Prevention and Control of Juvenile Delinquency Research Proposal

Prevention and Control of Juvenile Delinquency - Research Proposal Example According to Hepburn and Goodstein (1986), criminal justice reforms are organization initiatives to develop programs that respond and reflect sociological perspectives on the development and prevalence of crime. Though reforms have been initiated mostly through social action, the implementations of reforms entail legislative or judicial action (Lupton, 1999; Lint, 2007). There are also a number of ways and modes for the advancement of reforms programs. In the United States, for example, criminal justice reforms trace its roots in the Pennsylvania Prison Society, considered as the original society-based or lobby group for penal reform in the country (Pillsbury, 1989). While in the case of the United Kingdom, criminal justice reforms were developed in legislative assemblies and were enforced as acts of parliament considered to be more political than social actions (Stenson & Sullivan, 2000; Parks, 2007). In the studies done by Gorton and Boies (1999) and Keith (2002), penal reforms are among the most sensitive to change and have historically been the focus of criminal justice reforms. However, recent trends have shown a greater emphasis on crime prevention, social collaboration in rehabilitation and integration (Squires, 2006). Increasing cost of criminal justice proceedings, penal systems, and rehabilitation programs as well researches emphasizing the rehabilitation of offenders have all contributed to the divergence from punitive regiments (Kemshall & Maguire, 2001). Hughes (1998; 2007) points out that this level of sensitivity and responsiveness is also dependent on changing trends in social perspectives and existing state capacity to implement criminal justice programs. He notes that the changes are not changes in held values but rather changes in the approach of providing a means to pursue offenders and deliver restitution to victims.