The effectiveness of the juvenile justice system

Abstract

Systematic assessment of the substantial research evidence on ‘what works’ has shown that flagship programmes have a modest effect, on average, in changing the future behaviour of young offenders. Yet actual juvenile justice systems do not typically deliver the modest benefits provided by programmes selected for evaluation, and probably they never will. Comparative research shows that a passive and lenient juvenile justice system may produce the same level of youth offending as an active and punitive one. Evidence that some programmes work should not be used as a platform for expanding the scope and activity of the juvenile justice system. Instead, the influence of juvenile justice on the future behaviour of young offenders should be seen as just one element in the evaluation of a system that will always struggle to meet a complex range of partly conflicting objectives.