NCJ Number
155515
Date Published
1994
Length
234 pages
Annotation
This training package of a videotape and participant's manual informs users about the Teen Court process, its effectiveness, and the levels of commitment required for its implementation; guidance is also provided for developing and implementing a Teen Court in a community.
Abstract
The format for the videotape consists of a moderator questioning the coordinator of the Teen Court in Silver City, N. Mex., before a studio panel composed of representatives of the Teen Court in Lawton, Okla., and representatives of Oklahoma communities interested in having a Teen Court in their communities. Comments by the Silver City representative are interspersed with questions and comments from the panel and a brief video profile of the Silver City Teen Court in action. The Teen Court provides a mechanism that enables first-time juvenile offenders who have committed certain misdemeanor crimes to keep their records clean. Expungement occurs only if the youth participates in the Teen Court process, community service, or other youth prevention-oriented programs. With parental or guardianship consent, youth have already pled guilty prior to appearing before a jury of their peers. In Teen Court, the jury does not determine innocence or guilt; it only assesses sentences. Teen Court is preventive in its approach and philosophy; it aims to educate youth about the consequences of their actions through their involvement in case processing from two perspectives, as an offender and as a participating nonoffender. The video is to be used in conjunction with the exercises provided in the participant's manual. The video is to be stopped at certain indicated times so as to complete the two activities. They involve users in considering the potential impact of a Teen Court in the user's community and key stakeholders needed to implement a Teen Court in the user's community. Appended supplementary materials