An American View on Contemporary Youth Justice

• In Event: The Treatment of Young People in the Criminal Justice System: A Synthesis of Local Perspectives

Abstract

This paper focuses on some of the contemporary developments in youth justice policy that span American states in the areas of rehabilitative practices and sentencing reform. It focuses in particular on the rise of evidence based practices in both custody and the community, the use of risk-based instruments, and the emergence of trauma-informed approaches. The paper will also point to trends in the states to shift young people out of custody into the community, and what the dramatic decline in detention numbers means for both custodial practices and those in the community, particularly with respect to mental health treatment. Finally, the paper will examine a burgeoning movement to push back on the punitive policies of the 1990s through state-based efforts to ‘raise the age’ of criminal responsibility, and the consequences of these efforts for youth justice approaches, particularly those that are seemingly more rehabilitative.

Author

• Alexandra Cox, State University of New York, New Paltz