Date of Award
8-1999
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Sociology
First Advisor
Dr. Charles Crawford
Second Advisor
Dr. Ron Kramer
Third Advisor
Dr. Subhash Sonnad
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
Teen Courts are rapidly emerging as one possible solution to the escalating juvenile crime problem in the United States. From the initial court, started over 20 years ago in Texas, Teen Courts are now in 30 states, with over 250 programs. As the crime problem grows within this population, a need for alternative methods to the Juvenile Court has emerged. Moreover, to date, no formal evaluation has been conducted between United States Teen Courts for a comparative study. Therefore, I sought to explore the following issues: (a) the need for Teen Court implementation, (b) a rationale for Teen Court existence, (c) research and concepts on Teen Courts, (d) overview of Teen Court programs' successes and failures, and, finally, (e) a personal and critical review of Teen Courts in the United States, followed by recommendations for the future justice systems.
The information this paper was compromised of personal interviews from members of the Kalamazoo Teen Court, books, and journals. Due to the invalidity of the data collected for this paper, analysis and a conclusion were inappropriate. Instead, this paper is designed to provide detailed information on a growing program.
Recommended Citation
Mathieu, Jon P., "A Policy Analysis of Teen Courts: A Look at Teen Courts as a Viable Alternative to the Juvenile Court System" (1999). Masters Theses. 4159.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/4159