Criminal Justice:

Theory/Analysis

Despite more than a century of legal precedent in the founding, development, and institutionalization of separate and specific practices for juveniles in the justice system-the past two decades have witnessed significant increases in the criminalization and institutionalization of youth, particularly youth of color. While many jurisdictions exercise greater reliance on transfers of juvenile cases to the adult system, many young people are labeled "dual-status" or "dual-jurisdiction," i.e. simultaneously entangled in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, a disproportionate number of those being youth of color.

Critics have derided these practices as harmful, expensive, and evidence of a "poverty-to-prison" pipeline, while supporters of juvenile transfers contend austere get tough responses are both efficient and effective in combating juvenile offending.

Drawing from such courses as ‘Nature of Crime,' ‘Law and Social Control,' ‘Race, Crime, and Justice' and, ‘Issues in Ethics, Law and Criminal Justice,' broadly discuss the use and application of theory. Then, discuss how theory is useful to explain the criminalization and institutionalization of youth, specifically the legal treatment of juveniles as adults and "dualjurisdiction" status as they relate to a possible "poverty-to-prison" pipeline.

This question has two parts: you must respond to both A & B. As you answer, be sure to discuss the benefits and challenges to the application of theories when seeking to understand criminal justice-related issues such as treatment of juveniles as adults, "dual-status" or "dual-jurisdiction" juvenile cases, and "poverty-to-prison" pipeline.

Part A

How do criminologists theorize about deterrence and the role of poverty in offending from the classical (individual) and/or positivist (social) perspectives? Choosing one theory from each school of thought, compare and contrast each theory's core propositions and discuss their respective views of human nature and the need for institutionalized responses to criminal behaviors. Compare and connect the theoretical propositions of each theoretical approach to at least two empirical works of relevance to the topic of juvenile transfers or "dual-jurisdiction" juvenile cases while providing an overview of those studies as well as the caveats and limitations of the research. How may these theories and the corresponding research affect policy decisions related to the treatment of adolescents as adults and the disproportionate incidence of incarceration for youth of color?

Part B

Related to the issue of juvenile transfers to the adult system are an underlying historical and criminological foci on the role poverty plays in crime and the assertion that poor, neglected, and abused young people of color might be more disposed to break the law. Compare and contrast two theories of offending that focus on the role of poverty, structural strain, institutional breakdown, or labeling to explain how each approach the social nature of offending, the framing of structural forces such as poverty, stratification, and/or mobility, and identifies and critiques the nature and scope of legal responses, such as juvenile transfers and "dual-jurisdiction" cases.

Finally, discuss how and why more recent criminological perspectives, such as critical-race and feminist theories address history, economy, race, gender, class, and other structural considerations that influence juvenile transfers and "dual-jurisdiction" cases.