Punishment,Accountability, and the New Juvenile Justice

The juvenile justice system has undergone radical change in the past three decades. The procedural revolution that began at the end of the 1960s with the Gault decision has more recently evolved into a substantive revolution. The changes in juvenile justice have been many and in some instances drastic, particularly in the apparent demise of the rehabilitative ideal. New theories or models have emerged, incorporating terminology such as punishment, justice, and accountability into the vocabulary of juvenile justice practitioners and the lexicon of state juvenile codes. The transformation in the philosophy and underlying goals of the system has been well-documented over the past decade or so. It is now time to ask critical questions about the significance and meaning of this transformation and to bring attention to unresolved issues. This article suggests the issues that need to be addressed in order to make both practical and philosophical sense out of the changes in the mission of “juvenile justice.”     

Juvenile Justice in Oregon: Balanced and Restorative Justice in Action

The goals of Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ) are to hold juvenile offenders meaningfully accountable, hear and empower crime victims and engage communities both as stakeholders who have been negatively impacted and as advocates to make things right for the crime victim, offender, and community. This article examines how several Oregon juvenile justice agencies have put BARJ into action over the last 25 years, highlighting specific examples of how several agencies have made this the philosophical underpinning of their work. An overview of the philosophical principles, values, and goals that drive this approach is also discussed.     

Southeast Asian Refugee Youth: Implications for Juvenile Justice

Abstract Southeast Asian refugees have been arriving in the U.S. in significant numbers since 1975. While they have had a history of a seemingly smooth resettlement and acculturation to this country, the number of Southeast Asian youthful offenders has increased dramatically since 1984. Factors common among refugee youth which have contributed to this rise include: problems of acculturation; role reversal with parents; lack of shared values, parental guidance and school success; and mental health problems often stemming from their history of war, traumatization, and loss before coming to this country. This article will discuss these factors and the implications for the juvenile justice system. The discussion will also highlight culturally appropriate intervention strategies for personnel working with these youth and their families.     

Restoring the Victim: Emotional Reactions, Justice Beliefs, and Support for Reparation and Punishment

Psychological responses to criminal wrongdoing have primarily focused on the offender, particularly on how (and why) offender punishment satisfies people’s need for justice. However, the restoration of the victim presents another way in which the “psychological itch” that injustice creates can be addressed. In the present article, I discuss two lay theories of how crime victims can be restored: a belief that the harm caused to crime victims should be directly repaired (a restorative justice approach) versus a belief that victim harm should be addressed via the punishment of the offender (a retributive justice approach). These two lay theories are discussed with regard to their emotional and ideological determinants, as well as situational and chronic factors that can affect whether people adopt a reparative or punitive “justice mindset” in dealing with victim concerns (and crime in general).     

Social Capital, Rehabilitation, Tradition: Support for Restorative Justice in Japan and Australia

This paper investigates the attitudes and beliefs that the public hold about criminal behaviour in Japanese and Australian society, with a view to uncovering sources of resistance to, and support for, restorative justice. The study draws on a survey of 1,544 respondents from Japan and 1,967 respondents from Australia. In both societies, restorative justice met with greater acceptance among those who were (1) strong in social capital, (2) believed in offender reintegration and rehabilitation, (3) saw benefits for victims in forgiveness, and (4) were advocates for victims?? voices being heard and amends made. The alternative ??just deserts?? and deterrence models for dealing with crime were grounded in attitudes of punitiveness and fear of moral decay, and reservations about the value of reintegrating and rehabilitating offenders. Like restorative justice supporters, ??just deserts?? and deterrence supporters expressed concern that victims?? voices be heard and amends made. Winning public support for competing institutional arrangements may depend on who does best in meeting expectations for meeting the needs of victims.     

Mater Dolorosa: Negotiating Support in NSW Youth Justice Conferencing

At the heart of Youth Justice Conferencing, a form of restorative justice aimed at addressing youth crime, is the notion that young persons who have committed an offence should be ‘reintegrated’ into their communities (Braithwaite in Crime, shame and reintegration. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989). This paper focuses on the role of parents as support persons, in particular the ‘crying mum’, an identity often leveraged by the Convenor when prompting the young person to express remorse to the circle. We explore an Avouchment genre that we have observed whereby support persons vouch for the character of the young person. Our analysis considers the ways in which values are composed (as ideational categories are coupled with evaluative interpersonal ones) and unfold in discourse as invitations for participants to align. In Knight’s (2010) terms, when shared, couplings of ideation and evaluation engender bonds through which participants may commune.     

Desert, Justice and Capital Punishment

Our purpose in this paper is to consider a procedural objection to the death penalty. According to this objection, even if the death penalty is deemed, substantively speaking, a morally acceptable punishment for at least some murderers, since only a small proportion of those guilty of aggravated murder are sentenced to death and executed, while the majority of murderers escape capital punishment as a result of arbitrariness and discrimination, capital punishment should be abolished. Our targets in this paper are two recent attempts, by Thomas Hurka and Michael Cholbi respectively, to defend the view that ‘levelling down’ (that is, reducing the punishment imposed on a criminal from the punishment he absolutely deserves to a less severe punishment in order to achieve proportionality relative to the criminals who have escaped the punishment they absolutely deserve) is, in the context of capital punishment, morally permissible. We argue that both Hurka and Cholbi fail to show why the arbitrariness and discrimination objection impugns the death penalty.

Westmoreland County Youth Commissions: A Diversionary Program Based on Balanced and Restorative Justice

The Westmoreland County Youth Commission is a diversionary program based on Balanced and Restorative Justice. The purpose of the program is to reduce caseload and lower costs of the juvenile court as well as provide youths with a rehabilitation program with close supervision. This study was exploratory in nature to describe what has been happening with youths diverted to the Youth Commissions. Data was collected from the 19 Youth Commissions, and a total of 559 cases were reviewed. Outcome data reveals that young offenders were assessed individually, and sanctions were imposed to hold them accountable, cultivate competency, and have them become cognizant of their part in community protection/public safety. Overall, 91% of the youths completed the program. Thus, this program appears to be a viable alternative to juvenile court processing.     

Youth Mental Health First-Aid: Juvenile Justice Staff Training to Assist Youth with Mental Health Concerns

Many youth in juvenile justice settings meet criteria for a mental health condition. Front line staff need to be able to recognize and respond to their needs, but training is often lacking. Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) is an 8-hour training for adults without mental health education to recognize and assist distressed youth. This study surveyed 1,279 [State blinded] DJS front-line staff trained in YMHFA. Of 338 returned surveys (26% response), 44% reported using YMHFA skills at work, 56% in preventing a crisis, 25% during crises. Respondents rated YMHFA as significantly improving their responsiveness to distressed young people.     

"宽罚严管"的少年刑事司法政策

宽严相济刑事政策首先强调或倾向于"宽罚",而在少年刑事领域,宽严相济这样一个概念却不够明了、直接,基于此,我们提出"宽罚严管"的少年刑事司法政策.它在强调对少年轻缓处罚的同时,要求我们对从刑事程序中分流出去的少年加强管教.无论是在现有的少年刑事立法中,还是在少年刑事司法实践中,都不乏"宽罚严管"政策的闪烁点,只是我们平时缺乏对之加以提炼并理论化、系统化."宽罚严管"的少年刑事政策在司法中的实现主要依赖于定罪量刑及刑罚执行的诸过程.     

Contract Damages, Corrective Justice and Punishment

This article re-examines the established principle that contract damages compensate but do not punish from the theoretical perspective of corrective justice and, in particular, the version advocated by Professor Ernest Weinrib. Weinrib argues that corrective justice affirms the traditional view that contract damages should be circumscribed by compensatory functions, and the notion of punitive damages is inconsistent with the structure of corrective justice and hence contractual rights. The correctness of this conclusion depends, however, on what is understood by punishment. This article argues that punishment is not necessarily explicable only as a form of state punishment, but may (adopting the retributive idea of punishment expounded by Jane Hampton) also be understood as a form of correlatively-structured response that redresses the moral injury inflicted by one's conduct on another. If that is the case, punitive damages for breach of contract may be justified even within the framework of corrective justice.     

The Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2018: Updating the Federal Approach to Youth Involved,and At‐Risk of Becoming Involved,in the Juvenile Justice System

On December 21, 2018, the Juvenile Justice Reform Act was signed into law, marking the first update in 16 years to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, as amended. The reforms reflect much of the knowledge that has been gained through research and science over the past decade and strengthen the Act’s core protections for youth in the juvenile justice system. The changes also expand the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s role in research, and technical assistance, and provide for additional oversight for related programs.     

The Impact of Punishment and Rehabilitation Views on Organizational Commitment Among Correctional Staff: A Preliminary Study

It has been long recognized that organizational commitment is an important component of effective organizations. It has, however, received relatively little attention in the correctional literature. Furthermore, much of the research to date on correctional orientation has focused on examining how various forces affect the punishment and rehabilitation views of correctional employees, but ignored how these views affect employees’ organizational commitment. Using a data set collected from 272 staff members at a Midwestern, high security state prison, this study examined the impact of punishment and rehabilitation views on organizational commitment. It was found that support for rehabilitation was associated with higher levels of organizational commitment while support for punishment was related with lower levels of organizational commitment.     

未成年人犯罪刑罚适用区域性考察及其罚则改革研究(下)

对云南省若干地区的实证考察表明,在未成年犯罪人的刑罚适用中存在诸多问题,例如,有期徒刑适用过多,管制、拘役刑基本空置;缓刑适用比例过低且存在很大的地区差异,司法分流的合法性有待确认等等。造成上述问题的原因很多,既有立法方面的,如立法不明确或缺乏弹性;也有司法或执法方面的,如考察机关负担过重,无力进行有效考察;还有地方因素的干扰,如过分强调刑罚的威慑作用等。为此,要解决上述问题,必须从立法、司法与执法三方面着手。在立法上须根据《联合国儿童权利公约》规定的确保未成年人最大利益的原则行事,增加处罚中的弹性规范;增设已在国内外被证明行之有效的某些刑罚制度,例如,缓诉制度、缓缴罚金制度、刑事前科报告免除制度、前科消灭制度等;在司法与执法中应完善相关机制,以扩大缓刑等制度的适用范围,并采取有效措施,加强部门合作,消除地区差异。