Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice (2001) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-12
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 1... ...
MacArthur Foundation, and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation to sponsor a National Research Council panel to examine what is known about juvenile crime and its prevention, treatment, and control. CHARGE TO THE PANEL The Panel on Juvenile Crime: Prevention, Treatment, and Control was asked to identify and analyze the full range of research studies and
|
From page 2... ...
· Most juveniles break laws, such as shoplifting or minor vandalism, but only a small proportion commits serious crimes. In 1998, only 4 percent of juvenile arrests were for the violent crimes of homicide, rape, robbery, or aggravated assault and less than one-tenth of one percent of juvenile arrests were for homicide.
|
From page 3... ...
· Forecasts of juvenile crime based on the spike in homicide rates have proven to be misleading and inaccurate and highlight the caution with which predictions of future juvenile crime trends must be made. THE DEVELOPMENT OF DELINQUENCY Although a large proportion of adolescents gets arrested and an even larger proportion commits illegal acts, only a small proportion commits serious crimes.
|
From page 4... ...
Responding to juvenile crime requires the establishment of programs to prevent its development as well as programs to deal with young people who have committed criminal acts. These programs may be found in a variety of institutional settings, including schools, community-based organizations, religious organizations, mental health settings, and the formal juvenile justice and adult criminal justice systems.
|
From page 5... ...
These changes include easier waivers to adult court, excluding certain offenses from juvenile court jurisdiction, blended juvenile and adult sentences, increased authority for prosecutors to decide to file cases in adult court, and more frequent custodial placement of adjudicated delinquents. The great majority of recent changes in juvenile justice law and practice have not been evaluated.
|
From page 6... ...
Such overrepresentation may be at least partially explained by considering how exposure to risk factors affects the probability of engaging in criminal behavior. More minority children, and black children in particular, are subject to risk factors associated with crime, such as living in communities characterized by concentrated poverty and social disorganization.
|
From page 7... ...
The effectiveness of such programs, both for the protection of the community and the benefit of the youth in their charge, should be monitored. Public policy on juvenile crime, particularly the trend toward more punitive sanctions, appears to have been influenced in part by predictions of future crime rates predictions that have proven notoriously inaccurate.
|
From page 8... ...
The existence of disproportional racial representation in the juvenile justice system raises concerns about differential exposure to risks and the fairness and equal treatment of youth by the police, courts, and other players in the juvenile justice system. Given the importance of the problem of race, crime, and juvenile justice in the United States, the scant research attention that has been paid to understanding the factors contributing to racial disparities in the juvenile justice system is shocking.
|
From page 9... ...
Prenatal exposure to alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and nicotine is associated with hyperactivity, attention deficit, and impulsiveness, which are risk factors for later antisocial behavior and delinquency. Biological harms suffered during the prenatal period may have some devastating effects on development.
|
From page 10... ...
Furthermore, neither this instrument nor the newly designed Juvenile Residential Facility Census (begun in October 2000) , yields information about children or youth housed in jails, adult institutions, or mental hospital facilities.
|
From page 11... ...
Recommendation: The federal government should assist the states in evaluating the effects of correctional policies and practices, such as the use of behavior modification programs, physical restraints, and isolation on incarcerated juveniles, as well as determining the effectiveness of educational and psychological programming in correctional facilities. The panel also recommends a number of other areas in which funding of research is needed, including: · Improving the quality of existing information on juvenile crime and developing alternative sources of information (see Chapter 2~; · Reviewing the effects of school policies and practices, such as grade
|
From page 12... ...
2 JUVENILE CRIME, JUVENILE JUSTICE retention, tracking, suspension, and expulsion on delinquency, educational attainment, and school atmosphere and environment (see Chapter 3~; · Using prospective longitudinal studies to increase understanding of the role of factors in prenatal, perinatal, and early infant development on mechanisms that increase the likelihood of healthy development, as well as the development of antisocial behavior (see Chapter 3~; · Studying long-term outcomes of well-designed interventions that have shown short-term promise for reducing delinquency (see Chapter 4~; · Evaluating the adequacy of standards for juvenile detention and correctional facilities (see Chapter 5~; and · Developing a research agenda on juvenile justice system practices and their effects, including the extent, systemic effects, costs, and costeffectiveness of the various possible dispositions of juvenile cases, and the long-term effects of transferring juveniles to adult court and incarcerating them in adult facilities (see Chapter 5~.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.