NCJ Number
65359
Date Published
1980
Length
18 pages
Annotation
CRITICAL ISSUES IN JUVENILE DELINQUENCY PREVENTION AND TREATMENT ARE EXAMINED FROM THREE THEORETICAL APPROACHES--LIBERAL, RADICAL, AND CONSERVATIVE--AND COMPROMISE STRATEGIES ARE SUGGESTED.
Abstract
SOCIAL POLICIES ARE FORMULATED BY POLITICIANS WHO MAY CONSIDER THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF SOCIAL SCIENTISTS. SOCIAL POLICIES DEALING WITH JUVENILE DELINQUENCY ARE DIVIDED INTO PREVENTIVE STRATEGIES AND PROGRAMS CONCERNED WITH TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION OF DELINQUENTS. BASED ON 19TH CENTURY REFORM MOVEMENTS, THE LIBERAL APPROACH HAS BEEN WIDESPREAD AND MOST INFLUENTIAL IN THE TREATMENT OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS. THIS TREND HAS BEEN CHARACTERIZED BY A PROTECTIVE ORIENTATION AND RELIANCE ON PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERPRETATIONS OF CRIME CAUSES AS EVIDENCED IN RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT CENTERS AND DIVERSION PROGRAMS. RADICAL CRIMINOLOGISTS ARE VERY CRITICAL OF THIS APPROACH; THEY CLAIM THAT THE CAUSES OF DELINQUENCY ARE ROOTED NOT IN THE INDIVIDUAL BUT IN THE CAPITALIST SYSTEM. POLITICAL ACTIVISM CHARACTERIZES RADICAL CRIMINOLOGISTS, WHO GENERALLY ADVOCATE COMMUNITY CONTROL AND DECENTRALIZATION. CONSERVATIVES PROPOSE A RETURN TO THE RETRIBUTIVE PRINCIPLE OF JUSTICE AND PROMOTE DETERMINATE SENTENCING AND INCARCERATION. WHILE NONE OF THESE APPROACHES ARE WITHOUT DRAWBACKS, SOME COMPROMISE STRATEGIES COULD COMBINE BENEFITS OF ALL OF THEM. SOME MODERATES HAVE SUGGESTED BASIC POLICY CHANGES TO REDUCE JUVENILE DELINQUENCY WITHOUT OVERHAULING THE ENTIRE SOCIAL SYSTEM. THE CHANGES WOULD FOCUS ON DEVELOPING A JUVENILE'S POSITIVE SELF-IMAGE AND SECURING A COMMITMENT TO CONFORMING BEHAVIOR. IMPLEMENTATION WOULD BE THROUGH COMMUNITY PROGRAMS TO GIVE JUVENILES MORE STATUS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESPONSIBILITY. NOTES AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED.