9th Annual Youth Violence Prevention Conference: Justice System Responses to Juveniles

Thursday April 8, 2010

Register Online

This year’s program examines the treatment of juveniles by the justice system.  Speakers will examine three main themes:

1. The underlying assumptions of the need for a separate juvenile justice system
2. Examination of juveniles’ interactions with law enforcement officers and how these interactions shape subsequent attitudes towards the police and the justice system
3. The extent to which the juvenile justice system disproportionately arrests and commits minority youth.

Beginning in the 19th century, a separate justice system was developed for juveniles.  Based on the assumption that juveniles are different from adults in terms of their competence and culpability, the juvenile justice system is based more on a rehabilitative model.

The past 40 years, however, have witnessed increasing criminalization of the juvenile court as well as growing public sentiment to hold juveniles accountable for their misdeeds. The age of majority has been lowered in numerous states and the sentencing of juveniles to adult sentences has increased.

At this time, it is important to assess the extent to which the juvenile justice system has lost its focus. To what extent can juveniles be held culpable under the law given their cognitive and emotional competence? In addition to these shifts in juvenile justice, there has been growing concern with the disproportionate confinement of minority youth.

It has been roughly twenty years since Congress, as part of the reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), included the disproportionate minority confinement mandate; now known as disproportionate minority contact (DMC). Speakers will address the current state of DMC in the juvenile justice system.

Who should attend?

• Professionals who work with at-risk youth
• Teachers
• Counselors
• Public health worker
• Probation officers
• Youth advocates
• Law enforcement officers
• Students
• Anyone interested in the welfare of children and youth

Sponsors

Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice
Continuing Education and Outreach
Des Lee Collaborative Vision

The Des Lee Collaborative Vision at the University of Missouri - St. Louis brings together key St. Louis educational, cultural, and governmental institutions to establish programs and share resources that will benefit the St. Louis community.  This is done through collaboration of more than 25 endowed professors and more than 100 member and community organizations in the St. Louis region.  The Des Lee Collaborative Vision is connecting St. Louis through educational and community partnerships.
Financial assistance for this conference has been provided by the Des Lee Collaborative Vision.