NCJ Number
86616
Journal
Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 33 Issue: 3 Dated: (August 1982) Pages: 47-52
Date Published
1982
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The 1899 reform that produced the juvenile justice system ('child savers') evolved from a number of social phenomena. The 1960's reform that emphasized diversion and deinstitutionalization for juveniles ('child advocates') was due largely to the failure of the juvenile justice system to provide appropriate remedies for problem juvenile behavior.
Abstract
A combination of forces that included industrialization, immigration, compulsory education, child labor laws, an emerging female middle class, and the reform movement culminated in the Illinois Juvenile Court Act of 1899, which created the first statewide juvenile court. It brought under governmental control youthful activities previously ignored or handled informally. The reform was largely the effort of middle-class females who used the power positions of their husbands to structure the implementation of middle-class values and institutions among youth perceived as deviant. The child advocacy of the 1960's was a response to the failure of the juvenile justice system to provide appropriate remedies for problem juvenile behavior. Child advocacy has emphasized diversion from formal court processing; the deinstitutionalization of juveniles, particularly status offenders; and the application of due process principles to juvenile court procedures. Both of these reform movements emphasize social change through governmental regulation that has resulted in a 'net widening' effect and a creation of new categories of youthful misbehavior which had previously been handled informally. Real change in the fundamental way deviant youth are approached has not resulted. The middle-class still seek to control youth whose behavior is not supportive of middle-class values. Twenty-eight notes are listed.