Citation

Benekos PJ, Merlo AV, Cook WJ, Bagley K. J. Crim. Justice Educ. 2002; 13(2): 273.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (U.S.A.), Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10511250200085481

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The philosophy and practice of juvenile justice have experienced significant transformations in the last 100 years. A shift to “get tough” attitudes has prompted various legislative reforms and has changed if not hardened attitudes toward youth. In context of these policy developments and social attitudes, this paper summarizes a preliminary study of 1104 undergraduate students on their attitudes on juvenile justice policies in the United States. Student perceptions of school violence, and attitudes toward zero tolerance and drug testing are reported. The authors discuss the responses of criminal justice majors and consider the implications of their academic experience on knowledge and attitudes about juvenile justice.

1 A draft of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences on April 5, 2001 in Washington, D.C. The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of Amy Doane, Heather Powell, and Kari Repenning of Mercyhust College.