Contemporary trends in juvenile justice

Master's Thesis from the year 2004 in the subject Law - Criminal process, Criminology, Law Enforcement, grade: A, Kyushu Daigaku (Kyushu University, School of Law), course: LL.M. International Economic and Business Law, language: English, abstract: Reforms in various juvenile justice systems have traditionally been

identified as shifts towards either the welfare/individual treatment

model (¿Welfare Model¿) or retributive justice model (¿Retributive

Model¿). In Welfare Model systems, criticisms that the juvenile

offender was treated with too much leniency and was not made

accountable for his actions resulted into reforms which focused on

retribution and greater punishment. In Retributive Model systems,

criticisms that retribution and punishment did not actually reduce

recidivism of offenders resulted into reforms which focused on their

rehabilitation and treatment.

The tension between these two models arise in the different treatment

accorded the primary actor in this system, the juvenile offender. In the

Welfare Model, the juvenile offender is considered victim of his

circumstances and is given individualized treatment in accordance

with his needs. On the other hand, the Retributive Model treats the

offender as a menace to society and punishes and incarcerates him.

Both models, however, fail to take into account two other important

figures in the system ¿ the victim whom the offender has wronged and

the community which is indirectly harmed by the wrongful acts of the

offender. The failure of existing models in addressing the needs of the

victim and society led to reforms in their key components. A notable reform in the Retributive Model reflects the growing concern

for the victim and the efforts made to enhance victim participation in

the system. Rather than simply focusing on punishment of the

offender through state processes, the victim is given greater

participation and role in the sanctioning process. This can be seen in

the reforms made in Japan¿s juvenile justice system. Another

important reform in the Retributive Model is the building of positive

community support and pressure such as the parent responsibility

ordinances and juvenile curfew statutes in the United States.