NCJ Number
131558
Journal
Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: (1991) Pages: 377-396
Date Published
1991
Length
20 pages
Annotation
The juvenile justice system became more punitive and oriented to incarceration in the 1980's than it had been in the 1970's and needs Federal policy leadership as well as efforts to reduce racial and gender disparities in juvenile incarceration.
Abstract
During the 1970's, many national groups determined that the most effective means of protecting the public safety and reducing the impact of juvenile crime would involve prevention and community-based intervention, together with minimal use of institutionalization. These groups overwhelming agreed that training schools and other secure facilities should be reserved for chronic or violent offenders and that very young and less-serious offenders should be supervised in non-institutional and community-based programs. However, national rates of juvenile incarceration have stayed almost the same during the past decade, and many states began using incarceration increasingly often for less-serious offenders despite the lack of a national juvenile crime wave. Crucial issues now needing attention include the disproportionate incarceration of minorities and females, public misconceptions about the juvenile crime problem, and the need for Federal leadership in juvenile justice policy. Footnotes