Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Zane, Steven N.
• Mears, Daniel P.
• Dennis, Jeff A
• Gittner, Lisaann S
• Forbis, Robert E

Titel

Who Deserves Diversion? A Theoretical Critique of Mitigation, Consequentialism, and the Juvenile Court

Ist Teil von

• Journal of contemporary criminal justice, 2023-11, Vol.39 (4), p.570-589

Ort / Verlag

Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The juvenile court was created as a means of diverting youth from the criminal justice system, and, in turn, diversion within the juvenile court has been used for a variety of purposes. This paper argues that an understanding of diversion, and its implications, requires distinguishing deservingness and consequentialism. Analysis of the former goal entails a focus on mitigation and draws attention to a critical gap in scholarship—namely, how do juvenile courts decide which youth deserve diversion? While risk and needs assessments likely play a role, so, too, may mitigation assessments about which youth are more deserving of interventions that may impose less punishment and more rehabilitation. In advancing this argument, we discuss ways in which a focus on diversion, and on mitigation, help to illuminate fundamental tensions in juvenile justice. We discuss, too, ways in which this focus can help to advance research and policy.