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Achieving Juvenile Justice through Abolition: A Critical Review of Social Work’s Role in Shaping the Juvenile Legal System and Steps toward Achieving an Antiracist Future

Author

Listed:
  • Durrell M. Washington

    (Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA)

  • Toyan Harper

    (Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA)

  • Alizé B. Hill

    (Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA)

  • Lester J. Kern

    (Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA)

Abstract

The first juvenile court was created in 1899 with the help of social workers who conceptualized their actions as progressive. Youth were deemed inculpable for certain actions since, cognitively, their brains were not as developed as those of adults. Thus, separate measures were created to rehabilitate youth who exhibited delinquent and deviant behavior. Over one hundred years later, we have a system that disproportionately arrests, confines, and displaces Black youth. This paper critiques social work’s role in helping develop the first juvenile courts, while highlighting the failures of the current juvenile legal system. We then use P.I.C. abolition as a theoretical framework to offer guidance on how social work can once again assist in the transformation of the juvenile legal system as a means toward achieving true justice.

Suggested Citation

  • Durrell M. Washington & Toyan Harper & Alizé B. Hill & Lester J. Kern, 2021. "Achieving Juvenile Justice through Abolition: A Critical Review of Social Work’s Role in Shaping the Juvenile Legal System and Steps toward Achieving an Antiracist Future," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-17, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2021:i:6:p:211-:d:569602
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ryon, Stephanie Bontrager & Winokur Early, Kristin & Kosloski, Anna E., 2017. "Community-based and family-focused alternatives to incarceration: A quasi-experimental evaluation of interventions for delinquent youth," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 59-66.
    2. Lee, Lewis Hyukseung & Goodkind, Sara & Shook, Jeffrey J., 2017. "Racial/ethnic disparities in prior mental health service use among incarcerated adolescents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 23-31.
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    Cited by:

    1. Dettlaff, Alan J. & Abrams, Laura S. & Teasley, Martell L., 2023. "Interrogating the carceral state: Re-envisioning social work’s role in systems serving children and youth," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).

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