ABSTRACT
Comparative Juvenile Justice Policy: Lessons from Other Countries Audry Passetti Alida V. Merlo Peter J. Benekos
As reviewed in Chapter 1, juvenile justice policy in the United States is somewhat paradoxical. Although there is evidence of excessively harsh sanctions, there are also indications of a softer approach to dealing with youth. It is useful to examine other countries’ juvenile justice systems to contrast similarities or differences in their policies. This chapter presents a brief summary and comparison of juvenile justice in five countries: Canada, Sweden, Russia, Japan, and China. There are limitations to comparing countries: the definitions of offenses, the categories of offenses, the age or mental status when youth are considered juveniles, and the record keeping vary from country to country (Reichel, 2002; Finckenauer, 2001:196; Zalkind & Simon, 2004). In addition, the differences in history, governments, culture, economics, and politics affect how youth are perceived and the philosophy of juvenile justice. These constraints preclude comparing every aspect of juvenile justice policy. Nonetheless, there is an opportunity to discuss observations about juvenile justice in other countries.
