NCJ Number
88742
Date Published
1982
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This monograph delineates the juvenile justice system of the Netherlands, cites statistics on the increase in juvenile delinquency over the past 30 years, reviews various currently practiced alternatives to incarceration, and suggests directions for future research and policy change.
Abstract
The discussion notes the emphasis on leniency, child protection, treatment, and education which characterizes the existing system for dealing with juvenile deviants, particularly through various decriminalization, deinstitutionalization, and diversion efforts. It also notes, however, the increasing incidence of juvenile criminal involvement, especially in property crime, and predicts less public tolerance of juvenile delinquency together with a call for stricter law enforcement and severer juvenile justice sanctions. In the future, the juvenile justice system will be called upon to provide assistance to juvenile deviants as before, while assuring the public that control over lawbreakers is being exercised for the protection of society. To meet these conflicting goals without reverting to repression, research should continue into various educative sanctioning possibilities and supervised forms of community-based sentencing measures. A total of 13 references as well as tabular data are provided.