Using the procedure of informal probation, the juvenile court in Columbia County (Georgia) is experimenting with a panel of age peers who determine case disposition for certain offenses and offenders. The authors describe the innovative progam and present the results of a qualitative program assessment using information from in-depth interviews and questionnaire responses. The data indicate the program is popular with peer jury members, youthful offenders, and parents. The positive nature of the responses suggests that further research be done to determine if peer juries are any more or less successful than other juvenile court programs.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Althuzzen, F.
1977 “Juvenile offenders in South Australia,” in P. Wilson (ed.) Delinquency in Australia. St. Lucia: Univ. of Queensland Press.
2.
Campbell, T.1977“Punishment in juvenile justice.”British J. of Law and Society (Summer): 77-86.
3.
Empey, L.
1982 American Delinquency. Homewood, IL: Dorsey.
4.
Krisberg, B.
and J. Austin 1978 The Children of Ishmael. Palo Alto, CA: Mayfield.
5.
Rubin, H. T.1979“Retain the juvenile court? legislative developments, reform directions, and the call for abolition.”Crime and Delinquency, 25 (3): 281-298.
6.
Rutherford, A.
and R. McDermott 1976 Juvenile Diversion: Phase I Summary Report. Washington, DC: National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice.
7.
Sanders, W.
1981 Juvenile Delinquency: Causes, Patterns, and Reactions. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.
8.
Sarri, R.
and P. Bradley1980“Juvenile aid panels: an alternative to juvenile court processing in South Australia.”Crime and Delinquency26 (1): 42-62.
9.
State of Georgia
1980 The Juvenile Court Code. Chapter 24 A-10 (Informal Adjustment)Secretary of State, Atlanta, Georgia.
10.
Thornton, J.
, J. James, and W. Doerner 1982 Delinquency and Justice. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.
11.
Voight, L.
and W. E. Thornton 1983 “Social control theory—soviet style: a peliminary discussion of delinquency causation in the Soviet Union.” Presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Denver, Colorado.
