NCJ Number
67200
Date Published
1979
Length
303 pages
Annotation
THE REPORT EXAMINES THE IMPACT OF NEW JERSEY'S 1974 JUVENILE CODE WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO STATUS OFFENDERS.
Abstract
SAMPLES OF JUVENILES PROCESSED BY THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN 1973 WERE ANALYZED AND COMPARED TO A SAMPLE OF JUVENILES FROM 1975. CASE DATA WERE COLLECTED FROM SELECTED JUVENILE JUSTICE AGENCIES IN SIX COUNTIES ON OFFENSES, JUDICIAL PROCESSING DECISIONS, PRIOR INVOLVEMENT WITH THE LAW, AND PERSONAL AND SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS. INTERVIEWS WERE ALSO CONDUCTED WITH 40 PROFESSIONALS INVOLVED IN THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT PROVISION OF THE NEW CODE WAS THE CREATION OF THE JUVENILES IN NEED OF SUPERVISION (JINS) CLASSIFICATION AND PROHIBITION AGAINST PLACING JINS IN SECURE DETENTION FACILITIES AND TRAINING SCHOOLS. COMPLIANCE WITH THIS ASPECT OF THE LAW HAS BEEN VIRTUALLY UNIVERSAL, AND 20 JINS SHELTERS HAVE BEEN CREATED. THE LAW HAD THE GREATEST IMPACT ON FEMALES, SINCE PRIOR TO 1974, MOST JINS TYPE OFFENDERS IN TRAINING SCHOOLS WERE GIRLS. IN 1975 POLICE REFERRED MORE JINS TO SOCIAL SERVICES THAN TO COURTS, BUT THE CODE HAD NO EFFECT ON THE RATES OF TEMPORARY CUSTODY. JINS WERE STILL MORE THAN TWICE AS LIKELY AS DELINQUENTS TO BE HELD IN TEMPORARY CUSTODY. AN ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN JINS AND DELINQUENT OFFENDERS SHOWED THAT MOST DELINQUENTS WERE MALE WHILE JINS WERE EVENLY SPLIT BETWEEN THE SEXES. NO DIFFERENCES IN ETHNICITY AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS WERE OBSERVED, BUT JINS WERE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE A HISTORY OF EMOTIONAL AND FAMILY PROBLEMS. ONCE A JINS WAS REFERRED TO COURT BY THE POLICE, THE CASE WAS LIKELY TO RECEIVE MORE STRINGENT TREATMENT THAN THAT OF DELINQUENTS. FEMALE JINS ARE MORE FREQUENTLY SUBJECTED TO CUSTODY, PROBATION, AND TREATMENT REQUIREMENTS THAN MALES. THE NEW CODE DID NOT ALTER THESE PATTERNS. THE STUDY CITED SEVERAL FACTORS IN THIS INEQUITABLE PROCESSING, INCLUDING PARENT-SIGNED COMPLAINTS, A DOUBLE STANDARD OF BEHAVIOR FOR MALE AND FEMALE JINS, AND JURISDICTIONAL DIFFERENCES. SINCE MOST JINS'S PROBLEMS STEM FROM FAMILY DYSFUNCTION, THESE OFFENDERS DO NOT BELONG IN EITHER THE COURTS OR THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM. BEFORE JINS CAN BE REMOVED FROM THE JUVENILE COURTS, HOWEVER, TEMPORARY SHELTER CARE MUST BE PROVIDED. ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE WOULD BE LIMITING JUDICIAL INVOVEMENT OVER JINS, BUT PROVIDING SERVICES TO PARENTS WHO HAVE PROBLEMS CONTROLLING THEIR CHILDREN. TABLES SUMMARIZE STATISTICAL DATA THROUGHOUT THE TEXT. THE APPENDIXES CONTAIN NEW JERSEY'S JUVENILE CODE AND THE DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS. REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (MJM)