NCJ Number
113445
Journal
Criminal Justice Policy Review Volume: 2 Issue: 1 Dated: (April 1988) Pages: 80-85
Date Published
1988
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Brodt and Smith's disparagement of a criminal justice structure of incentives and disincentives to promote lawabiding behavior among juveniles defies logic and studies which show that punishment reduces the severity and frequency of crime, and incapacitation prevents offenders from victimizing persons during the incarceration.
Abstract
Brodt and Smith further argue that punishment as a means of reducing chronic juvenile 'street' crime discriminates against the poor and minorities. Being poor and a member of an ethnic minority does not make a juvenile a target of the criminal justice system. Only those juveniles who violate the law draw criminal sanctions, regardless of their economic or ethnic status. Brodt and Smith are right in emphasizing familial and social environment as an important socialization factor in delinquency. Federal, State, and local governments, however, are justifiably limited in the degree to which they can intervene to manage familial and social environments. The best governments can do is provide opportunities and resources for families and individuals to mold their lives and destinies toward socially and personally constructive goals. Excessive government social intervention, however, may do more harm than good. For Brodt and Smith's critique, see NCJ-113444.