Juvenile Delinquency Exam #3

who are the police

formal agents of social control, practiced through monitoring and enforcing the law

the first interaction between juveniles and the juvenile justice system are

the police

what do police do?

law enforcement (investigation, arrests, etc)- less than 20% of time on job

order maintenance (investigating noise complaints, breaking up fights, getting disorderedly people to leave an area)

service (aid stranded motorists, funeral escorts, medical emergencies)

legitimate coercive force

police always have the right to “match force with force”

preventative control

driving or walking around to ensure safety

reactive control

responding to 911 calls

proactive control

most likely with juveniles, focuses on early prevention in instances such as running a crime prevention program

at the incident, a police officer can exercise control by

questioning the juvenile, informally reprimanding or guiding them, referring them to other resources

at the police station, a police officer can exercise control by

providing a formal reprimand, informing parents, arresting the juvenile, taking them into custody (only in serious cases)

only ___ % of crimes known to police have arrests

20

some factors that would lead to an arrest include

seriousness of alleged offense, strength of evidence, victim wants to press charges, suspect is hostile…also extra-legal factors such as race, gender, ethnicity, class, etc

police crackdowns showed ___ evidence in reducing crime

some

NYC “Stop, Question, and Frisk” led to

Black/Latinx people being main targets, general mistrust of police by these demographics

in order for police crackdowns to be MOST effective, they need to

clearly identify targets (area or people)

clearly communicate nature of crackdown to people

monitor regularly

consistently and fairly punish

coordinate with community members (social workers, local orgs, clergy)

community policing

focuses on empowering police officers and community members and strengthening their relationship

the juvenile court process began in

1899, during the Child Saving Movement. All states had a juvenile court by 1930

the goal of the juvenile court is to

rehabilitate the offender to prevent future criminal offenses

the style of juvenile court in 1899 was

informal. there was no due process, lawyers, jury, etc.

in the 1950s, the concern with juvenile court was

was the processing protecting the youth and their rights

Gault Decision of 1967

gerald gault was imprisoned for 6 years after no due process, Supreme Court ruled in his favor and awarded more rights to juveniles

after the Gault Decision of 1967, the style of juvenile court became

formal. there was due process, notification of charges, right to attorney, right to remain silent, question witnesses, etc. however there was still no jury.

in the 1980s and 90s the ___ program impacted juvenile courts

get tough

the get tough program increased

juvenile crime

today, the focus of juvenile courts is

improvement. this is done through focusing on youth brain development, continued development of rehabilitation programs, and accountability

what are the 4 main steps of the juvenile court process today?

referral to the court, intake screening, adjudication, disposition

Referral to the court

mostly happens by police, but referrals can also come from family, school, probation officer, etc

intake screening

evaluates several factors from both the youth and family, including seriousness of crime, strength of evidence, prior record, age, attitude, etc

outcomes of intake screening: informal

about 46% of intake screening results in an informal outcome, leading to dismissal, diversion to another program, or probation

intake screening outcomes: formal

54% of intake screenings result in a formal outcome. This can result in petitioning the court and releasing the youth to the family, petitioning the court and detaining the youth (must hold hearing within 3 days), or waiving the youth to adult criminal court

adjudication

a hearing before a judge with lawyers present. can result in having the case dismissed, the youth becoming an adjudicated delinquent, or becoming “in need of supervision”

disposition

similar to an adult sentencing hearing. judge determines “the best interest of the youth”, resulting in many options such as probation, community programs, or institutionalization

probation

supervision and treatment, meet with probation officer regularly, may instill curfews, drug testing, etc

probation is

not that effective at reducing recidivism

other methods of control for JD include

day programs, immediate sanctions, intensive supervision (ex: house arrest, random drug tests), scared straight programs, wilderness programs, boot camps

programs are more likely to reduce reoffending if they

focus more on treatment, provide aftercare services, use individual treatment plans, reward good behaviors

Black youth are _____ at all stages in judiciary process. this is called ___

over-represented, DMC- disproportionate minority contact

DMC comes from

self-report data, direct discrimination, cumulative disadvantage, indirect discrimination

DMC- self report data

higher levels of violent offending for POC youth, but this does not explain the extent of disparities

DMC- direct discrimination

overt bias at each stage as a result of racism by police and court workers

DMC- cumulative disadvantage

harsher treatment at earlier stage leads to harsher treatment at later stage of disciplinary process

DMC- indirect discrimination

other factors outside of race, such as class, community income, single-parent status, impact processing

addressing DMC in the government may involve

-funding, training officials, requiring documentation of decisions, more oversight

outside of race, these demographic factors may play a part in whether or not a youth is arrested

gender, income level, social class

how have we “gotten tough” on juvies?

mandatory minimum sentences, blended (adult and youth) sentencing, waiving to adult court

deterrence states that youth will be deterred from crime when

costs are greater than the benefits (assuming this is a rational person with free will), punishment is certain, sufficiently severe, and swift, it is general and/or specific

general deterrence

state’s punishment of some will serve as an example to others to instill fear of punishment and deter

(ex: I STOLE FROM A 9-YEAR-OLD ON HER BIRTHDAY! DON’T STEAL OR THIS COULD HAPPEN TO YOU!)

specific deterrence

imprisoned offenders will stop doing crime once they are released because of fear of future punishment

does the research support general deterrence?

research shows increasing certainty of punishment has some effect, while increasing severity has little to no effect. tough sanctions may deter some, but not most

Why does specific deterrence not seem to work?

many juveniles are not responsive to punishment, low self-control, low stake in conformity..overall, punishment can make it worse!

incapacitation

if a person is locked up in prison, they cannot commit crimes against society

collective incapacitation

prevent crime by imprisoning all criminals (has been used in the adult system)

selective incapacitation

prevent crime by targeting high-rate offenders for prison

will locking up more juveniles reduce delinquency?

no, problems with incapacitation include

substitution: arrest some and new ones replace (wack-a-mole)

group effect: most youth work in groups

most youth age out of crime

arresting this many youth is EXTREMELY effective, harmful to a youth’s future

punishment is more effective when

chance of meaningful punishment is high, punished care about costs of crime, it is combined with rehab, and it combats negative effects of punishment

we can punish in a more effective way through

restorative justice

what is restorative justice?

all parties involved, discusses issue, offender takes accountability, mutual solution is reached.

has some evidence of reduced re-offending

rehabilitation came as a result of

the recognition that “get tough” programs may not work and were massively expensive

what is rehabilitation?

targets those who are already delinquent, addresses the causes of the problems, focused on improving skills in these areas

reinvestment strategies are ___ are reducing recidivism

effective

they limit use of youth incarceration while also protecting public safety

well-designed and well implemented programs reduce delinquency by ___ %

20-50%

how do we make rehab programs more effective?

focusing on individual’s needs, last long, use several techniques, CBT approaches most support, focus on high-risk juveniles, operate in the community, warm but firm approach

Prevention: who is targeted and why?

everyone, different levels of intensity depending on risk level and pre-existing problems

general prevention

part of healthy development

specific prevention

targets strengthening specific skills

Family- General Programs

medical care to child and mother, encouraging good parenting that can reduce stress, having educational child care (pre-k)

Family: Specific Programs

parent training- more strict, focuses on discipline

to really reduce delinquency, we need to

hold juveniles accountable, protect the community, rehabilitate offenders consistency, prevent delinquency for all

emphasizing ___, not severity, will help reduce delinquency

certainty of punishment

graduated sanctions

reasonable sanctions that increase with the increasing severity of offense and repeat offending, should not give serious punishments to low level offenders

eliminating ____ will help reduce delinquency

discrimination within the judicial system

negative effects of punishment

angry, better criminal, assault at juvenile facility