Racial inequality within the juvenile justice system has been cited by numerous studies. This racial inequality is generally referred to as disproportionate minority contact (DMC), and the causes have been debated in the literature for decades. Using a relatively unique methodology for DMC literature, this study incorporated in-depth interview data from thirty male juveniles residing in a private correctional facility to elucidate possible causes of DMC. By analyzing and comparing the experiences of incarcerated juveniles, support for theories of systemic racism, Donald Black’s self-help or the community justice theory, and Agnew’s general strain theory was found. Themes that emerged from the qualitative data include differences in neighborhood and family contexts for minorities compared to whites, variations in motivations for engagement in criminal activity, and differences in the interactions with police officers and perceptions of the police based on race. Specifically, major findings show minority participants were more likely to describe anger and revenge as the most common reason for committing crimes compared to whites, who frequently cited boredom as their primary reason for engaging in criminal activity. Furthermore, black, Latino, and Native American participants were more likely to report growing up in dangerous neighborhoods than whites. Police interactions also showed a racial discrepancy, with whites receiving more chances from the police, and minorities being repeatedly arrested by the same officer slightly more frequently than whites. Overall, findings suggest that disproportionate minority contact is a result of disproportionate levels of strain and injustice experienced by minorities compared to whites.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Aug., 2009. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Over the last several decades, punishment in school has become increasingly harsh. Students are suspended and expelled for minor infractions or are being referred to the criminal justice system for behaviors that, in the past, were largely dealt with by school administrators. In addition, school districts are hiring their own police and security forces, and surveillance technologies are becoming a permanent part of school budgets and spaces. Three converging social trends have facilitated these changes in school discipline: (1) the steady growth of a pervasive sense of social anxiety coupled with a political and cultural shift away from rehabilitative to more punitive forms of punishment (e.g., imprisonment, the death penalty, etc.); (2) a series of moral panics in the 1980s and 1990s about drugs, gangs, and violence that heightened fear of, and for, the nation’s youth; and, (3) shifts in both policing philosophy and funding towards increased police penetration into community settings. Concerns are mounting that the intertwining of schools and criminal justice has forged a “school-to-prison pipeline” for some students, especially special education students, poor students and students of color. My dissertation focuses on one aspect of the pipeline: issuing citations to students for school misbehavior. There are three questions I seek to address: For what behaviors or activities are students being ticketed? What are the characteristics of students being ticketed? After school- based citations enter the courtroom, how are these students processed? I use quantitative and qualitative data to address these questions. My larger argument is that school discipline processes not only have significant consequences for the life chances of our country’s young people, but they also have very serious consequences for the civil liberties of all public school students and for the socialization of our young people into the principals of democratic citizenship. / text

This thesis investigates the development of a multi-professional youth justice team in Falkirk,Central Scotland, established following the Scottish Executive (2000) Youth Crime Review. The contribution of the multi-professional team was examined in relation to the potential benefits of having a range of professionals in one team operating in broader partnership arrangements. The extent that these arrangements facilitated implementation of evidence-based practice was also explored. Local strategy was analysed as a constituent of national policy, as Scotland began to develop a youth justice system containing aspects of the `Third Way' corporatist, managerial model evident in England and Wales. The multi-professional youth justice project of Connect was the focus of the thesis, although close multi-agency networks necessitated analysis of wider partnership arrangements. Employing a multi-methods case study approach maximised the available data and provided a rich understanding of the context and processes of local policy development. Interviews with a range of stakeholders in the Falkirk area constituted the primary data source, supported by observation of the working arrangements, document analysis and secondary statistical data. Elements of action research allowed ongoing data to be utilised by Falkirk Council to develop service provision while the research progressed. Findings are examined in relation to the wider theoretical implications of adopting a `what works' agenda in a youth justice system that has, for over thirty years, been predicated on a diversionary welfare principle. The arrangements in Falkirk may provide a model for multiprofessional youth justice work that does not embrace a centralised, punitive agenda. The research indicated that a multi-professional project could make a positive contribution to wider multi-agency arrangements, supporting the government aims of increased partnership working. It also suggested that operational developments, facilitated by practitioners in a bottom-up approach, could implement change capable of delivering services utilised and appreciated by service users, and meeting the standards set by the Scottish Executive. Further research will be necessary to provide evidence regarding the effectiveness of specific partnership arrangements in reducing offending and improving the circumstances of young people. While the individual nature of local authority responses to the Youth Crime Review indicates that a national solution may not be desirable, the findings from Falkirk provide data about those factors that may facilitate or inhibit developments in partnership working, which is now part of the framework of youth justice provision in Scotland. Individual case studies can provide evidence that youth justice practice in Scotland can retain a local, child centred focus. Such evidence may halt further moves towards a `one size fits all' justice model, which predominates in England and Wales.

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Philosophy

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

In recent years, youth offending has become the subject of widespread public interest and over the past few decades, various child reform movements have taken place. Child justice reform efforts focus on children’s reintegration into their families and communities and the enhancement of prospects for a crime-free life in the future. It is a system that focuses on holding children responsible through restorative justice approaches. The Child Justice Act (75 of 2008) seeks to achieve this balance by reflecting societal concerns and responding reflectively and proportionately to children in the criminal justice system. The Act is based on restorative justice principles and provides the framework for a criminal justice system specifically geared to deal with youth offenders. Section 2 of the Act makes specific provisions for the diversion of children away from the criminal justice system to suitable reintegrative and rehabilitative diversion programmes. Currently diversion programmes are aimed at the youth, with minimal input required from parents and family members. While much has been written and researched about how dysfunctional families can contribute to children turning to crime, the role of parents and families more generally in preventing repeat offending and misbehaviour is under-researched. There is also a dearth of research on the implementation and outcomes of diversion programmes and more specifically on the role of the family before, during, and after the diversion process. An intriguing issue is how parents of children attending a diversion programme view their child’s offending behaviour, the diversion process itself, their involvement in the process, and ways that can be introduced to improve and/or increase their level of involvement. The study found that the majority of the children benefitted from the programme in terms of positive behaviour change and preventing reoffending. Parents who had supported their children during the course of the programme tended to have better relationships with their children, and were able to sustain the outcomes of the programmes more efficiently. This study concludes by making recommendations in respect of how restorative justice values and principles can be adequately incorporated and enhanced through the participation of all children in conflict with the law in Family Group Conferencing. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Problem gambling currently affects between 5-7% of youth ages 12-18 (Hardooon & Derevensky, 2002); however, rates of problem gambling among youth who are involved with the Juvenile Justice System are more than twice that of school sample rates (Lieberman & Cuadrado, 2002). Furthermore, disordered gambling often co-occurs with substance use and criminal activity (Huang & Boyer, 2007), issues that are compounded in the Juvenile Justice population. The current study assessed gambling behaviors and risk factors of 145 youth involved in juvenile, juvenile drug, and family courts. Results indicated that nearly 13% of these youth are currently problem gamblers, and that males and African-Americans had higher problem gambling rates than female and Caucasian youth. Furthermore, gambling-related crime, substance use, scope of gambling activities, and time in detention facilities were all predictive of problem gambling severity, while suicidal ideation, urban environment, and lottery sales per capita were not. Finally, having a parent with a gambling problem also emerged as a risk factor;however, the risk was greater for males than for females. These results present a distinct need for youth to be screened for gambling problems upon entering and exiting the Juvenile Justice System, and for prevention and intervention services to be offered within juvenile and family court settings. Furthermore, communities need to take an active role in preventing youth gambling problems through increasing public awareness and insuring that appropriate and accurate messages reflecting gambling opportunities and outcomes are presented.

The aim of this study was to critically examined the juvenile justice system with regard to the theory of restorative justice as a better alternative to the punitive system that recognizes the rights of children as human rights is in line with the convention on the rights of the child. This research looked at punishment as a penal option, which the court imposes on a person for committing a crime. By means of a case study with regards to the One Stop Youth Justice Centre in Port Elizabeth, this study argued that the restorative method of dealing with youth offenders is a better alternative in contrast to the punitive system.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, June, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.