A primer on the issues confronting California's juvenile justice system
Purchase Print Copy
| Format | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add to Cart | Paperback14 pages | $20.00 | $16.00 20% Web Discount |
Juvenile crime is a problem for both citizens and government, not merely because kids do a lot of crime (which they do); and not merely because the seriousness of juvenile crime is increasing (which it has been doing over the past two decades). It is also a problem because of the conflict in values that any attempt at intervention raises. The problem with the so-called rehabilitative ideal of the juvenile system is not that forms of treatment--schooling, vocational training, work experience, behavior modification, group counseling, etc.--do not work. They all work to some degree. The problem is that there is no convincing evidence that one method or program works consistently better than any other--meaning that the design of treatment programs for any particular group of youths is fairly arbitrary. The alternatives to rehabilitation that can be invoked in guiding juvenile disposition policies are the concepts of deserts, incapacitation, and deterrence. These last three concepts are discussed in some detail.
This report is part of the RAND Corporation Paper series. The paper was a product of the RAND Corporation from 1948 to 2003 that captured speeches, memorials, and derivative research, usually prepared on authors' own time and meant to be the scholarly or scientific contribution of individual authors to their professional fields. Papers were less formal than reports and did not require rigorous peer review.
This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.