Course Description: This is a comprehensive discourse on juvenile delinquency and its causes, including the history and philosophy of the Administration of Juvenile Justice in America, the development of juvenile justice, identification of the various subsystems, role expectations, and their interrelationships, theories of causes, prevention, treatment, punishment, adjudication, and rehabilitation and training for professionalism in the entire system.

Course Assignments 
Unit 1- email your instructor and acknowledge due dates for completed work and final exams. 

Unit 2 - Justice Through the Ages: Philosophical and Legislative Roots;  Growth and Development: The First Eighteen Years.  Discuss the evolution of the administration of the juvenile justice system.

Punishment can be viewed from a sociological perspective as well as a philosophical perspective. For example, the Durkheimian perspective sees punishment as revenge and as a way to restore and solidify the social order. The Marxist perspective sees punishment as a way to control the lower class and preserve the power of the upper class. This is closely related to the concept of distributive justice. Distributive justice provides an equal share of what is valued in a society to each member of that society. This includes power, prestige and possessions.

The evolution of the juvenile justice system has been influenced not only by differing world views and approaches to youthful offenders, but also by a major piece of legislation passed in 1968, the Uniform Juvenile Court Act. The Uniform Juvenile Court Act was drafted to provide for the care, protection and development of youth, without the stigma of a criminal label, by a program of treatment, training and rehabilitation, in a family environment when possible; as well as to provide a simple judicial procedure and simple interstate procedures.

A delinquent can be detained only in: (1) a licensed foster home or a home approved by the court; (2) a facility operated by a licensed child welfare agency; (3) a detention home or center for delinquent children that is under the direction or supervision of the court or other public authority or of a private agency approved by the court; or (4) any other suitable place or facility, designated or operated by the court.

A petition states the facts necessary to bring a child into the juvenile justice system. Hearings in juvenile court do not involve a jury. They are not open to the public. Children have the same rights as adults, except trial by jury and, in some states, the right to bail. Children have the right to an attorney at all stages of the proceedings, the right to introduce evidence and tell their side of the story, the right to cross-examine witnesses and the right to remain silent during the hearing. It is not sufficient to find a child has committed the alleged acts. The court must also determine that the child is in need of treatment or rehabilitation. An order of disposition or other adjudication in a juvenile court is not a conviction of a crime.

Children involved in juvenile justice system proceedings may be fingerprinted or photographed under specific conditions.

The juvenile justice system exists to serve the children and adolescents of our country. Eighteen is the most common age for individuals to legally become adults, no longer under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. Until that time it is expected that the state will assure the healthy growth and development of its children.

The period from birth to age three is the most formative time of a child's life. For children to learn they require drive, a cue, a response and reinforcement. Praise is usually better than punishment when teaching children. The positive needs to be accentuated. Great care must be taken when using labels with children. Self-fulfilling prophecies occur when people live up to the labels they are given. Children and adolescents in particular incorporate labels as part of their self-image. An act that violates society's rules is known as primary deviance. Acts that result because society has labeled the individual as deviant are known as secondary deviance.

Labeling theorists state that when a deviant label is attached to particular individuals they become stigmatized and are left little opportunity to be rewarded for conformist behavior. The label becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Children with special needs include those who are emotionally/behaviorally disturbed, who have learning disabilities, who have an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or who have behavior problems resulting from prenatal exposure to drugs, including alcohol or HIV. Children who may be at risk as they grow and develop are children of immigrants, those who are adopted, those whose parents are divorced, those whose mothers or fathers are incarcerated and those who are on drugs. Adolescence refers to youth ages 12 to 19 or 20. Adolescence brings biological, psychological, emotional and social changes often resulting in stress. It may also bring a fading of the "American Dream" for many youth.

Unit 3 - The Family and School;  Youth who are victims.  Define the objectives of the system, crime problem, and role expectation of juvenile justice personnel.

The schools also play a vital role in the development of our youth. They are given this responsibility through the principle of in loco parentis, meaning "in place of parents." This principle gives certain social and legal institutions, including the schools, the authority to act as a parent might in situations requiring discipline or need. It is similar to parens patriae, only at the local level.

Children who succeed in school have a greater probability of succeeding in other areas of their lives. However, several educational practices may encourage failure, including the A-B-C-D-F grading system, objective testing, grading on a curve, having closed-book tests and tracking students. Students' responses to failure may include skipping school, joining gangs, dropping out of school, drinking, doing drugs, performing delinquent acts and even suicide.

The link between failure in school and delinquency is strong. Our schools face several problems. The 26th Gallup Poll identified fighting, violence, and gangs and lack of discipline as tied for being the biggest problems facing local public schools. Also problematic is the number of children coming to school not ready to learn. Approximately 45 percent of children being born are at risk of being educationally disadvantaged.

One positive way to offset negative norms and behavior is to promote positive values in our schools. Another is to involve parents in the educational process. And, if students are to be taught respect for others, their own constitutional rights should be respected within the school. Students do have full constitutional rights, including freedom of speech as well as the right to be free from illegal search and seizure. However, the Court requires only that schools' actions in restricting students' constitutional rights be "reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns."

Our youth are victimized in many ways. Youth are victims of crime more often than those over age 25. In addition, nearly one-fourth of our children live in poverty. Two of the most serious consequences of poverty for children are homelessness and increased risk of lead poisoning.

Youth are also victimized by neglect and abuse. The two leading causes for child abuse are believed to be violence between husbands and wives and poverty. An estimated 4- to 5-million children are neglected or physically or sexually abused each year, with an additional 2 million vulnerable as runaways or missing. The three levels of abuse are collective, institutional and individual. Use of corporal punishment for children has been banned in 26 states. Violence often leads to more violence. Children who are abused are more likely to be delinquents and violent themselves. They are also likely to run away, becoming part of the "missing and exploited children" problem.

The five categories of missing children included in the NISMART study are runaways; throwaways; nonfamily abducted children; family abducted children and lost, injured or otherwise missing children.

The Department of Health and Human Services through its Administration for Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) and the Department of Justice through OJJDP have concurrent jurisdiction for missing and exploited children. Children and youth who do not receive appropriate assistance may become suicidal. The number one cause of suicide is thought to be untreated depression.

Unit 4 - Youth who break the law and Those who victimize;   Youth Who are Gang Members.  Describe the system's responsibilities to the community, some general concepts in juvenile crime causation and the social implications of juvenile crime on society.

Researchers use three methods to measure the nature and extent of unlawful acts by juveniles: official data, self-report data and victim surveys. According to self-report studies, delinquency is almost universal. One reason is that status offenses are often included as being acts of delinquency. Status offenses include such actions as violating curfew, habitual truancy, running away, incorrigibility, ungovernable conduct, being beyond the control of parents, being wayward, using tobacco and drugs and drinking alcohol. The most frequent delinquency offenses were property crimes, with larceny-theft and burglary being most frequent. The third most frequent delinquency offense was simple assault.

Positivist theories of the causes of juvenile delinquency include biological, behavioral, sociological and psychological theories. Biological theorists state that how a person acts is basically a result of heredity. Modern studies of the genetic relationship to crime support the proposition that criminality and violence may be inherited. Violence and aggression have also been associated with the presence or absence of certain chemicals in the brain. Behavioral theorists state that how a person acts is learned, and that attitudes and values of the social mores are acquired through conditioning. A major characteristic of juvenile delinquents is that they act out their inner conflicts.

Delinquency may also result from biochemical factors, including diet, or from neurological dysfunction, including learning disabilities. Other factors commonly cited as contributing directly to delinquency include drug use, poverty, unemployment, breakdown of religion, breakdown of the family, effects of the media (TV, movies, music), peer pressure and, most importantly, being abused as children. Criminal behavior probably is the result. of both heredity and life experiences. The public health model stresses targeting those most in need of help, specifically adolescent and young black males living in violent neighborhoods.

A street gang is a group of individuals who meet over time, have identifiable leadership, claim control over a specific territory in the community and engage in criminal behavior. Criminal behavior is what separates a gang from a club such as the Boy Scouts. The youth gang, for criminal justice policy purposes, is a subset of the street gang. Street gangs are no longer confined to the large cities; they can be found throughout the country. They acquire their power in the community through their violent behavior. Gangs may result from cultural discord, ego fulfillment, racism, socioeconomic factors and family influences.

Contemporary gangs may be classified as scavenger, territorial or corporate. They may also be classified as hedonistic, instrumental or predatory. And they may be classified as traditional or nontraditional. The most common gangs are Hispanic, black and Asian. Two well-known rival black street gangs are the Crips and the Bloods.

Five characteristics that distinguish youth gangs are leadership, organization, associational patterns, domain identification and illegal activity.

Most gangs contain leaders, hard-core members, regular members and fringe members or wannabes. Street gangs provide their members a feeling of belonging as well as protection from other youth. They may also provide financial power. Gang members may be identified by their names, symbols (clothing and tattoos) and communication styles, including graffiti and sign language. Graffiti is commonly used to mark a street gang's "turf." Gang members communicate through graffiti, hand signals, clothing and tattoos. Gang activities involve vandalism, arson, graffiti painting, stabbings and shootings, student extortion and teacher intimidation.

Indicators of gang activity include graffiti, intimidation assaults, open sale of drugs, drive-by shootings and murders.

Unit 5 - The Role of Law Enforcement;  The Role of the Juvenile Court.  Explain the various agencies, their organizational structure and roles of each subsystem within the juvenile justice system.

The objectives of police officers handling juvenile cases are (1) to protect the child or youth, (2) to investigate, (3) to determine the causes of the victimization or the offense, (4) to prevent further victimization or delinquency and (5) to properly dispose of the case.

The fundamental nature of the juvenile justice system is rehabilitative rather than punitive. During detention, a window of opportunity exists to identify youths on drugs and, therefore, at risk of becoming repeat offenders. Such youths can be put into drug treatment programs, hopefully averting the drug-crime-drug cycle. The primary responsibility of police officers assigned to child neglect or abuse cases is the immediate protection of the child. Approximately 90 percent of police dispositions involve status offenders, according to the Uniform Crime Reports. Running away is a predelinquent indicator, but its value often is not recognized by the parents, police, school, social agencies or the courts.

If police dispositions are to be effective, the family must recognize the early signs of maladjustment. Running away may be such an indicator for a possible victim (assault, murder) or more serious offender, becoming involved in criminal activity to support individual needs (prostitution, pornography, burglary, theft, robbery). Ideally, child abuse and neglect and delinquency would be prevented rather than dealt with after the fact. Initially, law enforcement sought to build a positive image rather than develop constructive, lasting delinquency prevention programs. Teachers are of vital importance to the success of any delinquency prevention program conducted in the schools.

The Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Unified School District jointly sponsor the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program. The Rochester Teens on Patrol (TOP) program uses youth to patrol the city's parks and recreational areas in the summer. Youths' attitudes toward law and law enforcement are tremendously influenced by personal contacts with law enforcement officers. Positive interactions are a key factor in any delinquency prevention attempts.

The juvenile justice system is basically a civil system, but it has evolved into the adversarial system typical of our adult criminal system. The jurisdiction of the juvenile court includes children who are in poverty, neglected or abused; who are unruly or commit status offenses and who are charged with committing serious crimes. This jurisdiction is determined by the offender's age and conduct. The most common maximum jurisdictional age is 18.

Juvenile courts may also deal with child-related problems, such as adoptions, illegitimacy and guardianship. They may exercise authority over adults in certain cases involving children. Throughout their history, juvenile courts have been separated into three types: designated courts, independent and separate courts and coordinated courts. Each type has as its primary function the adjudication of cases. To adjudicate is to judge – to hear and decide a case.

A series of Supreme Court decisions has changed the juvenile court's procedures into a more adversarial approach. One safeguard against such an adversarial system is the guardian ad litem. A guardian ad litem is a representative of a juvenile, appointed by the juvenile court judge solely for the best interest of the child and to represent that interest on his or her behalf. Whether adversarial or not, court action on behalf of neglected, abused or dependent children may be noncriminal or criminal. If court action is to be taken and a petition is filed, the court goes through three phases: (1) the preliminary hearing or conference, (2) the adjudicatory hearing or trial and (3) the dispositional hearing or sentencing. The work of the juvenile court is greatly aided by referees. The principal functions of referees are to act as hearing officers, to reduce testimony to findings of fact and to make recommendations on disposition. In some states the court makes the decision to certify a juvenile as an adult. In other states this is done by the prosecutor. When the criminal court has exclusive jurisdiction, it may transfer the case to the juvenile court by a process known as reverse certification.

The mandatory sentencing policy in Washington State is based on the juvenile's age, the current offense and the criminal history of the offender. The trend in sentencing is toward deinstitutionalization of youth. No matter what the offense, mechanical jurisprudence should be avoided. Mechanical jurisprudence suggests that everything is known and, therefore, laws can be made in advance to cover every situation. The juvenile court's current dilemma hinges on its dual roles as a court of law and as a social service agency. Solving this dilemma is a great challenge facing our juvenile courts.

Unit 6 - The Role of Corrections.  Analyze similarities and differences in value systems and ideologies and explain how they effect the juvenile justice function.

Probation is the most common disposition of the juvenile court. The formal goal of probation is to improve the delinquent's behavior – in short, rehabilitation. The probation officer has traditionally been responsible for two key functions: (1) personally counseling youths who are on probation and (2) serving as a link to other community services. Excessive caseloads are probably the single greatest pressure on probation officers. Supervision is the essence of probation. Probation often has three goals: (1) to protect the community from delinquency, (2) to impose accountability for offenses committed and (3) to equip juvenile offenders with required competencies to live productively and responsibly in the community. Isolating offenders from their normal social environment may encourage the development of a delinquent orientation and, thus, further delinquent behavior. Community-based corrections therefore should be considered seriously for juvenile offenders. Nonresidential corrections programs include community supervision; family crisis counseling; proctor programs; and service-oriented programs, including recreational programs, counseling, alternative schools, employment training programs and homemaking and financial planning classes.

The five major categories of residential programs are shelters, group homes, foster homes, foster group homes and "other" types of nonsecure facilities. The National Advisory Committee for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention recommended foster homes for neglected juveniles and those charged with status offenses.

Three common forms of intermediate sanctions are intensive supervision, electronic monitoring and boot camps. Formally, only three purposes justify putting juveniles in a locked facility: (1) to secure their presence at court proceedings, (2) to hold those who cannot be sent home and (3) to prevent juveniles from harming themselves or others, or from disrupting juvenile court processes. The percentages of blacks and males in juvenile institutions far exceed their proportions in the general population. Compared to public correctional institutions, private correctional institutions confine more whites, more girls, more status offenders, and more dependent and neglected youths. The inmates are younger and their stay is usually much longer. Private institutions offer much greater diversity in programs and structures than public institutions. The sociopolitica1 events produced in correctional institutions for youths are the same as those found in adult institutions. Prison gangs are better disciplined, more calculating and more sophisticated than street gangs. They also rely on anonymity.

Parole is a supervised early release from institutionalization.

Unit 7 - The Role of the Broader Community.  Acknowledge similarities and differences in value systems and ideologies as they apply to the juvenile justice function.

The role of the broader community in assisting the juvenile justice system cannot be ignored. Community is not only the geographical area over which the justice system has jurisdiction, it is also a sense of integration, of shared values and a sense of "we-ness." Without such "we-ness" areas may experience the broken window phenomenon – if it appears no one cares, disorder and crime will thrive. The importance of community is recognized in areas which have implemented community policing. Community policing embraces a proactive, problem-oriented approach to working with the community to make it safe. Another important community resource is social services. Social workers have greatly influenced trends in juvenile justice policy in the areas of diversion, victim restitution, decriminalization of status offenders and deinstitutionalization. Social work functions in all aspects of the juvenile justice system, although in the first juvenile courts social workers were probation officers. The current emphasis in social services for youth is diversion to a wide range of community-based services and programs.

Other emphases include family therapy and learning conflict resolution and mediation skills. Studies suggest that family therapy is more effective in dealing with problems of youths than traditional juvenile justice intervention. Important basic skills schools are teaching in the 1990s are conflict resolution and mediation.

Community participation through volunteerism helps improve programs, breaks down isolation and helps youthful offenders explore possibilities for adjustment to the community. In addition, jobs are important to youth not only for the money they generate but for the feelings of self-worth that accompany a job.

Unit 8 - Approaches to Prevention: Theory into Practice.  Analyze the impact of juvenile crime upon the social structure of the community.

Yet another way to look at prevention is the mathematical analogy of numerator/denominator. The numerator approach focuses on individuals (symptoms) whereas the denominator approach focuses on the entire group and causes. Effective prevention approaches must address the causes of delinquency. Also critical are programs aimed at preventing child neglect and abuse. Such early prevention programs should include making prevention a priority, and providing parenting education, programs for teenage parents, child care facilities and employee assistance programs. Services and education also must be provided for children with disabilities, e.g., the learning disabled, emotionally disturbed, mentally ill or physically or developmentally disabled. All children at-risk, including runaways, habitual truants, the chronically incorrigible and those not receiving any or inadequate child support, must be considered when providing prevention services.

Other prevention programs are aimed at the drug problem and the gang problem. The TARAD program of the National Crime Prevention Council uses youth to take on the community drug prevention challenge. Anti-gang programs include establishing behavior codes, removing graffiti, implementing conflict prevention strategies, developing a plan for crisis man- agreement and fostering community involvement.

Unit 9 - Approaches to Treatment: Theory into Practice.  Identify points in history and areas that show why the system of juvenile justice has evolved as it has.

One of the strengths of the wizards who operate effective adolescent programs is that they acknowledge that the goal of treatment is to change values. Wizards take charge of the brainwashing involved in getting youths to accept values that are non-violent, non-delinquent, anti-drug, pro-learning, and pro-employment. Wizards also recognize their responsibility for helping young people cope with the conflict between their new values and what they have come from....

Changes in behavior and values are only possible if young people can integrate their pasts with their new selves. Wizards whose residential or day treatment programs achieve enduring change in participants train staff to invest a substantial amount of their time enabling people to accept new values without rejecting their origins....

Wizards are the ultimate motivators. They are not bound by training or habit to one approach. They do what works. Their programs are driven by the needs of the young people. The wizard is the heart and mind of an effective program.

Final Examination: Your grade for the course will be weighted as follows: Written Assignments = 50%, Final Exam = 50%. In order to successfully complete the course you MUST complete the written assignments and, take the final examination. If you live within 50 miles of the campus, you MUST take the final examination on campus. You may contact the Learning Assistance Center at (562) 692-0921 x 4016 or 3169 to schedule taking the final exam. The Learning Assistance Center is located at the Police Academy which is on the main campus on Canyon Drive. If you live over 50 miles from the college the exam may be proctored at your location. Contact your instructor for details.

If you experience any difficulty or need any further clarification, contact the Online Coordinator, Carley Mitchell at mitchellcarley@hotmail.com or in an emergency call him at (801) 953-6173.

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