Greifswald, Universität, Thesis (doctoral), 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

This research was focused on analyzing and interpreting the U.S. Supreme Court’s holdings in several cases that directly affect the juvenile justice system and the sentencing process of youth offenders. Drawing primarily from Miller v. Alabama (2012) and the Supreme Court’s ‘Miller doctrine’, this thesis goes against the viewpoints of many policymakers, arguing that life without parole and mandatory adult sentence minimums for youth offenders are ‘cruel and unusual’ punishments that are unconstitutional as sentencing options for a juvenile offender. In order to arrive at the conclusion that the aforementioned punishments violate a youth’s 8th Amendment right to a proportional sentence, this thesis drew from previously unavailable research in modern neuroscience that substantiates the Supreme Court’s claim that “Children are different” on a developmental basis and thus, can never possess the same degree of culpability for a crime as an adult offender. If one accepts the conclusions made in this thesis, it is a matter only of when, not if, the sentencing process for youth offenders experiences a paradigm shift on a legislative level, and becomes a much more efficient and successful process where rehabilitation becomes the foremost goal. If science and developmental psychology support the Supreme Court’s assertion that nearly all juvenile crime-activity is the result of “transient immaturity,” then why are 16 year olds being sentenced to life without the possibility of parole? This thesis explores the possible answers to this question, and anticipates the possible impediments to national changes in juvenile sentencing procedures.

As a growing field of research, neuroscience receives more and more attention from lay people as well as professionals in various contexts. This ESRC funded dissertation investigates how neuroscientific research findings influence juvenile justice practice in Scotland. The study concentrates on the aspect of aggressive behaviour in children and young people. The thesis begins by reviewing juvenile justice practice in Scotland. This is followed by an overview of key neuroscientific research findings possibly relevant for juvenile justice practice. Further context for this dissertation is provided by a review of the theoretical frameworks for understanding how practitioners use knowledge with particular reference to knowledge production and transdisciplinarity in social work. The thesis then moves on to an empirical analysis, based on a case study approach employing qualitivative data collection methods in addition to a discourse analysis of relevant neuroscientific research publications. The empirical chapters explore different aspects and perspectives of the process, by which neuroscientific research findings move from a scientific paper to juvenile justice practice. The conceptualisation of aggressive behaviour in the different social worlds of juvenile justice practice and in neuroscientific research publications is examined, and aggressive behaviour is identified as a boundary object that spans the analysed social worlds. The perspective of training providers and practitioners on the utilised neuroscientific knowledge is explored. The conceptualisation of neuroscience is then placed in the context of the day-­‐‑to-­‐‑day realities of juvenile justice practice, with the aim of understanding how this knowledge potentially changes practitioners’ perspectives towards service users. The knowledge utilisation process is investigated, with focus on the different actors and their roles in a context of transdisciplinarity in juvenile justice practice. In conclusion, the thesis provides recommendations for knowledge providers, practitioners, policymakers and academics by considering ways of improving a critical perspective on knowledge from other disciplines; encouraging training providers and practitioners to become more active participants in this knowledge utilisation process; and by including the need for working environments where active knowledge utilisation is integrated in the work place.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of History, June 1997. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 205-215).

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.) -- Lincoln University, 2009. / Also available via the World Wide Web.

Truancy, an unexcused absence from school, is a common, but worrisome reality for many of America’s school children. Truancy results in missed academic instruction for the student and missed state funding for schools based on average daily attendance figures. More importantly, chronic truancy can serve as one of the first indicators that a student is need of support, whether it is academic, economic, family, or personal (such as mental or physical health), before the onset of more serious delinquency. However, this early warning flag is often ignored or mismanaged, such as when truancy is criminalized and truant students and their parents receive tickets for the offense, including a large fee and early involvement with the juvenile justice system. Responses like this can further burden students and their families and cannot effectively address truancy, unless the root causes of truancy are addressed. States and school districts across the nation continue to implement programs and policies in an attempt to successfully prevent, reduce and manage truancy. Yet, information and consensus regarding the components of successful programs or policies are lacking. Without this information, jurisdictions are utilizing or attempting to implement a broad range of interventions and responses with very little attention being paid to evaluations to understand what to implement or to determine what works for youth and why. As a result, many truancy responses are just best guesses about what might work for youth, and some are even counterproductive. Failing to effectively address truancy fails youth in the short and long-term as future prospects are reduced. More information is known about what works and what does not with regard to truancy than many jurisdictions may realize. This report seeks to increase understanding of truancy and its causes, highlight the success (or lack thereof) of programs and policies, and demonstrate the wide variety of programs currently being implemented. Equipped with better information, jurisdictions can make better decisions to improve outcomes for students and their communities. / text

Over the past three decades, there has been a marked increase in juvenile sex offender legislation. The effect of these policies on reducing recidivism is not clear. The first two articles focus on the impact of Megan’s Law, utilizing a retrospective two-group time-series design to examine the sexual, violent, non-violent and status arrest rates for states where juveniles are required to register as sex offenders as compared to arrest rates in states where juveniles do not register as sex offenders and the data was analyzed using segmented regression analysis. There were no significant differences in the overall model or between groups for sexual or status arrest rates, nor in the between groups model for violent or non-violent arrest rates. However, there were significant differences in the overall model for violent and non-violent arrest rates before the passage of Megan’s law (violent: p = .000; non-violent: p = .030) and in the 11-year follow-up period (violent: p = .000; non-violent: p = .002). Implications of these findings are discussed. The last article focuses on Texas’s failure to pass the Adam Walsh Act, the most recent piece of juvenile sex offender legislation. The study uses a qualitative approach and data sources include targeted transcripts of the Senate and House hearings on the bill, as well as interviews with two of the staffers for the author of the bill. The data show Texas reached a tipping point and would not pass any more legislation in this area without data to prove its efficacy. / text

This thesis explores the recent introduction of restorative justice into the youth justice system in England. It examines the historical and political context from which current youth justice policies have emerged and aims to evaluate how this new system is functioning 'on the ground' several years after being implemented. Specifically, the primary aim of the research is to investigate final warnings and referral orders. The findings are based on an in-depth study of one Youth Offending Team (YOT). The research adopted a predominantly qualitative, case study based method utilizing techniques of observation, informal conversations, formal interviews with the young offenders and their supporters as well as with authority figures who are amongst those responsible for policy and practice in the youth justice system. The substantive chapters of this thesis focus on the delivery of final warnings, referral order panel meetings, victim participation, and the structural, cultural and political influences on YOT practice. This research concludes that at present, restorative practices in England are seriously compromised. However, simply because these programmes experience difficulties, they should not necessarily be considered a failure. The present failures in practice are not related to the philosophical foundation of these programmes or even to the way in which they have been set up. Rather, the current shortcomings in practice are due mostly to a failure of implementation on the part of the YOT. The final warning and referral order programmes, if improved, have the potential to become an effective first encounter with the criminal justice system and to impact positively on many first time offenders.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Drexel University, 2007. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-72).