1. Chapter 12
The Juvenile System
Chapter Outline
I. A Changing View of Young Offender
II. Development of the Juvenile Justice System
Before There Was a Juvenile Justice System
Foundations of the Juvenile Justice System
III. The Youthful Offender and the Criminal Justice System
Classification of Juvenile Offenders
Due Process for Juveniles
Privacy of Juvenile Court Proceedings
IV. Juvenile Justice System in the Twenty-First Century
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act
Judicial Waiver: Abandoning the Great Experiment
Mens Rea and Youthful Violent Offenders
V. Processing the Youthful Offender through the System
Intake
Deciding Between Juvenile and Adult Jurisdiction
The Juvenile Intake Officer: Gatekeeper and Counselor
Formal Processing
Adjudication
Detention and Probation (Aftercare)

2. Juvenile Death Penalty
VI. The Juvenile as Offender
Sociological Explanations
OJJDP’s Study Group on Very Young Offenders
Youth Gangs
Juvenile Substance Abuse
VII. Schools and Juvenile Violence
Strategies for Safe Schools
Responding to Violence on School Property
Reducing Bullying
Increasing Police Presence
Some School Safety Programs Create New Problems
The Juvenile as Victim
Innocence Lost?
Learning Objectives
After completion of this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Describe the goals of the juvenile criminal justice system.
2. Discuss major court cases that shaped due process rights of juvenile offenders.
3. Explain why states are beginning to hold juveniles more accountable for crime.
4. Detail how juveniles are processed through the juvenile justice system.
5. Talk about strategies being used to reduce violence in schools.

3. Key Terms
Blended sentencing option (p. 236) an option that allows the juvenile court or the criminal court
to impose a sentence that can include both confinement in a juvenile facility and/or confinement
in an adult prison after the offender is beyond the age of the juvenile court’s jurisdiction.
Breed v. Jones (p. 234) a case in which the Supreme Court ruled that once a juvenile has been
adjudicated by a juvenile court, he or she cannot be waived to criminal court to be tried for the
same charges.
Burden of proof (p. 233) the standard required for adjunction.
DARE (p. 249) one of the most popular in-school drug education programs
Delinquency petition (p. 240) a request to a judge to hear and judge a juvenile case in a formal
hearing for the purpose of determining whether the juvenile is to be declared delinquent.
Delinquent (p. 231) a juvenile accused of committing an act that is criminal for both adults and
juveniles.
Hybrid gangs (p. 247) a new type of youth gang with distinctive characteristics that differentiate
them from traditional gangs; they are frequently school based, less organized, less involved in
criminal activity, and less involved in violence than are traditional gangs.
In re Gault (p. 232) a case in which the Supreme Court provided due process rights to juveniles,
including notice of charges, counsel, right to examine witnesses, and right to remain silent.
In re Winship (p. 233) a case in which the Supreme Court ruled that the reasonable doubt
standard, the same used in criminal trials, should be required in all delinquency adjudications.
Intake (p. 238) the process whereby a juvenile enters the juvenile justice system.
Juvenile adjudication hearing (p. 240) the formal hearing conducted by a juvenile judge to
conduct an inquiry of the facts concerning a case and to decide the disposition of the case and
any rehabilitation, supervision, or punishment for the juvenile.
Juvenile boot camp (p. 243) a military-style group-oriented rehabilitation program designed to
alter the character and values of the juvenile offender.
Juvenile court (p. 231) a court that handles juvenile welfare cases and cases involving status
offenders and delinquents; some juvenile courts may handle additional matters related to the
family.
Juvenile drug court (p. 241) an alternative to the traditional adjudication process for juveniles
with substance abuse problems that focuses on rehabilitation and eliminating drug abuse

4. Juvenile intake officer (p. 239) a person who is responsible for both processing a juvenile into
the juvenile justice system and for aftercare if the juvenile is adjudicated, and has duties similar
to a police officer and a probation and parole officer.
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (p. 234) a law that sets federal
standards for the treatment and processing of juveniles in the criminal justice system.
Juvenile superpredator (p. 231) OJJDP term used to describe juveniles who commit violent
felony crimes.
Kent v. United States (p. 231) a 1961 Supreme Court case that marked the departure of the
Supreme Court from its acceptance of the denial of due process rights to juveniles.
McKeiver v. Pennsylvania (p. 234) a case in which the Supreme Court denied juveniles the right
to a trial by jury.
New York House of Refuge (p. 229) an early juvenile reformatory established by New York
State in 1824 that was to become the model for most juvenile reformatories.
Original jurisdiction (p. 230) the concept that juvenile court is the only court that has authority
over juveniles, so they cannot be tried, for any offense, by a criminal court unless the juvenile
court grants its permission for the accused juvenile to be waived to criminal court.
Parens Patriae (p. 230) the legal assumption that the state has primary responsibility for the
safety and custody of children
Roper, Superintendent, Potosi Correctional Center v. Simmons (p. 244) a case in which the
Supreme Court held that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments forbid imposition of the death
penalty on offenders who were under the age of 18 when their crimes were committed.
Schall v. Martin (p. 234) a case in which the Supreme Court upheld the right of juvenile courts
to deny bail to adjudicated juveniles.
Status offender (p. 231) a child who has committed an act or failed to fulfill a responsibility for
which, if he or she were an adult, the court would not have any authority over him or her.
Statutory exclusion (p. 236) provisions that allow for the transfer of juveniles to criminal court
without review and approval of a juvenile court for certain crimes.
Waiver (p. 236) the process of moving a juvenile from the authority of juvenile court to the adult
criminal justice system.

5. Chapter Summary
The goal of the juvenile justice system is to divert youthful offenders away from the criminal
justice system whenever possible. The historic foundation to helping juveniles can be traced to
the New York House of Refuge in the early 1800s. By the end of the Nineteenth century it was
clear that there was a crisis in the criminal justice system with regard to juveniles. Hence, the
first juvenile court was established in Cook County, Illinois.
During the Warren Court Era, the U.S. Supreme court took a more hands-on approach to
examining due process rights for juveniles. During the twenty-first century the Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention Act became a source of federal funding aimed at improving service
and facilities for juveniles. A significant number of today’s youthful offenders have mental
health issues, as well as disorders related to substance abuse.
Media to Explore
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention provides many resources on juvenile
justice. To view OJJDP’s homepage, go to www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org
To find the complete text of U.S. Supreme Court decisions such as Winship, Gault, and Kent, go
to www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html
You can view the complete text of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act at
www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles/ojjjjact.txt
Information about the national drug policy of the White House can be viewed at
www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov
The FBI provides a portal for access to the various state sex offender registry Web sites at
www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/cac/registry.htm
For information about juvenile gangs see the NCJRS resources at
www.ncjrs.gov/app/topics/Topic.aspx?TopicID=147