1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910821158003321

Autore

Paik Leslie

Titolo

Discretionary justice [[electronic resource] ] : looking inside a juvenile drug court / / Leslie Paik

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New Brunswick, N.J., : Rutgers University Press, c2011

ISBN

1-283-37127-8

9786613371270

0-8135-5097-1

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (238 p.)

Collana

Critical issues in crime and society

Disciplina

345.794/02770269

Soggetti

Juvenile courts - California

Drug courts - California

Youth - Drug use - California

Drug abuse - Treatment - Law and legislation - California

Juvenile delinquents - Rehabilitation - California

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Inside the black box of drug court justice -- Setting and methods -- What court day is he?--intercourt variations -- Building accountability through assessments of noncompliance -- Social construction of drug test results -- It's not just his probation, it's mine: parental involvement in the drug court -- Youth trajectories in the court -- (In)justice of discretion--drug courts as therapeutic punishment and therapeutic justice.

Sommario/riassunto

Juvenile drug courts are on the rise in the United States, as a result of a favorable political climate and justice officials' endorsement of the therapeutic jurisprudence movement--the concept of combining therapeutic care with correctional discipline. The goal is to divert nonviolent youth drug offenders into addiction treatment instead of long-term incarceration. Discretionary Justice overviews the system, taking readers behind the scenes of the juvenile drug court. Based on fifteen months of ethnographic fieldwork and interviews at a California court, Leslie Paik explores the staff's decision-making practices in assessing the youths' cases, concentrating on the way accountability



and noncompliance are assessed. Using the concept of "workability," Paik demonstrates how compliance, and what is seen by staff as "noncompliance," are the constructed results of staff decisions, fluctuating budgets, and sometimes questionable drug test results. While these courts largely focus on holding youths responsible for their actions, this book underscores the social factors that shape how staff members view progress in the court. Paik also emphasizes the perspectives of children and parents. Given the growing emphasis on individual responsibility in other settings, such as schools and public welfare agencies, Paik's findings are relevant outside the juvenile justice system.