Juvenile Justice - Before and After the Onset of Delinquency - United States Discussion Paper for the Sixth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders

• NCJ Number: 73449
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 81 pages
• Corporate Author: US Dept of Justice
• Sale Source: Superintendent of Documents, GPO; National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Best Practice/State-of-the-Art Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper assesses current practices in the juvenile justice field against the backdrop of priorities the U.S. Congress set forth in the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act of 1974.

Abstract

The JJDP Act established the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) within the U.S. Department of Justice and mandated major reforms in current practices relating to the administration of juvenile justice. Following a brief history of the JJDP Act, discussion focuses on compliance with the act's provisions requiring separation of juveniles from adults in incarcerative settings, as well as deinstitutionalization of nonoffenders. A summary of the status of the jail removal amendment is also provided. Next, delinquency prevention is discussed, with particular emphasis on self-reported delinquency, victimization, official records, and special studies. A consideration of the juvenile justice system examines court handling, correctional handling (use of jails and police lockups, detention and institutionalization, and juveniles in adult prisons), and handling of particular categories of youth (status offenders, serious offenders, and minorities). In addition, alternatives to juvenile justice system processing are reviewed, especially community-based corrections. Finally, an examination of current juvenile justice issues and concerns encompasses such areas as deinstitutionalization, serious juvenile crime, and removal of juveniles from jails and police lockups. Other areas discussed are minorities in the juvenile justice system, role of the juvenile court, role of corrections, and waiver of juveniles to adult court. This final section also reviews due process, return of juvenile justice to the juvenile system of justice, standards implementation and model legislation development, and delinquency prevention. Footnotes are included. An appendix describes the structure of the OJJDP, and major program activities are summarized with available results.