Juvenile Justice

Promising approaches in both policy and practice have emerged that should serve as beacons to guide professionals as they renew their determination to ensure fairness for all races and ethnicities in child serving systems. Indeed, when those systems are equitably treating children of color, then all children will benefit.

Delinquency is strongly correlated with disruptions in positive interpersonal connections. Traditional approaches in juvenile justice only exacerbate this disconnection. Promising approaches strengthen bonds with youth and positive adults and peers in their community.

With more than 1,200 local Youth and Teen Court programs in America—Europe, Australia, Asia, and Canada are now implementing this model to harness the positive peer influence of youth volunteers to reduce juvenile crime.

Does the new realm of positive psychology and strength-based strategies complement or clash with the remedial discipline of social control traditionally practiced in juvenile justice programs?