Description
Book SynopsisUsing the commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a case-study, along with two other states as controls, this book examines how BARJ legislation “trickles down” to the law enforcement level through Pennsylvania’s Juvenile Justice System Enhancement Strategy (PJJSES) and the Juvenile Justice Act (JJA). This legislation is a direct application of the BARJ model to law enforcement, essentially directing police discretion in the direction of informal dispositions. The decision to dispose formal action (such as, a referral to either juvenile court/probation, criminal court, or adult criminal court) or informal action (for instance, handling the situation within the department and/or releasing the juveniles to parents with a warning), play an integral role in determining which juveniles contact the justice system. To this end, while the overall focus of our volume and research is specifically on the impact of the PJJSES and its 2012 amendments on the number of formal dispositions of juvenile suspects by law enforcement officers, it speaks more broadly to the ability of the BARJ model to affect police officer behavior through influencing their decision-making processes.
Trade ReviewPolice Pursuing Justice is an engaging and well-written book that provides a thorough examination of the impact of BARJ legislation on policing in three states of the United States. This book can be an excellent resource for students/scholars who are interested in restorative justice policing.
-- Chunghyeon Seo, University of Central Oklahoma
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: A Primer on the Historical Development of Juvenile Justice
Chapter 2: Balanced and Restorative Justice
Chapter 3: Police and Discretion
Chapter 4: Our Questions and How We Answered Them
Chapter 5: BARJ and the Police in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Minnesota
Chapter 6: Does Legislation Matter? What it All Means.
Chapter 7: Policy and Behavior: Policing Juveniles in the 21st Century
Appendix A: Data Management
Appendix B: Change Scores
References
About the Authors
