NCJ Number
161000
Date Published
1995
Length
1245 pages
Annotation
This volume presents a history of the juvenile justice system and details juvenile laws, major cases, judicial decisions, and procedural issues during the past 30 years.
Abstract
The historical overview explains the origins of the juvenile court, the classical model of human nature, the common law status of children, developments during the early and mid-19th century. and the creation of the juvenile court. An analysis of the police role in juvenile justice focuses on order maintenance, service, police discretion, the police response to serious juvenile crime, the decision to take a juvenile suspect in custody, legal controls governing investigations and arrests of juveniles, low- visibility interactions between police and juveniles, and the police role in juvenile delinquency prevention. Further chapters explain the preadjudicatory phase of the juvenile justice process, including juvenile diversion, juvenile detention, and juvenile court waivers; juvenile court procedures; and disposition decisions, juvenile sanctions, and the juvenile correctional system. Recurring themes and emerging issues related to the rights of minors are also discussed, including juvenile capital punishment, child abuse, foster care, adoption, psychiatric commitment, and the withholding of medical treatment on religious grounds. Footnotes, index, and 35 references