Violence in Juvenile Institutions

This study assesses the impact of selected deprivation and importation variables on inmate violence in four juvenile correctional institutions. While both sets of variables were shown to exert independent effects on inmate aggression, variations in the institutional context mediated the impact of inmate characteristics on levels of p r i s m violence. Preinstitutional violence emerged as the best predictor of inmate aggression, regardless of institutional setting. Race was shown to affect inmate violence directly m l y in the most treatment-oriented facility, while the inmate code was found to exert effects only in the most custodial institution.     

Juvenile Justice in Scandinavia

The main issue is the legal protection of children and juveniles suspected of or convicted for crime. The age of criminal responsibility is 15 years in the countries concerned. Particular juvenile justice systems do not exist in Scandinavia. There are, however, exceptions from the general system in order to maintain needs, interests and rights of children and juveniles. Some common characteristics are described, for instance diversion of juveniles from prison into social welfare measures and the prohibition of placing children in jail. Individual characteristics are pointed out as well. Introduction of secure social institutions as an alternative to imprisonment in Sweden and Denmark is one, mediation processes with children as parties in Finland and Norway is another. It is argued that from the point of view of legality the demands for legal rights are of greatest importance in prosecution and punishment matters, whereas social welfare support is not to the same degree concerned about such questions. Furthermore it is argued that in spite of good intentions the Scandinavian countries challenge the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, by not definitely prohibiting the possibility of a juvenile serving a prison sentence together with adults. It is stated that the distance between constructive pragmatism and destructive loss of principles as legality, equality and proportionality may be short. Crime trends are not linked to the politics: there is no relation between crime rates and political attention to crime. Juvenile justice has increasing political attention these years while the crime rates tend to be stable. In relation not solely to the economy and the Convention but first and foremost in the interest of children and juveniles more thought should be given to scientific experiences about early and appropriate prevention.     

Juvenile diversion and the constitution

The juvenile justice system has been a product of interaction between legal and socio-medical forces since its inauguration near the end of the last century. While the socio-medical forces have, for the most part, been dominant over the years, concern for minimum legal standards has been a conspicuous part of the picture since the years 1966 to 1967. The result is serious attention to due process and fundamental fairness in court processing, and low tolerance for abridgement of such rights in the interests of attaining the social goal of rehabilitation. The question arises as to how early in the procedural chain for juveniles various due process rights should enter. Some have argued that important due process rights should be components in the process leading to probation, and even police, diversion. The central argument of this article is that broad directives regarding due process in diversion are inappropriate. Indeed, analysis of actual and potential losses of freedom associated with diversion decisions leads to the general conclusion that very few diversion programs require usual procedural rights. Moreover, a survey of case law indicates that there is little reason to expect that the procedural protections enunciated by the U.S. Supreme Court so strongly in the 1960s will be extended by the courts to police (or probation) decisions on diversion in the 1980s.     

Juvenile offenders

LL.B., Leeds University 1955; LL.M., University of Singapore 1963.     

Adultification in Juvenile Corrections: Examining the Orientations of Juvenile and Adult Probation and Parole Officers

Legislative activity, court decisions, and other activities have left open to question how distinct is the juvenile justice system from the criminal justice system. While several scholars have considered adultification of juvenile courts, no study has systematically examined the adultification of juvenile corrections. The present study assesses whether one type of juvenile corrections, probation and parole, has been adultified by comparing the professional orientations of juvenile and adult probation and parole officers. The study finds that juvenile probation and parole officers do differ from adult officers across several dimensions of professional orientation that are critical to the distinctiveness of the juvenile justice system. Specifically, our analyses show that compared to adult probation and parole officers, juvenile officers tend to more strongly adhere to ideals of treatment, welfare, and offender-focused probation and parole supervision.     

Juvenile Delinquency in the Federal Republic of Germany

Juvenile delinquency has gained recognition worldwide as one of the most prominent criminological problem areas as well as a pressing crime political issue. The current state of this field in Germany is characterized by a tremendous increase after World War II, similar to other west European countries, but slightly leveling down since the Eighties. However, the great bulk of juvenile delinquency is built by minor offenses-in particular petty theft and non-serious road traffic offenses. Violence (although with an enormous increase), illegal drug offenses, and sexual crimes make together not more than one fifth of the total volume of youth crime. On the whole, juvenile delinquency represents the deviant behavior of young males; the proportion of female crime—although increasing too- is not higher than three decades ago, and consists mainly of shoplifting and bicycle theft. Youngsters of foreign groups or minorities are more involved in delinquency at present than in the Seventies or earlier, partly in activities of violent groups. While, in the past, rockers mainly got attention, now soccer hooligans and violent right-wing skinheads, especially when attacking minority people and asylum seekers, are in the forefront of public interest. This is true for East and West Germany. In general, the delinquents come mostly from the lower social strata, show socialization defects, have reduced start chances, are often unemployed, and are without or have less social support by their families. With regard to this, criminological experts favor socialization theories, social learning and control theories to explain these phenomena, emphasizing the binding forces of the underlying orientation of moral values. The corresponding guidelines of juvenile crime policy give preference to the application of non-custodial measures and diversion strategies on one hand, and to the reduction of freedom-depriving sanctions like community service or offender-victim-mediation on the other, indicating a successive retreat from a traditional punitive concept.