Primary Task Response:Within the Discussion
Board area, write 400 words that respond to the following questions with your
thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future
discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to
reinforce your ideas.
The objective of this assignment is to enable
you to demonstrate your understanding of the relationship between justice
policy and case processing and management using an example from the
juvenile justice system. In 2004, researchers at the University of Colorado and
the University of Bremen (Germany) reported on a cross national study funded by
a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. (This free research report can be
accessedhere: and downloaded in
PDF format). NOTE: if for whatever reason this link does not work, you can also
go tohttp://www.ncjrs.gov/,
click on "Juvenile Justice" and in the keyword search within topic
box, enter the grant number XXXXXXXXXXto download a PDF version of the report and
also view the abstract and the agency summary.
According to this report, there are some key
differences between these two jurisdictions in terms of how juveniles are
treated, with the system in Bremen being more lenient and
“diversion-oriented" and the one in Colorado being more “punitive.” In
Colorado, offenders can be arrested at a much earlier age than in Bremen and
are more often processed via juvenile court and detention, whereas in Bremen,
dismissal of cases or diversion from formal court processing occurs in the vast
majority of cases. Although the findings must be tempered by the limitations to
the research discussed in the report, the authors nevertheless offer
conclusions that should be considered by court administrators, including these:
(1) arrest and imposition of sanctions are generally ineffective strategies and
(2) policymakers should examine whether increasing the levels of severity in
juvenile sanctions is an effective approach to reducing subsequent delinquency.
In this Discussion Board assignment, you have
several tasks:
·
First, demonstrate your understanding of what the authors mean by
“diversion-oriented system” versus “punitive- or punishment-oriented system."
·
Second, offer your perspective on whether a shift toward a
“diversion” and away from a “punishment” (arrest, court processing, court
trial, possible detention) model for dealing with juvenile offenders would be
effective in the U.S. juvenile justice system.
·
Third, find an example of a diversion-oriented model that has been
applied by a U.S. state or county juvenile court system, and describe its main
features.
·
Finally, suggest how you think a diversion-oriented shift might
impact case processing and case flow management.
YOU MUST HAVE 6 REFERENCES!