Achieving Juvenile Justice through Abolition: A Critical Review of Social Work’s Role in Shaping the Juvenile Legal System and Steps toward Achieving an Antiracist Future
The first juvenile court was created in 1899 with the help of social workers who conceptualized their actions as progressive. Youth were deemed inculpable for certain actions since, cognitively, their brains were not as developed as those of adults. Thus, separate measures were created to rehabilita...
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MDPI AG
2021-06-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/6/211 |
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doaj-dbfcc77b6cf244ef96966bdd3ed5b4312021-06-30T23:24:58ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602021-06-011021121110.3390/socsci10060211Achieving Juvenile Justice through Abolition: A Critical Review of Social Work’s Role in Shaping the Juvenile Legal System and Steps toward Achieving an Antiracist FutureDurrell M. Washington0Toyan Harper1Alizé B. Hill2Lester J. Kern3Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USACrown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USACrown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USACrown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USAThe first juvenile court was created in 1899 with the help of social workers who conceptualized their actions as progressive. Youth were deemed inculpable for certain actions since, cognitively, their brains were not as developed as those of adults. Thus, separate measures were created to rehabilitate youth who exhibited delinquent and deviant behavior. Over one hundred years later, we have a system that disproportionately arrests, confines, and displaces Black youth. This paper critiques social work’s role in helping develop the first juvenile courts, while highlighting the failures of the current juvenile legal system. We then use P.I.C. abolition as a theoretical framework to offer guidance on how social work can once again assist in the transformation of the juvenile legal system as a means toward achieving true justice.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/6/211juvenile justiceabolitionantiracismsocial work historyjuvenile courts |
| collection |
DOAJ |
| language |
English |
| format |
Article |
| sources |
DOAJ |
| author |
Durrell M. Washington Toyan Harper Alizé B. Hill Lester J. Kern |
| spellingShingle |
Durrell M. Washington Toyan Harper Alizé B. Hill Lester J. Kern Achieving Juvenile Justice through Abolition: A Critical Review of Social Work’s Role in Shaping the Juvenile Legal System and Steps toward Achieving an Antiracist Future Social Sciences juvenile justice abolition antiracism social work history juvenile courts |
| author_facet |
Durrell M. Washington Toyan Harper Alizé B. Hill Lester J. Kern |
| author_sort |
Durrell M. Washington |
| title |
Achieving Juvenile Justice through Abolition: A Critical Review of Social Work’s Role in Shaping the Juvenile Legal System and Steps toward Achieving an Antiracist Future |
| title_short |
Achieving Juvenile Justice through Abolition: A Critical Review of Social Work’s Role in Shaping the Juvenile Legal System and Steps toward Achieving an Antiracist Future |
| title_full |
Achieving Juvenile Justice through Abolition: A Critical Review of Social Work’s Role in Shaping the Juvenile Legal System and Steps toward Achieving an Antiracist Future |
| title_fullStr |
Achieving Juvenile Justice through Abolition: A Critical Review of Social Work’s Role in Shaping the Juvenile Legal System and Steps toward Achieving an Antiracist Future |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Achieving Juvenile Justice through Abolition: A Critical Review of Social Work’s Role in Shaping the Juvenile Legal System and Steps toward Achieving an Antiracist Future |
| title_sort |
achieving juvenile justice through abolition: a critical review of social work’s role in shaping the juvenile legal system and steps toward achieving an antiracist future |
| publisher |
MDPI AG |
| series |
Social Sciences |
| issn |
2076-0760 |
| publishDate |
2021-06-01 |
| description |
The first juvenile court was created in 1899 with the help of social workers who conceptualized their actions as progressive. Youth were deemed inculpable for certain actions since, cognitively, their brains were not as developed as those of adults. Thus, separate measures were created to rehabilitate youth who exhibited delinquent and deviant behavior. Over one hundred years later, we have a system that disproportionately arrests, confines, and displaces Black youth. This paper critiques social work’s role in helping develop the first juvenile courts, while highlighting the failures of the current juvenile legal system. We then use P.I.C. abolition as a theoretical framework to offer guidance on how social work can once again assist in the transformation of the juvenile legal system as a means toward achieving true justice. |
| topic |
juvenile justice abolition antiracism social work history juvenile courts |
| url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/6/211 |
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