Category: Trade

National Print, Trade, Varied & Misc

The Recidivism Trap

Rather than asking “what’s the recidivism rate?” we should ask an entirely different set of questions about justice interventions. Are we really helping people convicted of crimes to form better relationships with their families and their law-abiding friends? Are we helping them to advance their educational goals? Are they more likely to develop the skills and abilities required for stable employment? Are we helping them to respect others and to participate positively in the civic and cultural life of their communities? Continue reading The Recidivism Trap

Unknown's avatarJeffreyButts
Trade

NationSwell—The Impressive Top-to-Bottom Makeover of the Massachusetts Juvenile Justice System

At the height of the War on Drugs, policymakers generally split along partisan lines about how to respond to criminal acts by youth. The right wing saw unchangeable “super-predators” who needed to be incarcerated to restore law and order, while leftists saw victims of poverty who needed counseling and therapy, says Dr. Jeffrey Butts, director of John Jay College of Criminal Justice’s Research & Evaluation Center. Continue reading NationSwell—The Impressive Top-to-Bottom Makeover of the Massachusetts Juvenile Justice System

Unknown's avatarJeffreyButts
Trade

Interview with the International Juvenile Justice Observatory

The main challenge is that juvenile justice policies are not based on a simple, rational assessment of costs and effectiveness, or even on the basic concept of justice. Policy choices are affected by fear and emotion, as well as political/electoral competition, economic self-interest of governments and service providers, and the enduring battle between social classes as to who defines the origins and solutions to social problems. Continue reading Interview with the International Juvenile Justice Observatory

Unknown's avatarJeffreyButts
Trade

Congressional Quarterly Researcher—Reforming Juvenile Justice

… Americans have “a deep cultural instinct to punish as a way of changing behavior,” says Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. “And most people making decisions about policy are thinking about someone else’s kid,” not their own. Continue reading Congressional Quarterly Researcher—Reforming Juvenile Justice

Unknown's avatarJeffreyButts