Juvenile Justice in Britain and the United States by Phyllida Parsloe

Author:Phyllida Parsloe [Parsloe, Phyllida]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Sociology, General
ISBN: 9781351561464
Google: Ly8rDwAAQBAJ
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Goodreads: 3700531
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 1978-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1969

There is a great deal of criticism of the juvenile justice system in England and Wales from those holding a welfare approach as well as from those who are closer to a criminal justice approach. Some writers trace the problems to the piecemeal way in which the Act has been brought into force.(47) What was intended as a way of providing help for troubled and troublesome youngsters, has lost its clear philosophy and is now a jumble of contradictory approaches which pleases no one. Berlin and Wansell(48) suggest that social workers saw the Act as giving support to the idea that offenders need help, not punishment, and as curtailing the power of the magistrates to make detailed decisions about the treatment of children. Such decisions, according to social workers, should be made by those professionally trained to understand the special needs of troubled children. The Act, as it has turned out, is not based fully upon a welfare approach, and has left the magistrate power to make what social workers regard as punitive orders.

The magistrates, on the other hand, see the Act as giving too much power to the executive. One magistrate, when he resigned, wrote in a letter to ‘The Times’ that ‘the impartial judiciary had been devalued in favour of the executive’. Magistrates say they sign what amounts to a blank cheque(49) when they make a care order. Even their clear intention that the subject of the order should no longer live at home may be ignored, since the social service department can place a child back home immediately. This probably does not happen often, but it has considerable impact when it does occur, since it is taken to illustrate the divergence between the sentencing philosophy of the courts and the thinking of child care specialists. The magistrates feel powerless to carry out their duty to protect the public.

A note from the Magistrates Association to the House of Commons Expenditure Committee’s Social Services Sub-Committee on 13 December 1974, outlined the areas in which the magistrates experienced particular difficulty. In summing up their recommendations the Secretary stated:(50)

Fines should be made enforceable. The Juvenile Court should have power to remand ‘in custody’ when the local authority should have a duty to provide secure accommodation. In making a care order the court should have power to require that the juvenile be sent to an institution. More institutions should be available, and some reclaimed that were lost when approved schools were ended. In particular, more secure accommodation should be provided there. Supervision orders should permit the court to impose conditions and sanctions for breach. In short, the law should be tightened up to provide effective powers and facilities for dealing with the minority of persistent juvenile offenders.

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