ABSTRACT
Most states continue to operate large institutions as their primary response to juvenile crime. Policymakers and juvenile justice professionals should design levels of programs and implement rational disposition schemes for juveniles based on criteria that provide rationally escalating consequences for behavior and certainty of enforcement. Caseworkers who manage small caseloads, who control placement decisions, and who monitor youths’ progress in programs are an integral part of risk control. Services and rewards are essential for building offenders’ self-control and sense of self-worth. The private sector is a valuable political ally in extending programs into the community, so that offenders can experience the benefits of reintegrative programming. Juvenile correctional systems are those that fail to acknowledge the heterogeneity of youthful offenders and, accordingly, fail to develop a diversity of programs. Juvenile justice, fundamentally, is a human service endeavor; implementation of goals depends on the connections that staff develop with youths.
