juvenile justice

Introduction
History and operation
- Great Britain
- United States
- Continental Europe
- Juvenile justice in other systems
  - China
  - The Philippines
  - Brazil
  - Egypt
  - Nigeria
Research and debate

References & Edit History Related Topics

Related Questions

How are school difficulties and dropping out associated with juvenile delinquency?
How can a juvenile case be transferred from juvenile court to criminal court in the United States?
How can a juvenile record affect sentencing later in adult criminal court?
How can community service serve as an alternative to incarceration for a juvenile offender?
How can counseling or treatment be used as a condition of formal diversion?
How can delinquent peers influence a young person’s behavior?
How can parental communication and supervision affect delinquent behavior?
How can victims participate in diversion or restorative justice programs?
How did France organize its juvenile court system around the Tribunal for Children?
How did Great Britain’s reformatory movement change the treatment of young offenders?
How did juvenile courts in Chicago change the way young offenders were treated in the United States?
How did the Supreme Court decision in Roper v. Simmons change the death penalty for juvenile offenders?
How did the idea of parens patriae influence the development of juvenile courts?
How do juvenile gangs provide status that some young people do not find at school?
How does a juvenile court differ from an adult criminal court?
How does family treatment seek to reduce juvenile delinquency?
How does informal diversion keep a minor case out of the formal justice system?
How does juvenile delinquency differ from a status offense?
How does restorative justice address harm caused by a juvenile offense?
How is a juvenile court disposition similar to an adult criminal sentence?
What are the main goals of diversion programs for young offenders?
What is a judicial waiver in a juvenile court case?
What is statutory exclusion in juvenile justice?
Which actions can be status offenses for juveniles even though they are not crimes for adults?
Which factors are linked by research to higher rates of juvenile delinquency?
Why are diversion programs sometimes criticized as being too lenient?
Why can labeling a child as a potential delinquent cause harm?
Why can some young people be tried as adults for serious crimes in the United States?
Why did many U.S. states adopt tougher juvenile sentencing laws in the late 20th century?
Why did support for juvenile boot camps decline?
Why do juveniles in the United States generally not have a right to a jury trial?
Why do many young people stop committing delinquent acts as they become adults?
Why does Nigeria’s juvenile justice system place greater emphasis on punishment than rehabilitation?
Why have critics argued that informal juvenile courts can fail to protect children’s rights?
Why have other critics argued that juvenile courts do not punish serious offenders strongly enough?
Why were probation and family treatment central ideas in the early juvenile court system?

Politics, Law & Government Law, Crime & Punishment

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External Websites

Cornell University Law School - Juvenile Justice
Cornell University Law School - Juvenile Justice

juvenile justice

Written by

Donald J. Shoemaker

Professor of Sociology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and Director, Center for the Study of Violence in Society. Author of Theories of Delinquency: An Examination of Explanations...

Donald J. ShoemakerAll

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Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

juvenile justice, system of laws, policies, and procedures intended to regulate the processing and treatment of nonadult offenders for violations of law and to provide legal remedies that protect their interests in situations of conflict or neglect. Punishable offenses that are classified as criminal offenses for adults (e.g., murder, robbery, and larceny) are referred to as delinquency when committed by juveniles, whereas juvenile offenses mandating legal intervention only (e.g., alcohol and tobacco use, truancy, and...

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