NCJ Number
247579
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 78 Issue: 1 Dated: June 2014 Pages: 44-47
Date Published
June 2014
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article examines changes that have occurred in the criminal justice system since the 1934 publication of "500 Delinquent Women."
Abstract
In 1934, a study on female offenders entitle "500 Delinquent Women" was published by two researchers, Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck. In that publication the Glueck's made a number of recommendations for addressing and improving four areas of the criminal justice system as it relates to female offenders: the community, the administration of justice, the reformatory, and parole. This article examines changes that have occurred in the criminal justice system since the publication of the document and compares these changes to the recommendations made by the Gluecks. Recommendations for the community include the need to support at-risk families in order to prevent delinquency and the establishment of community councils to harness community resources to prevent delinquency. Administration of justice recommendations included establishing professionally staffed crime prevention units to curb the development of delinquent centers within the community, the development of specialized courts for dealing with female offenders, the use of indeterminate sentencing for most offenders, and the use of predictive instruments assessing different types of offenders. Reformatory recommendations included changing the physical structure of the facility as well as its daily regime, implementing treatment programs as a way to reform offenders. The recommendation for improving parole for delinquent women centered on improving parole supervision and having parole agents follow family casework practices. As the article points out, some of these recommendations have been implemented in today's criminal justice system while others have not. References