Juvenile Justice :: essays research papers fc

The problem of dealing with new justice has plagued are country for years, since the establishment of the first juvenile courtroom in 1899. Prior to that development, delinquent juveniles had to be processed through the adult justic3e system which gave much harsher penalties. By 1945, separate juvenile courts existed in every iodin state. Similar to the adult system, all through most of the 20th century, the juvenile justice system was based upon a medical/rehabilitative representation. The new challenges of the juvenile court were to examine, analyze, and recommend treatment for offenders, not to deliver judgment fault or fix responsibility. The court ran under the policy of parens patriae that intended that the state would tone in and act as a parent on behalf of a disobedient juvenile. Actions were informal and a juvenile court judge had a huge sum of discretion in the disposition of juvenile cases, much like the discretion afforded judges in adult unlawful settings until th e 1970s. In line with the proto(prenominal) juvenile courts attitude of shielding youth, juvenile offenders position was often in reformatories or instruction schools that were intended, in speculation, to keep them away from the wondrous influences of society and to encourage self-control through accurate structure and very unsympathetic discipline. Opposing to the fundamental theory, all through the first part of the century, the places that housed juveniles were ofttimes unsafe and unhealthy places where the state warehoused delinquent, deserted, and deserted children for unclear periods. Ordinary tribulations included lack of medical care, therapy programs, and even sometimes food. Some very poor caboodle continue even today. Although putting juveniles into institutions, for many juvenile offenders occurred in the first decades of the 1900s, extensive use of probation for juveniles existed as well. As it does today, probation gave a middle ground nature for judges connecting release and placement in an institution. By 1927, trial programs for juvenile offenders existed in approximately every state. In the 1940s and 1950s, reformers attempted to improve the conditions lay down in most juvenile institutions. Alternatives to institutions emerged, such as forestry and probation camps. These camps provided a prearranged setting for male juvenile offenders, while emphasizing learning and occupational skills. Though, the efficiency of these options as alternatives to incarceration was dubious since they were not obtainable to the worst offenders. Yet, these changes marked the start of formal, community-based instruction that would turn out to be more extensive in spare-time activity decades.