NCJ Number
176711
Journal
Community Corrections Report on Law and Corrections Practice Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: November/December 1998 Pages: 3-4-16
Date Published
1998
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article suggests a new paradigm for juvenile probation that encompasses juvenile delinquency prevention.
Abstract
Although juvenile probation has traditionally associated itself with corrections rather than prevention, case management and supervision for the purpose of rehabilitation has a prevention element, as the goal of probation is to prevent the probationer from engaging in future delinquent behavior. The primary change in incorporating a delinquency prevention paradigm into probation would be the targeting of at-risk groups and not just individual probationers. The probation officers would thus become involved with individuals who have no direct or even indirect relationship to the traditional domain of probation. Recent experience in New Jersey illustrates the implementation of this paradigm. Working in partnership with the local police and other community agencies, probation officers have become a visible presence in inner-city neighborhoods in the evenings. The chief probation officer has been receiving requests for assistance from parents whose children are not on probation. Other citizens, with no connection to probation, have written requesting a probation presence in their neighborhoods. In Operation Nightlight in Boston, probation officers team with police officers to patrol high-crime areas, looking for juveniles on probation who are out on the streets. The probation officer is looking to prevent new incidents as much as seeking to enforce the law and the court order. Moving from the traditional juvenile probation model to one that features prevention will require, in addition to a paradigm shift, a significant policy and resource shift. With falling crime rates, it might be possible to shift some resources from the traditional punishment and incarceration model. Also, a shift to prevention activities and programs will require staff training and a clear statement of program policies and procedures. 17 references