history of juvenile justice

Question 1

ancient times

Answer 1

• little distinction between people based on age
• Greeks encouraged misbehavior among youth
• youth were property of fathers
• youth & adult punishments were similar: brutal & physical in nature

Question 2

middle ages

Answer 2

• society was interdependent
• age-based distinction was whether you could work in the field
• short life spans (abuse, neglect, short lives)
• people were considered adult at 7 (could speak & work)

Question 3

colonial period

Answer 3

• labor shortage led to youth working at a young age
• gender-based distinction started to develop
• English common law was concerned with mens rea
• white & non-white youth treated differently

Question 4

mens rea - English common law

Answer 4

under 7: incapable of acting with mens rea ‘infancy’
7-14: grey zone with no clear legislation, things dealt with on a case-by-case basis
14 +: considered an adult and therefore fully capable of mens rea

Question 5

revolutionary period

Answer 5

economic shifts from agriculture to industry, printing press gave more people access to ideas, schools developed, some ideas of deviance/delinquency stratified by class start emerging

Question 6

development of schools

Answer 6

shift toward formalized education was the start of creating systems specifically for juveniles and no longer viewing them as ‘younger adults’

Question 7

child saving era (1800s)

Answer 7

religious & social reformers focused on creating better lives for abused, neglected, or delinquent children; using scientific knowledge to improve society through different institutions

Question 8

institutions in 1800s

Answer 8

almshouses
asylums
farm & labor schools
houses of refuge

Question 9

houses of refuge

Answer 9

• housed poor children to keep them away from a criminal life
• moral & religious training
• kids assigned there by courts for being delinquent, dependent, neglected, or pre-delinquent & all kids were treated the same
• kids often abused & subjected to prison-like conditions
• operated under parens patriae
• changed how reformers viewed parents (lazy, incompetent, deficient)

Question 10

first house of refuge

Answer 10

New York - 1825

Question 11

first house of refuge for black children

Answer 11

Philadelphia - 1850
previously children had been sent to adult prisons or segregated in houses of refuge

Question 12

industrial revolution 1800s

Answer 12

large-scale shifts in society
increased immigration
urbanization

Question 13

adolescence

Answer 13

concept was being developed in late 1800s
completely at odds with labor practices which gave activists momentum for social change

Question 14

progressive movement (1890s - 1914)

Answer 14

• modernization, technology, and immigration posing challenges to society
• schools were age-graded public schools & child labor laws were in place
• ‘youth are redeemable’ meant houses of refuge were pointless

Question 15

first juvenile court

Answer 15

Cook County Illinois - 1899

Question 16

juvenile justice in progressive era

Answer 16

• juvenile courts start appearing, by 1925 all but 2 states have them
• juvenile courts were meant to be rehabilitative (psychological & sociological theory) so court was less adversarial
• status offenses created
• courts favored white boys with ‘potential’

Question 17

mid-to-late 20th century

Answer 17

juvenile courts being questioned in the ’60s
- boomers = teenagers
- anti-war & civil rights social movements
- drug use
- justice system criticized by both sides: targeting marginalized communities & being too soft on crime

Question 18

current day

Answer 18

view of delinquency returning to progressive era
- juvenile crime trending down
- SCOTUS decisions reinforce idea that youth deserve a second chance
- characterizations of juvenile offenders are more charitable
- neuroscience shows youth are still developing