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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this article by Regnery was to examine the various efforts of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to enact juvenile justice reform.
METHODOLOGY:
This was a non-experimental explanatory study, conducted by the head of the OJJDP, as an explanation of what the Office is attempting to achieve in the area of juvenile delinquency prevention and justice reform.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The OJJDP has undergone a change in focus, with many new programmatic elements reflecting its emphasis on reforming juvenile justice and delinquency prevention. The primary concern of the Office now lies with the serious juvenile offender, with an emphasis on crime as a justice problem. This focus is justified by the fact that about a third of all serious crime is committed by youth, with as much as 80% of that crime being committed by no more than 10% of the juvenile population. In about 80% of the cases of the chronic offender, early family violence was present. In the near future, half of all Americans will have grown up in broken homes, with many millions of children needing psychiatric intervention. As the traditional family collapses, sick and abnormal children often become involved in juvenile delinquency and subsequent adult crime. Every year, about 1.5 million children run away from home. Most return, but the 10% that are never accounted for are often in danger of physical, sexual or criminal exploitation. More than half of those who run away have a history of child physical or sexual abuse within their families.The OJJDP did not believe that the government of the time, the Reagan administration, could solve these problems. Some of the things that can be done, are being done. Increased public awareness of the problems facing youth is a major strategy, with investigative commissions led by the Department of Justice also helping to ascertain the causes of juvenile delinquency and victimization. The targeted prosecution of habitual, serious and violent juvenile offenders is aimed at making the worst of the offenders accountable for their deeds, and is apparently succeeding. The OJJDP also recognizes, however, that the juvenile justice system requires much improvement - as most juveniles will soon return to their communities from behind bars, efforts are being made to improve the correctional system through the private sector. Private facilities for serious juvenile offenders are based upon the notion of hard work, accountability and responsibility for one's actions, and education, all as methods of preparing the individual for a successful return to the community. OJJDP is also establishing a system whereby volunteers are used to represent abused and neglected children in family courts, and to insure that judicial decisions are based upon thorough and accurate information. A program of restitution has been established, for offenders to pay back their victims for stolen or destroyed property. A National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has been set up to help study this phenomenon and return missing children to their homes. The National School Safety Center aims to restore American schools to the role of a safe place of learning, and to promote school crime and violence prevention programs. In an effort to maintain knowledge of the latest ideas about juvenile justice policy issues, the OJJDP has been working with Harvard University to examine alternatives to traditional approaches to delinquency. The OJJDP is re-examining the traditional notion that it is often the offender who is the victim. This guiding force behind juvenile justice systems can no longer work - it has been accepted that the juvenile offender, like his adult counterpart, acts upon the basis of a rational decision. The juvenile offender must be held accountable, and justice must be served. A committee of juvenile justice practitioners and professionals has been put to work drafting a new model for the juvenile justice system. Children have a right to grow up in an environment that can teach them how to be productive members of society. The courts must intervene to help children achieve this right, and to stop the cycle of violence that often hampers normal development into adulthood.
AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS:
The author claimed that we must learn about the factors that lead youth to acts of delinquency, although these factors cannot be used to excuse behavior - offenders must be held accountable to society for their actions. Legislatures must be called upon to restore justice and order to the community, by returning to traditional values - by holding juvenile offenders accountable and by punishing them where appropriate.
EVALUATION:
The author, administrator of the OJJDP, provides an interesting insight into the workings of his office. The ideological rationale for justice system reform - the accountability of offenders - can be seen throughout the work, which is written in a concise and clear manner. However, it would have been valuable to have had a more thorough examination of some of the programs implemented by the OJJDP, as well as an examination of some of the research that may have acted as a foundation for the prevailing ideology or as an empirical justification for the implementation of various programs. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - Juvenile Offender
KW - Juvenile Delinquency
KW - Juvenile Crime
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Juvenile Justice System
KW - Juvenile Court
KW - Correctional Decision Making
KW - Policy
KW - Federal Government
KW - Justice System Reform
KW - Violence Prevention
KW - Violence Causes
KW - Crime Causes
KW - Crime Prevention
KW - Offender Punishment
KW - Offender Treatment
KW - Crime Intervention
KW - Crime Treatment
KW - Violence Intervention
KW - Violence Treatment
KW - Delinquency Intervention
KW - Delinquency Treatment
KW - Offender Rehabilitation |