Available from: EC 090 474. Alternatives to institutionalization of delinquent children are viewed in terms of growing concern for children's human and legal rights. (SBH)

The document begins with a Department of Juvenile Justice overview which lists program priorities and budget information. The department has three priority issues (public safety, partnerships, and accountability) which are covered in detail. Focal areas for addressing public safety include prevention efforts, prevention and diversion grant funds,…

The millennium marks the beginning of a second century for the formal system of juvenile justice in the United States. From its inception, the central focus of the system has been delinquency, an amorphous construct that includes not only "criminal" behavior but also an array of youthful actions that offend prevailing social norms. Thus,…

This bulletin presents findings from an analysis of laws enacted in 1996 and 1997 to target serious and violent juvenile crime. The review of the laws included telephone interviews with key personnel in each state. Overall, findings show that states continue to modify age/offense transfer criteria, with some states beginning to study the impact of…

Data from a national sample of 13 to 16 year old boys and girls are examined for empirical evidence of a conceptual distinction between delinquent behavior and official delinquency--e.g., apprehended and recorded delinquent behavior. (Author/JM)

American social and legal procedures in dealing with children often result not in nurture and protection, but in curtailing of children's rights and arbitrary commitment to institutions." (Editor)

Traces the history of the debate on the validity of juvenile courts, including: (1) reformers who instituted the first courts; (2) constitutionalists who insist on due process for children; (3) revisionists who advocate the adversary system of juvenile justice; and (4) abolitionists who want to abolish juvenile courts. (Author)

Describes the results of an experiment in Florida in which jurisdiction over juvenile status offenders (i.e., runaways, truants, or incorrigibles) was transferred from the juvenile justice system to the child welfare system. (BD)

Addresses a gap in knowledge about the characteristics of adolescents served by court diversion programs by examining randomly selected cases. Presents a characterization of adolescents, their families of origin, employment, offenses, and processing in the diversion system. Findings center on the impact of alcohol, unemployment, and the…

Argues that the perception of increasing youth violence is based on fiction rather than fact. Provides the facts involved in the juvenile justice policy focusing on the differences between juvenile and adult violence, youth violence trends, population trends, and three legal policy issues toward adolescent violence. Offers juvenile crime…

The PACER Center is advocating for greater involvement of parents whose children have become involved in the juvenile justice system. Coalition for Juvenile Justice reported in January 2004 that of the 300,000 to 600,000 juveniles who cycle through detention facilities after arrest awaiting legal action, more than half are under 16 years of age…

Restorative justice provides a promising alternative to punitive models in justice and education. Most programs to date have focused on "conferencing," where victims and offenders are brought together for mediation and reconciliation. This article extends the restorative model to the entire milieu of an alternative school setting. (Contains 3…

This study extends literature on recidivism after teen court to add system-level variables to demographic and sentence content as relevant covariates. Interviews with referral agents and survival analysis with proportional hazards regression supplement quantitative models that include demographic, sentencing, and case-processing variables in a…

The ability of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A; J. N. Butcher et al., 1992) validity scales to detect random, partially random, and nonrandom MMPI-A protocols was investigated. Investigations included the Variable Response Inconsistency scale (VRIN), F, several potentially useful new F and VRIN subscales, and…

Community-based programs in the juvenile justice system present a promising alternative to the disappointing results achieved by large institutional facilities. A diverse group of states has found that intensive, individualized services provided in small, family-like residential settings or in the juvenile's own home yield comparable or reduced…