections in the Community
Probation and other forms of community treatment for juvenile offenders emphasize treatment without incarceration
Traditional probation is still the backbone of community-based corrections.
About 400,000 juveniles are placed on formal probation each year, which amounts to more than 60 percent of all juvenile dispositions

8. Duties of the Juvenile Probation Officer
Provide direct counseling and casework services
Interview and collect social service data
Make diagnostic recommendations
Maintain working relationships with law enforcement
Direct volunteer aides

9. Duties of the Juvenile Probation Officer
Write predisposition reports
Work with families of supervised juveniles
Provide specialized services, such as group therapy
Supervise specialized caseloads
Make probation revocation and termination decisions

10. Alternative Community Sanctions for Juveniles
Some juveniles need more intense confinement than can be provided by probation
Residential Community Treatment
Group homes
Family group homes
Wilderness programs
Boot camps
Nonresidential Community Treatment
youths remain in their homes and receive counseling, education, employment, diagnostic, and casework

11. Is Community Treatment Effective?
Some states provide evidence that recidivism is lower when community treatment is utilized
Community-based programs have lower costs and are appropriate for non-violent youth
Public opinion on community corrections remains positive

12. Juvenile Institutions Today: Public and Private
Private facilities are maintained and operated by private agencies funded or chartered by state authorities
There are almost 100,000 juvenile offenders being held in public (69 %) and private (31 %) facilities in the U. S.
Some states incarcerate at a much higher rate than others

13. Institutionalized Juveniles
The typical resident is a 17-year-old white male incarcerated for a period of 3.5 months
Racial inequality is a growing issue within juvenile institutions
Gender Issues
Males make up the majority of institutionalized offenders
The rate of female offenders incarcerated in rapidly increasing

14. Institutionalized Juveniles
Institutional treatment for juveniles
Counseling
Vocational and educational training
Recreational programs
Religious counseling
The legal right to treatment
Inmates of Boy’s training School v. Affleck
Pena v. New York State Division for Youth
Ralston v. Robinson

15. Juvenile Aftercare and Reentry
Is the equivalent of parole in the adult criminal justice system
Juveniles in aftercare programs are supervised by parole caseworkers/counselors who maintain contact with the juvenile, ensure the corrections plan is followed, and show interest and caring

16. Intensive Aftercare Program (IAP)
Preparing youth for progressively increased responsibility and freedom in the community
Facilitating youth-community interaction and involvement
Working with both the offender and targeted community support systems (families, peers, schools, employers) on qualities needed for constructive interaction and the youth’s successful community adjustment

17. Intensive Aftercare Program (IAP)
Developing new resources and supports where needed
Monitoring and testing the youth and the community on their ability to deal with each other productively

18. Waiver to the Adult Court
Juveniles can be transferred to adult court by:
a judicial waiver by a juvenile judge;
prosecutorial discretion in jurisdictions that give prosecutors the authority to try juveniles in either juvenile or adult courts; or
statutorial exclusion in those states that automatically transfer juveniles who commit certain offenses to adult court

19. Youths in Adult Prisons
About 4,000 juveniles are sent to adult prison each year.
Providing for the special needs of juveniles in adult prisons poses a serious problem.
Youthful offenders often feel overwhelmed by older and more aggressive offenders