Juvenile Justice In America / Edition 8

by Clemens Bartollas, Stuart Miller

Overview

An in-depth look at juvenile justice, from the perspective of offenders, victims, and field professionals
Juvenile Justice in America provides an in-depth look at the lives of juveniles, their experiences in society, and the consequences of those experiences. Through a balance of theory, evidence-based findings, and practical applications, the text carefully examines the structures, procedures, policies, and problems of American juvenile justice today. The 8th edition places further emphasis on delinquency prevention and expands coverage of juvenile offender populations.
Juvenile Justice in America, 8th Edition, is also available via Revel^®, an interactive learning environment that enables students to read, practice, and study in one continuous experience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780134163758
Publisher:	Pearson Education
Publication date:	01/04/2016
Series:	REVEL
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Clemens Bartollas, PhD, is professor of sociology at the University of Northern Iowa. He holds a BA from Davis and Elkins College, a BD from Princeton Theological Seminary, an STM from San Francisco Theological Seminary and a PhD in sociology, with a special emphasis on criminology, from The Ohio State University. Dr. Bartollas taught at Pembroke State University from 1973 to 1975, at Sangamon State University from 1975 to 1980 and at the University of Northern Iowa from 1981 to the present. He has received honors at the University of Northern Iowa, including Distinguished Scholar, the Donald McKay Research Award and the Regents’ Award for Faculty Excellence. Dr. Bartollas, like his coauthor, is also the author of numerous articles and more than 30 books, including previous editions of Juvenile Delinquency (Allyn & Bacon, 2006), Juvenile Justice in America (with Stuart J. Miller; Prentice Hall, 2011) and Women and the Criminal Justice System (with Katherine Stuart van Wormer; Prentice Hall, 2011).

Matthew Makarios, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology at the University of Northern Iowa. He received his BA in criminology from the University of Minnesota Duluth, his MA in criminal justice from Washington State University, and his PhD in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati.

Read an Excerpt

Juvenile justice is part of a broader human rights movement that is concerned with far more than society's response to juvenile lawbreaking. Indeed, as globalization, urbanization, industrialization, and worldwide communications increase, the world's attention increasingly is directed to the plight of all children, regardless of circumstances. This concern is extremely late in coming. Approximately one-half of the world's population today is age fifteen or younger, and the magnitude of the problems these youths face is staggering. Poverty, racism, sexism, ethnocentrism, and religious differences all influence how children are treated. The reality is that in many societies, children are considered to be economic hindrances and expendable. Local, municipal, state, provincial, territorial, and national governments often lump together the needy, the dependent and neglected, the status offender, the mentally ill, the violent, and the victim of abuse. These children are discriminated against, victimized, persecuted, and sometimes executed by citizens, police, and paramilitary forces. The problems youths face go to the core of cultural thinking, far beyond the needs of societies simply to fine-tune agencies and rules for the handling of youths in need.

English-speaking countries such as the United States provide many of the ideals that are behind current world efforts to reform the world's approach to juvenile justice. Unfortunately, even world leaders often fall far short of their own ideals. In this regard, the United States is an excellent case study of what is and what could be in juvenile justice in the world today.

Our primary purpose in this text is to explore and define theimportant components of and debates over juvenile justice in the United States. Some believe that juvenile justice involves only a study of the early processing bf juvenile offenders; others state that the processing of any or all who come through the juvenile justice system should come under the purview of juvenile justice. Because the authors regard the basic focus of juvenile justice as the control, correction, and treatment of both juvenile offenders and the other groups mentioned, we have accepted the latter definition.

We judge that the history and philosophy of juvenile justice, the processing of youths, the detention of juveniles, and the diversion of youths from the juvenile justice system should all be included in discussing juvenile justice. We are committed, moreover, to depicting the fascinating and sometimes tragic world of the juvenile offender, to describing the jobs and problems of practitioners in the justice system who work with youths, and to addressing important issues inherent in juvenile justice. This new edition includes two new chapters, Chapters 3 and 13. The former focuses on explanations for why juveniles become involved in illegal behaviors; the latter, on juveniles' participation in youth gangs and urban street gangs. Other important new features of this text are more emphases on the balanced and restorative justice model, on updating juvenile sentencing structures, on expanding prevention programs for juveniles and boot camps, on developing an understanding of and treatment for sex offenders, and on revealing more on how participants in the juvenile justice system do their jobs. There continue to be frequent glimpses into the mind and perspective of the youthful offender, a portrayal of the emerging trends of juvenile justice and an examination of the risk control and crime reduction measures in probation and aftercare.

This book begins with an overview of the juvenile justice system, with a special emphasis on the challenges facing juvenile justice in the twenty-first century. Chapter 2 presents an empirical profile on youth crime, derived from the main official and unofficial measurement of crime. Chapter 3 examines the causes of juvenile crime, ranging from the perspective that the origins of delinquent behaviors arise from rationality to that of viewing juveniles as biologically, psychologically, or sociologically determined in what they do. Chapter 4 discusses the role of the police in preventing and controlling youth crime. Chapters 5 and 6 are concerned with the background, legal norms, stages of decision making, trial process, and personnel of the juvenile court. Chapter 7 shifts to the types of experiences that await the juvenile who is transferred to the adult court. Chapters 8, 9, and 10 focus on community-based corrections, including probation and aftercare services and residential programs. Chapter 11 presents the structures and programming of short- and long-term confinement of juveniles. Chapter 12 examines treatment of youthful offenders in both community-based and institutional settings. Chapter 13 presents a portrayal of the juvenile who becomes involved in a youth gang or in an urban street gang. Chapter 14 discusses the various types of youthful offenders. In Chapter 15, we introduce the Beijing Rules, the model juvenile justice code for the world, which provide a basis for the chapter. We discuss how juveniles are handled in three English-speaking countries, Canada, England, and Australia, as well as juvenile justice in four countries from other areas of the world with distinctive problems. Chapter 16 summarizes the text and predicts what juvenile justice will look like in forthcoming decades of the twenty-first century.

Although no one is totally value-free, every attempt has been made to be fair and provide a balanced presentation of the juvenile justice system. Before juvenile justice can develop more just systems and a more humane present and future for juveniles, its characteristics, procedures, policies, and problems must be carefully examined. This is the task of this text.

Table of Contents

1. Juvenile Justice
2. The Extent and Nature of Juvenile Crime
3. Causes of Juvenile Crime
4. Gender and Juvenile Justice
5. The Prevention of Delinquency
6. The Police
7. The Juvenile Court
8. Juveniles in Adult Court
9. Community Corrections
10. Juvenile Institutionalization
11. Juvenile Aftercare
12. Treatment Technologies
13. Juvenile Gangs
14. Drugs and Delinquency
15. Juvenile Justice in the Twenty-First Century

Preface

PREFACE:

Preface

Juvenile justice is part of a broader human rights movement that is concerned with far more than society's response to juvenile lawbreaking. Indeed, as globalization, urbanization, industrialization, and worldwide communications increase, the world's attention increasingly is directed to the plight of all children regardless of circumstances. This concern is extremely late in coming. Approximately one-half of the world's population today is age 15 or younger, and the magnitude of the problems these youths face is staggering. Poverty, racism, sexism, ethnocentrism, and religious differences all influence how children are treated. The reality is that in many societies, children are considered to be economic hindrances and expendable. Local, municipal, state, provincial, territorial, and national governments often lump together the needy, the dependent and neglected, the status offender, the mentally ill, the violent, and the victim of abuse. These children are discriminated against, victimized, persecuted, and sometimes executed by citizens, police, and paramilitary forces. The problems youths face go to the core of cultural thinking, far beyond the needs of societies simply to fine tune agencies and rules for the handling of youths in need.

English-speaking countries such as the United States provide many of the ideals that are behind current world efforts to reform the world's approach to juvenile justice. Unfortunately, even world leaders often fall far short of their own ideals. In this regard, the United States is an excellent case study of what is and what could be in juvenile justice in the world today.

Our primarypurposein this text is to explore and define the important components of and debates over juvenile justice in the United States. Some believe that juvenile justice involves only a study of the early processing of juvenile offenders; others state that the processing of any or all who come through the juvenile justice system should come under the purview of juvenile justice. Because the authors regard the basic focus of juvenile justice as the control, correction, and treatment of both juvenile offenders and the other groups mentioned, we have accepted the latter definition.

We judge that the history and philosophy of juvenile justice, the processing of youths, the detention of juveniles, and the diversion of youths from the juvenile justice system should all be included in discussing juvenile justice. We are committed, moreover, to depicting the fascinating and sometimes tragic world of the juvenile offender, to describing the jobs and problems of practitioners in the justice system who work with youths, and to addressing important issues inherent in juvenile justice. Other important features of this text include a description of drug-trafficking street gangs of the late 1980s and 1990s and information on hate crimes and skinheads; an analysis of the widespread use of narcotics and alcohol by American adolescents; an investigation of the rise and decline of juvenile homicides and the increased popularity of guns among adolescents; a portrayal of the emerging trends in juvenile justice; and an examination of such risk control and crime reduction measures in probation and aftercare as intensive supervision, boot camps, house arrests, and electronic monitoring devices.

These features reflect some of what has happened in juvenile justice over the past 40 years. The 1960s saw the introduction of court reforms that changed the face of juvenile justice, perhaps forever. The 1970s witnessed the decline of the rehabilitative ideal and the growth of a get tough attitude toward the more serious delinquent. The 1980s produced definitive efforts to curb the actions of violent and repetitive juvenile offenders. The death penalty, transfer to the adult court, determinate and mandatory sentences, preventive detention, and intensive supervision in probation and aftercare either were new means of social control or increased in use in the 1980s. As a new wave of reform was occurring in a few jurisdictions across the United States during the 1990s, vigorous debate was taking place in increasing numbers of other states concerning whether this nation should continue with its 100-year history of a separate court for juveniles.

The book begins with an overview of the juvenile justice system, with a special emphasis on the challenges facing juvenile justice in the twenty-first century. Chapter 2 presents an empirical profile on youth crime, derived from the main official and unofficial measurements of crime. Chapter 3 discusses the role of the police in preventing and controlling youth crime. Chapters 4 and 5 are concerned with the background, legal norms, stages of decision making, trial process, and personnel of the juvenile court. Chapter 6 shifts to the types of experiences that await the juvenile who is transferred to the adult court. Chapters 7, 8, and 9 focus on community-based corrections, including probation and aftercare services and residential programs. Chapter 10 presents the structures and programming of long-term confinement of juveniles. Chapter 11 examines theory and research in juvenile justice; Chapter 12 explores the major social correlates influencing youth crime; and Chapter 13 contains a classification scheme for juvenile offenders. Chapter 14 discusses treatment technologies. In Chapter 15, we introduce the topic of international juvenile justice to this text. The Beijing Rules, the model juvenile justice code for the world, provide a basis for the chapter. We discuss how juveniles are handled in three English-speaking countries, Canada, England, and Australia, as well as juvenile justice in four countries with distinctive problems from other areas of the world. Chapter 16 summarizes the text and projects what juvenile justice will look like in the early twenty-first century.

Although no one is totally value free, every attempt has been made to be fair and to provide a balanced presentation of the juvenile justice system. Before juvenile justice can move toward more just systems and a more humane future, its characteristics, policies, and problems must be carefully examined. This is the task of this text.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many individuals have contributed to the writing of this book. The authors are profoundly grateful to our wives. Linda Dippold Bartollas edited and conceptualized materials throughout the manuscript and conducted interviews with juvenile offenders in three states. JoAnn Miller was a constant source of support and encouragement throughout the many phases involved in the publication of this third edition.

The authors are grateful to those members of the juvenile justice system who were willing to be interviewed, who contributed materials for this edition, or who assisted the authors in replicating "scenes from the halls of justice for photographs for this volume. Special thanks are due to North Franklin, Pennsylvania, Police Chief Roger Cuccaro, Lieutenant Kirk Hessler, and Sergeant Richard Horner; Claysville, Pennsylvania, Police Chief David Danley and Patrolman Donald Cooper; Pennsylvania Magistrate Jay Dutton; Probation Officer Steven Tkatch; Washington County Correctional Facility Treatment Supervisor Dave Talpus; Mall Manager David Graham; Mall Security Officer Rich Keys; and Mel Blount Youth Home Directors Mel Blount and Carol Lockett. Special thanks also are due to David Kraeuter, reference librarian at Washington and Jefferson College, as well as those students who were willing to be models for various photographs throughout this book: Mary Murphy, Jeffrey Pollack, Azzorrahhnove Livingstone, Andrea Miller, Robin Cook, Nelson Downey, and Richard Kelley; Katie Miller and Heather Dengle provided some new photographs for this edition.

We thank Betty Heine for all the tasks that she and her staff performed to keep the manuscript moving without interruption. Debbie Trent, Margie Mahramus, and Sunny SeFzik provided invaluable assistance in preparation of the text, instructor's manual and index, as did Katie Miller, Andrea Miller, and Laura Miller. Willie T. Barney, Robert Quirk, Hanna Bengston, Jamie Miller, and Matthew Beals also played key roles in the development of the manuscript. Finally, we are grateful to Neil Marquardt, our former editor at Prentice Hall, and Kim Davies, our present editor, and her associate, Marion Gottlieb, and especially, Linda Pawelchak for her outstanding project management skills.

Clemens Bartollas
Stuart J. Miller

Editorial Reviews

A textbook that explores and defines the important and emerging component of juvenile justice in the US. The volume is divided into six sections: introduction; the system and early decision making; community-based corrections; institutionalization; status and chronic offenders; and treatment, research, and new directions. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews