Juvenile Justice and the Rehabilitative Ideal: A Response to Mr. Stapleton

Abstract

In the typical juvenile delinquency case, a child is arrested by a policeman for the alleged commission of a criminal act; taken to a police station where he is interrogated by the arresting officer and others who attempt to extract a confession from him; brought before a judge; accused of committing a crime; prosecuted, and, if found guilty, sentenced to prison or probation. Labeling such a process "civil" rather than "criminal," and asserting that its purpose is the rehabilitation rather than the punishment, deterrence and incapacitation of offenders, does not alter the reality of what happens to the child. A "finding" is a verdict, "involved" means guilty, an "act which if done by an adult would be a crime" is a crime, a "disposition" is a sentence, and a "training school" is a prison.