From Rehabilitation to "Just Deserts": A History of Juvenile Justice in the United States
Keywords:
juvenile justice, rehabilitation, punishment, childhood conceptions, Progressive Era reforms, historical contextAbstract
This article analyzes the evolution of the juvenile justice system in the United States, tracing its development from the founding of the first juvenile court in Chicago in 1899 to contemporary debates about rehabilitation versus punishment. The paper explores how the juvenile justice system has been shaped by competing conceptions of childhood, with early reforms emphasizing the idea of children as passive, innocent, and dependent, necessitating rehabilitation. The article argues that this perspective has increasingly been challenged by a punitive approach that views some youth as irredeemable and in need of 'just deserts.' This study examines the historical context of juvenile justice, including colonial-era practices where children were often treated as adults in legal proceedings. The author contends that the shift towards a separate juvenile justice system was driven by Progressive Era reforms aimed at protecting children from the perceived dangers of urban industrial centers. The significance of this work lies in its demonstration of how cultural conceptions of childhood and societal changes have influenced the administration of justice for young people, highlighting ongoing tensions between rehabilitation and punishment.
The abstract and keywords were prepared retrospectively for indexing purposes using AI-assisted tools and editorial review, based on the original article. They did not appear in the original publication.)
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