Essential Readings in Juvenile Justice
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
As an instructor committed to making primary source material the centerpiece of even most undergraduate classes (either instead of or in conjunction with a traditional textbook, depending on the level of the course), I have repeatedly found myself frustrated with the absence of an appropriate book of readings for my 300-level juvenile justice course one pitched at an accessible level for my students, yet providing uncompromising and informative readings on the full range of juvenile justice subject matter that I normally cover in a semester. The field is so rich in writings that may fairly be described as "essential" for anyone seeking more than a cursory understanding of how our juvenile justice system works and why it works the way it does that I have often wondered why someone didn't try to pull all of this material together under a single cover. This book is intended to approximate that ideal. It is sufficiently meaty to sustain graduate students, yet the readings have been carefully chosen and edited to maximize their accessibility for undergraduates as well. My intent has been to provide a, penetrating yet eminently accessible overview of the entire field of juvenile justice, aped to do so in a manner that systematically integrates published scholarship, case law and other pertinent materials in a mosaic affording readers an opportunity to directly view the multiple layers of law, policy and analysis that guide contemporary juvenile justice system practices. I have drawn together a wide array of documents including classic statements of traditional juvenile court philosophy, landmark Supreme Court cases, groundbreaking examinations of juvenile court history and contemporary juvenile justice system practices, influential juvenile justice legislation, and model standards for juvenile justice agency policy and procedure. All of this I have done with an eye toward touching upon the entire range of juvenile justice topics one normally finds referenced only in single-author textbooks and in widely scattered books, articles, monographs, court decisions and other isolated sources many of which are hard to find (even if available on the Internet) and, once found, daunting to wade through in their original, unabridged form. In order to augment the accessibility of the material and, just as important, to manage the integration of all the selections into a single volume of reasonable size, I have limited most selections to no more than seven or eight pages in length, editing them in such a way as to preserve the essential points and the flow of the authors' arguments, but omitting non-essential passages and those that seem comparatively unlikely to provoke discussion or excite more than passing interest. Many selections have been cut down even further, following the model of law school casebooks in which even landmark Supreme Court cases are often reduced to just three or four pages of key passages. In several instances, extremely brief readings some under a page in length are introduced as succinct counterpoints to positions taken in other selections or to provide points of departure for classroom discussion of issues that do not receive focused attention elsewhere. Also, reference lists following some selections have been adapted to omit sources that are not cited in included passages, and I have omitted nearly all footnotes and in-text case citations as well in excerpts from Supreme Court cases and law review articles, where content-laden notes and citations to statutes and precedent-setting cases often rival the main text in overall length. Wherever I have preserved footnotes, though, the original numbering is retained even if it produces non-sequential note numbers. I have also inserted a variety of learning aids designed to help students get the most out of their reading. Each chapter begins with a brief introduction designed to place the selections in a broader context by describing relevant historical developments, outlining general practices and issues pertaining to the chapter topic, highlighting points that receive insufficient coverage in the included selections or for which the selections assume greater familiarity with the subject matter than many readers are likely to have, and, finally, summarizing the selections and showing how they relate to each other and to other aspects of juvenile justice. Individual selections are in each instance followed by a set of review questions designed to focus attention on key concepts, highlight any ideas that are notably similar to or in conflict with ones raised in earlier selections, elucidate ways in which points raised in the selection relate to overarching themes or broader trends in juvenile justice policy, and guide readers toward a fuller understanding of the implications of particular practices and issues. Rounding out each chapter is a list of further readings for those who wish to explore particular aspects of juvenile justice in greater depth. This feature will be especially helpful as a resource for students who are asked to write library-based research papers addressing juvenile justice system practices. The book is organized into ten chapters, each addressing a major aspect of juvenile justice. Chapter One frames many of the themes to be developed in subsequent parts of the book. The selections include a synopsis of juvenile justice system structure and process, statistical breakdowns of juvenile arrest patterns and juvenile court case flow, a summary of the findings of developmental psychologists with respect to reasoning ability and judgment in adolescents and the implications for juvenile justice, and assessments of special problems confronted by minority youth and females in the juvenile justice system. These selections together offer a panoramic overview of the juvenile justice system and process, and they raise many of the central issues that are investigated more thoroughly in later chapters. Chapter Two traces the evolution of delinquency control measures leading up to the emergence of juvenile courts at the beginning of the 20th Century. Included Eire Anthony Platt's article-length summary of his classic work on the child saving movement that culminated in creation of the first juvenile court in Chicago, Judge Julian Mack's first-person account of that court and its underlying philosophy, an excerpt from the 1899 Illinois Juvenile Court Act establishing the court, and the pivotal Ex Parte Crouse and Commonwealth v. Fisher cases that bracketed the child saving era. These selections combine to give the reader a thorough understanding of the philosophical underpinnings of the juvenile justice system, at least as it existed prior to the comparatively recent drift toward increased formality and punitiveness. The sweeping changes in juvenile justice first called for in the seminal discussion of juvenile delinquency and youth crime in the 1967 report of the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, and then mandated by the Supreme Court in a series of decisions handed down between 1966 and 1975, are documented in Chapter Three. In this chapter the reader gains a sense of the widespread disenchantment with a system that, despite continued lip service to the lofty ideals espoused by Judge Mack and other 19" Century reformers, had by the 1960s degenerated into one in which young offenders seemed to receive "the worst of both worlds ... neither the protections accorded to adults nor the solicitous care and regenerative treatment postulated for children" ( Kent v. U.S. , 383 U.S. 541, 556 1966). Rounding out the chapter and exemplifying the reformist spirit of the times are authoritative summaries of two extraordinarily influential sets of model standards for juvenile justice system operation. The law enforcement response to juvenile delinquency is the focus of Chapter Four. After extensive examination in the 1960s and 1970s, police juvenile interactions have received surprisingly little attention in the recent scholarly literature. I looked hard for a set of readings that would effectively convey a sense of the special problems associated with policing juveniles and ways in which contemporary police juvenile interactions differ from those involving adults. The result is a blend of standards, cases, and both classic and contemporary articles highlighting arrest decisions, interrogation, search and seizure (school searches), gang suppression tactics and the implications of the recent ascendance of community policing for interactions between law enforcement officials and juveniles. Chapters Five through Seven examine the intermediate stages of the juvenile justice process, addressing the many decisions normally falling to an "intake" officer (often a probation officer assigned specifically to work with newly referred youth), prosecutor or other juvenile court gatekeeper after a youth is referred by the police or another source for further processing. Chapter Five introduces the intake screening process via two sets of model standards offering alternative views of the responsibilities of intake officers and prosecutors in reviewing cases and deciding in each case whether to file a "petition" initiating formal court action or instead to "divert" the child away from juvenile court and handle the case informally. Additional readings probe issues related to the proliferation of diversion programs for minor offenders, relate one State's statutory provisions for case screening and diversion agreements, and assess the teen court phenomenon that has taken root as an alternative to formal juvenile court processing in many jurisdictions across the country. Detention of accused juvenile offenders pending the outcome of court action, the focus of Chapter Six, is addressed through excerpts from a landmark Supreme Court case granting judges wide latitude in deciding whether to detain juveniles awaiting adjudication hearings, a set of model standards enumerating far more restrictive criteria for detention decisions, passages in the Juvenile Justice and Delinq...
From the Back Cover
Essential Readings in Juvenile Justice introduces the full range of juvenile justice policies, practices, and issues by way of judiciously edited excerpts from more than fifty of the foremost classic and contemporary writings in the field. Readers encounter a broad cross-section of groundbreaking articles, landmark court decisions, major pieces of legislation, and influential guidelines for policy development and reform. Artfully interconnected readings in this book's ten chapters probe the social context of delinquency and public policy, the history of the juvenile justice system, the legal rights of youths accused of delinquent acts, the many dimensions of police, court, and correctional interventions with young offenders, and diverse visions for the future of juvenile justice.
Essential Readings in Juvenile Justice
Essential Readings in Juvenile Justice,David L. Parry,Prentice Hall,0130981869,Criminal Law - General,Juvenile courts,Juvenile delinquency,Juvenile justice, Administrati,Juvenile justice, Administration of,Law,Legal Reference / Law Profession,Political Freedom & Security - Law Enforcement,Political Science,Politics/International Relations,United States,Political Science / Law Enforcement
English Books:
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