Date of Award
Fall 2018
Degree Type
Capstone - Open Access
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
First Advisor
Alicia Girgenti-Malone
Abstract
Over the past 30 years, the juvenile justice system can be described as a pendulum that swings between the concepts of rehabilitation and punishment. When the juvenile justice system was first created, rehabilitation and restorative justice were its primary purposes. However, over time the system has strayed from these views and has turned its focus toward punishment. The punishment focus has partially risen out of the communities’ fear of crime that has been ignited by the media concerning adolescents who are not deterred by the juvenile justice system. Nonetheless, it can be argued that the juvenile justice system should revert back to their original initiatives and focus on rehabilitation and restorative justice once again. Factors that support the juvenile justice system returning to rehabilitative methods are adolescent brain development and labeling theory’s impact on recidivism and the development of “career criminals.” These factors are important to consider in order to be able to decrease the effect that labeling theory has on an adolescent. Recommendations for improvement to current juvenile justice policy are made and policy implications are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Long, Cassandra, "Putting an End to the Punishment and Rehabilitation Pendulum" (2018). Criminology Student Work. 1.
https://scholarworks.merrimack.edu/crm_studentpub/1
