Robert M. Mennel

Abstract: During the past decade, the history of juvenile delinquency has attracted considerable scholarly attention. This reflects both the recent popularity of social history and the desire of some historians to become involved in the policymaking process. Generally, interpretations have emphasized the social-control motives of the founders of institutions and the juvenile court while portraying the delinquents themselves as victims of social and economic discrimination. Recent research has neglected case studies and the comparative approach. Several recent works have uncovered some popular support for institutions and shown American policies, at least in the nineteenth century, to be less disadvantageous than European formulations. These studies have also stressed the significant differences between programs and institutions in the United States. Future research can profitably examine the post-World War II era, focusing particularly on the influence of legal changes, professional study, and government policy on ...

Abstract: Progressive reformers envisioned a therapeutic juvenile court that made individualized treatment decisions in the child's "best interests." The Supreme Court's Gault decision provided the impetus for transforming the juvenile court from an informal welfare agency into a scaled-down criminal court. Since Gault, the juvenile court procedures increasingly resemble those of adult courts, although in some respects, such as assistance of counsel, juveniles receive less adequate protections. Judicial and legislative changes have altered the juvenile court's jurisdiction over noncriminal status offenders and serious young offenders-as the former are diverted from the system, the latter are transferred to adult criminal courts. Juvenile courts increasingly punish youths for their offenses rather than treat them for their "real needs." These charges eliminate most differences between juvenile and criminal courts. The juvenile court must either develop a new rationale and mandate or face further erosion and redundancy.

Abstract: Child welfare was a central item on the Progressive reform agenda. But contrary to the professed goals of leading reformers, institutions for delinquent and dependent children expanded rapidly around the turn of the century. Nationwide, private agencies grew faster than those in the public sector. This article attempts to account both for the general rise in juvenile incarceration and for the trend toward privatization. It begins by exploring potential accounts of institutional expansion based on socioeconomic resource flows and social movement influence. The main concern however, is to develop a political model that focuses, first, on the internecine politics of the national charity organization movement and, second, on variation in patterns of state building among the American states. Dynamic quantitative methods are used to test these approaches. Results suggest strongly that the relative growth of public and private institutions was determined largely by political issues, including previous social policy commitments and patronage.

Abstract: 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, the meaning of delinquency is markedly time dependent. Likewise, methods for addressing the phenomenon have reflected the vagaries of social constructions of youth and youth deviance. American juvenile justice was founded on internally conflicting value systems: the diminished responsibility and heightened malleability of youths versus the individual culpability and social control of protocriminality. During its first century, the latter generally have become increasingly predominant over the former. Those caught up in the system, however, have remained overwhelmingly the most marginalized youths, from immigrants' offspring in the early 20th century to children of color in contemporary society. This chapter considers such theoretical and sociodemographic variations, and their implications are reviewed for public policy beyond mere political symbolism. (Contains 203 references.) (Author/MKA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. A Century of Juvenile Justice Philip W. Harris, Wayne N. Welsh, and Frank Butler In: "Criminal Justice, 2000. Volume 1. The Nature of Crime: Continuity and Change" U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy.