Psychology and the juvenile justice system.

Abstract

with its goal of understanding human behavior, has only recently applied its accumulated knowledge to the broad problems affecting all levels of society. A good example is provided by psychology's involvement with issues related to the juvenile justice system. Although juvenile delinquency-its causes, cures, and programs to deal with it-has traditionally been perceived as the realm of sociology, criminology, and political science, psychology has recently taken a more active role in this area. Nevertheless, psychology has only begun to tap its vast potential for making useful inputs to the understanding of delinquent behavior and the development of public policy and advocacy for these youths. In this essay, I consider some of the contributions psychology has made and how it can productively increase its future involvement.The criminal justice system and mental health system exist in our society alongside each other as almost totally separate institutions. Youths who are arrested for delinquent acts, for example, receive a course of treatment different from the one they would have received had they been brought to a mental health center. In the former case, the youth is considered "a criminal"; in the latter, "psychologically disturbed" (Sobel, 1979). To date, psychologists have primarily been involved with the youths in the mental health system. The data relating to the involvements of psychologists in the criminal justice system reveal a disappointing picture. In the APA Manpower Survey of 1975, only 349-less than \% of APA's membership-identified themselves as being primarily employed in a setting related to the criminal justice system. The APA Task Force on the Role of Psychology in the Criminal Justice System (1978) surveyed these 349 members. The 203 respondents reported a median of only 10% of their activities to be related to juveniles (Clingempeel, Mulvey, & Reppucci, Note 1). The main involvements reported were those traditionally known to the courts, that is, providing psychologi-1020 • OCTOBER 1979 • AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST

Family Therapy with Delinquents: A Critical Review of the Literature

“…In addition, increasing political pressure to emphasize punishment (for example, mandatory minimal sentences) rather than rehabilitation has fueled the antitreatment stance. This trend comes perilously close to "throwing the baby out with the bathwater" in its summary dismissal of all treatments without adequate examination of the effects of specific interventions and the variables influencing a given intervention's effect on delinquency (95,96). It is our view that psychological research, in general, has much to offer the juvenile justice system.…”