Juveniles and the Justice System

The juvenile justice system is divided into two separate branches: delinquency and dependency. The purpose of this chapter is to give a basic understanding of both systems, explain how they work, and allow us to familiarize ourselves with some of the common terminology. Because the goals of the juvenile justice system are historically different, and in many states still are very different than the adult criminal justice system, the purpose of the delinquency petition is very different. As modern psychology has continued to advance so has our understanding of juvenile development. Modern psychology provides indirect proof that adolescents are cognitively and socially less mature. The chapter discusses how juvenile delinquency cases are initiated and how it is varied greatly from state to state and even from community to community. A case can get started in juvenile dependency court whenever there are allegations of parental abuse or neglect.