Course Description
The juvenile justice system, including the measurement of delinquency, contexts of adolescent socialization, and techniques of evaluation research.
Athena Title
Juvenile Delinquency
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in SOCI 3070S
Prerequisite
SOCI 1101 or SOCI 1101H or SOCI 2600 or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The juvenile justice system emerged out of the need to divert juvenile offenders from the criminal justice process. In creating this court, basic issues of due process of law were not a primary concern. Some 100 years after the creation of the first juvenile court, the lack of due process and the legal doctrine of parens patriae, which empowers the juvenile judge with guardianship, continue to plague this court. Students will be exposed to Supreme Court rulings and technical aspects of the juvenile court that separate it from the adult criminal court. Students will be introduced to official statistics, self-report data, and victimization data in trying to grapple with trends in juvenile misconduct. In the second part of the course, students will examine the theories of delinquency ranging from the biological to the sociological. These theories will then be applied to the social contexts of adolescent socialization. The last third of the course will examine the treatment and prevention of delinquency with an emphasis on institutionalization and probation. The conclusion of the course will focus on the evaluation of treatment programs currently being used by the juvenile courts. Students will be asked to demonstrate their mastery of the course content in written work that is appropriate for an academic context. Students will be asked to demonstrate their mastery of the course content in speech that is appropriate for an academic context.
Topical Outline
1. The nature of crime in society The concept of deviance The definition of juvenile delinquency 2. The invention of delinquency The discovery of childhood and adolescence Creation of the first juvenile court Juvenile court process Due process of law considerations 3. Official image of delinquent behavior 4. Alternative images of delinquency Self-reports Victimization surveys 5. Explanations of delinquency: Biological and psychological schools Sociological schools of thought 6. Contexts for adolescent socialization Family School Friends Media Religion 7. Deterrence and labeling 8. Juvenile imprisonment 9. New approaches to juvenile treatment 10. Prevention programs
Syllabus