The Utopian World of Juvenile Courts

Abstract

Born in a period of great social reform, the juvenile courts of the United States promised a new deal for children caught up in the processes of criminal justice. For nearly fifty years, the courts were permitted to grow, and to develop, virtually without interruption, practices and facilities to comport with the philosophy of the court as a "social agency," designed not to punish but to help children in trouble. Examinations of the actual nature of the court and its procedures have, however, revealed that as a "social agency" the court remains largely an idea and an ideal. Its traditionally informal procedures, designed to reflect its noncriminal nature, have been criticized in recent Supreme Court cases. The resulting return to a more legalized approach may signal, therefore, a retrenchment in the work of the juvenile courts.