Five periods of juvenile justice history

This article discusses the five periods of juvenile justice history, including the Puritan Period, Refuge period, Juvenile Court Period, Juvenile Rights Period, and Crime Control Period. It highlights the changes in the justice system for juveniles over time and how the focus has shifted from punishment to rehabilitation and back to punishment.

Running Head: JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM
Five periods of juvenile justice history
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Juvenile Justice System
Five periods of juvenile justice history
The Juvenile Justice system is relatively new with its establishment being over a century ago.
In the year 1899, a first court hearing was held in Illinois. Before this, youth and children
were considered as young adults and as a result, they received similar punishments as
adults. The evolution of the Justice system amongst the juveniles has been in different
phases with the common ones being in the ancient controls of the social wellbeing and the
dependence on the English roots.
To start with, the Puritan Period was the first period and this was experienced between
1646 and 1824. During this period, fathers were given absolute powers over juveniles. In
most cases, they gave harsh punishments to children on the wrong side to the extent that
these punishments led to death. In the year 1646, the Stubborn Child Laws lead to the
creation of Status offenses such as incorrigibility.
The second period was the Refuge period between 1824 and 1899. Here, the state took over
from the family with the introduction of social control. Foster homes, houses of refuge and
reformatories were created. These were places where delinquents were sent for reform
purposes. The New York House of Refuge was then formed in 1824, (Vanstone, 2017, 22).
By using the “parens patriae” rule, courts were mandated to send mischievous youths to
these establishments until they became mature.
The third period was the Juvenile Court Period- 1899 to 1960. In 1899, the Juvenile Court
Act was enacted in Illinois. Courts were mandated to sentence children to different medical
models which were meant to treat them instead of giving them punishments. Crimes were

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Juvenile Justice System
seen as a disease. Similarly, adults and youths were not jailed together. In this period,
probation existed and youths were investigated and rehabilitated, most importantly, the
Federal government became involved in 1909 to 1925.
In 1960 t0 1980, the Juvenile Rights Period was experienced. This was when the Juvenile
Justice period was characterized by the four D’s namely; deinstitutionalization, Due process,
diversion, and decriminalization. It was established that youths have rights, especially under
the constitution hence the need to have a formal hearing, statement of reason,
representation by a counsel and access to records.
The fifth period is the Crime Control Period- 1980 to date. This era saw the return of the
conservative approach and the use of the Justice Model as opposed to the Medical model.
Also, the best interests of society have been put forward compared to those of the youths.
In addition, Deterrence and desserts were added to the four D’s, (Schreck, 2017, 3).
In light of the periods above, The Crime Control Period that started in 1980 till now stands
out and is influential/. This is because youth rights have been understood and the need to
have a better society has been prioritized. As such, tough measures were put in place by the
justice system so that crime amongst the juveniles is deterred. This can be seen from the
high number of prosecutors in different states, tough penalties and the desire to protect
society.

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Juvenile Justice System
References
Vanstone, M. (2017). Supervising offenders in the community: A history of probation theory
and practice. Routledge. 22
Schreck, C. J. (2017). The cycle of Juvenile Justice. The Encyclopedia of Juvenile Delinquency
and Justice, 1-4.