NCJ Number
73722
Date Published
1980
Length
55 pages
Annotation
Representatives from the Government, social service agencies, corrections department, and the academic profession examined dispositional alternatives for juvenile offenders in the United Kingdom at a 1980 conference.
Abstract
The opening address by the Undersecretary of State for Health and Personal Social Services emphasized the Government's commitment to introducing residential care orders to deal with persistent offenders by placing them in community or foster homes. Stating that supervision orders have lost credibility, he also proposed a coordinated approach to juvenile delinquency from correctional and social services agencies. Responding to these comments, a social service director and a probation officer concurred that the supervisory order was inoperative and discussed other correction approaches, such as contract orders and intermediate care facilities. The second major speech by a psychiatric social worker criticized the 1969 Children and Young Persons Act and proposed reforms in the juvenile justice system which would differentiate between offenders and nonoffenders and give juveniles procedural rights. A rebuttal from a social worker followed. The third address to the conference given by a university lecturer and researcher described the diverse incarceration policies among local jurisdictions and reviewed research studies on costs, effects, and programs in juvenile institutions. A bibliography accompanies this paper. In reply, a representative from a residential care association discussed the need for a code of standards governing residential facilities and highly trained staff. Finally, the conference chairman reviewed the proceedings and noted that major areas of concern included the need for legislative changes in supervision orders, unrest over residential orders, the failure to reduce borstal and detention center populations, and the effect of any reforms on the 1969 Act. Summaries of the discussions which followed the major speeches are provided.