Chapter 9 Autonomy

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Adolescents are both the victims and perpetrators of crime. When do we think of them as children, and when as adults?

• The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention provides an excellent historic overview of the juvenile justice system and its change from a philosophy of rehabilitation and individual justice to increasingly punitive system governed by mandatory sentencing laws. State by state summaries of how juveniles are treated in the legal system are included. They also provide a variety of information on juvenile justice, including spotlights on:
• Women and Girls in the Criminal Justice System
• Juvenile Arrests
• Trying Juveniles as Adults in Criminal Courts: An Analysis of State Transfer Provisions
• Juvenile Arrest Rates
• Offenders in Juvenile Court
• Juveniles and the Death Penalty
• Research on Women and Girls in the Juvenile Justice System
• Juveniles in Adult Prisons and Jails
• Juvenile Court Statistics
• Profile of State Prisoners Under Age 18
• Resources for Juvenile Detention Reform
• Juvenile Court Placement of Adjudicated Youth
• Juveniles Facing Criminal Sanctions: Three States that Changed the Rules
• The Juvenile Adjudication Page contains links to many more specific topics
• Teen Courts as an alternative to the juvenile justice system

• Listening to adolescents who have been arrested can help to break us away from stereotypes and see the range of youth who are in criminal justice system.
• This CNN video includes brief interviews with adolescents under sentence of death.
• Incarcerated Youth Speak Out is an outreach program of BluntRadio.org.

• This discussion of juvenile justice as it relates to the trial of serial killer Lee Boyd Malvo on NPR's Talk of the Nation includes commentary by Laurence Steinberg, author of Adolescence. A summary of state law about juveniles and the death penalty may help you put this issue in context.
• Girls are the most rapidly growing population entering the juvenile justice system. This topic is explored in a series of audio reports, including:
• Last Chance Ranch
• Girls in a Justice System Built for Boys
• Have Girls Really Become More Violent?
• State and Youth
• Girls Gangs

• One initiative of the Annie E. Casey Foundation is to reform the juvenile justice system. Their Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative page provides background reviews and new perspectives on what they see as the problem and potential for reforms. A major issue is that of re-entry. Does prison prepare youth for successful adulthood?