Deck 5: Controlling the Young: The Emergence and Growth of the Juvenile Justice System

Question 1

The Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents was founded in the 182Os. This society was comprised primarily of wealthy businessmen and professional people. They convinced one legislature to pass a bill in 1824 establishing the first correctional institution for young offenders in the United States. What was this first house of refuge called?

A) The New Jersey House of Refuge.
B) The New York House of Refuge.
C) The Massachusetts House of Refuge.
D) The New Hampshire House of Refuge.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The attention of the juvenile court and its supporters was mainly against the children of the poor. Which other subgroup of the poor received most of the attention from the juvenile court?

A) Jewish persons.
B) Native Americans.
C) European Immigrants.
D) Children living in the rural communities.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The juvenile court was founded on which of the following directives?

A) The court should function as a social clinic designed to serve the best interests of children in trouble.
B) Children brought before the court should be given the same care provided by a good parent.
C) Children should not be treated as criminals.
D) The rights to shelter, protection and proper guardianship are the only rights of children.
E) all of these

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Various court rulings (Ex Parte Crouse included) assumed that the Philadelphia, and presumably other houses of refuge, had a beneficial effect on its residents. The reason such corporal and physical abuses were allowed to continue without court or judicial intervention was:

A) Houses of refuge were not regulated by laws.
B) Houses of refuge were considered schools and not prisons.
C) The courts agreed that physical abuse were supposed to be good for the child.
D) No one ever pointed out such abuses to the courts.
E) These abuses were NOT allowed. Strict court involvement and regulation resulted in numerous arrest for child abuse.

Question 5

One of the most important legal doctrines concerning childhood, youth and the juvenile justice systems, and can be traced back to medieval England is something called parens patriae. In simple terms, this doctrine states:

A) The king, in his total authority, has the right to conscript (draft) young men of any age to be in his king's army.
B) The king, in his presumed role as the "father" of his country had the legal authority to take care of "his" people, especially those who were unable, for various reasons (including age) to take care of themselves.
C) The king, as ruler of his country, has the right to arrest or confine any person, juvenile included, for any reason that the king sees fit.
D) Juveniles who are already considered delinquent are now considered beyond any hope of rehabilitation, and as such can be incarcerated with impunity.
E) Juveniles who have been arrested for minor crimes can be released to their parents without a court order, providing the parents are willing to assume responsibility for their subsequent actions.

Question 6

During the 19th century thousands of immigrant children who were homeless, delinquent, potential delinquents, etc. were sent out west on what were known as "orphan trains." This program was part of the work of the:

A) New York House of Refuge.
B) Child Savers.
C) Children's Aid Society.
D) Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents.

Question 7

In the case of Mary Ann Crouse, the court decided that:

A) parents' wishes must always come first in dealing with problem children.
B) children have rights when the state is deciding their futures.
C) parents and the state should work together to plan how to deal with problem children.
D) the state must act to protect children when it feels that parents cannot or are "unfit."

Question 8

One major problem with the educational system in these reformatories was the jobs and skills the inmates were forced to learn. Instead of learning farming and cultivation skills, the youths were:

A) Taught domestic and servant skills that prevented most youths from getting hired, since many people of that day couldn't afford servants.
B) Taught outdated production skills that were not used in modern factories, and as such, prevented the youths from getting jobs upon their release.
C) Taught factory trades which confined the youths to working in large cities, the exact environment the child savers believed were responsible for the initial delinquency.
D) Taught sophisticated agriculture and biotechnology methods thus alienating many of the local farmers who refused to hire the youths.
E) all of the above

Question 9

Prior to the 19th century the behavior of children and youth was dealt with on a relatively informal basis. Almshouses or other forms of incarceration was rarely used against members of one's own community. The most appropriate reason for this was:

A) It wasn't nice to lock up your neighbor.
B) It was always people from out of town who were committing the crimes.
C) The labor from children was in too high a demand.
D) There was no money from the state to lock up children.
E) There were no facilities available to incarcerate children and minors.

Question 10

The "child savers" who helped create the juvenile court typically applied which model to delinquency:

A) medical
B) legal
C) classical
D) conservative
E) due process

Question 11

In the mid-1800s, most members of the juvenile justice system believed that the delinquent's family was generally considered a major source of the problem. Poor upbringing, bad habits, drinking and immorality were commonly accepted parental sources. Which religion did these "experts" believe were also indicative of these "symptoms"?

A) Jewish.
B) Protestant.
C) Catholic.
D) Quaker.
E) Mormon.

Question 12

Children confined in the houses of refuge were subjected to strict discipline and control. It was strongly believed that military principles including unquestioning obedience would add to a youth's training in self control. Which of the following corporal punishments was not utilized to maintain order?

A) Hanging children by their thumbs.
B) Solitary confinement.
C) Tying girls to a chair and dunking her underwater.
D) Using a "ball and chain"
E) All of the above were utilized.

Question 13

Which of the following was not a social condition that led to the founding of the House of Refuge in 1824?

A) Many citizens were upset with the treatment of children by the adult justice system.
B) Urban residents were disenchanted with problems brought about by the rapidly increasing population such as filth, poverty and crime, especially among Irish immigrants.
C) The juvenile court was not being effective.
D) Many homeless children begging in the streets

Question 14

It was believed that reformatories for children should be built in the country, and they should be modeled on which of the following programs:

A) The custodial plan.
B) The cottage plan.
C) The reformatory plan.
D) The Quaker plan.

Question 15

The decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1838, in the case of Ex-Parte Crouse basically said:

A) The Bill of Rights did not apply to minors.
B) The State would be held responsible for children who commit crimes.
C) Parents who didn't supervise their children's parties would be responsible for damages.
D) Houses of Refuge MUST supply health care and educational opportunities to the children forced to reside there
E) Quaker children CANNOT be forced to undergo Protestant religious training while under state control.

Question 16

According to Platt the "New Penology" consisted of all of the following except:

A) Indeterminate sentencing.
B) the "reformatory plan."
C) the "cottage plan."
D) Houses of Refuge.

Question 17

The Puritans in Colonial America linked delinquency and ____; children who misbehaved violated _____ law.

A) inheritance; evolutionary
B) inheritance; the family's
C) sin; God's
D) work; civil

Question 18

The inherent conflict within the juvenile court from the beginning has been between:

A) parens patriae versus in loco parentis
B) the court as social work agency and the court as a legal institution
C) the court as a court of "first resort" and a court of "last resort"
D) the rights of juveniles versus the rights of victims

Question 19

The child saving movement was perhaps the most successful in:

A) Reinforcing the "dependent status of youth."
B) Expanding the definitions of "delinquency" to behaviors formally ignored or treated informally.
C) Making industrial schools more humane.
D) a and b only

Question 20

Almost without exception religious instruction inside houses of refuge consisted of Protestant indoctrination. This made sense because most of the managers were Protestant and most of the inmates were:

A) Protestant.
B) Not religious and need some religious instruction
C) Unsure of their religious upbringing.
D) Quakers and as such not worshipping any known God.
E) This made no sense since most of the inmates were Catholic.

Question 21

Houses of Refuge were called "schools" by most early supporters.

Question 22

The Ex Parte Crouse case focused on issue of "double-jeopardy."

Question 23

The New York House of Refuge was established to confine young adult offenders between 18 and 24.

Question 24

In the new juvenile court, the judge ideally was to be:

A) a wise and kind parent
B) a punitive disciplinarian
C) a preserver of constitutional rights and liberties
D) a disinterested trier of fact

Question 25

What are some of the reasons why "certification" tends to target African-American youths?

Question 26

Recent Supreme Court decisions (e.g., In re Gault) have reinforced the parens patriae doctrine. Short

Question 27

Briefly discuss some of the more recent Supreme Court cases, especially that of Gault and Kent. How do these cases compare with cases like Crouse, the O'Connell case and the Fisher case of 1905?

Question 28

In colonial America both boys and girls were subject to state control until they reached the age of 21.

Question 29

Briefly compare the "child saving movement" with the movement that established the houses of refuge. How were they similar? How were they different?

Question 30

Most institutions for girls in the U.S. were opened during the last half of the 19th century, after which the rate of such building decreased.

Question 31

The term parens patriae refers to a belief in the importance of maintaining ties with one's parents while incarcerated.

Question 32

The justification for the "stubborn child" law in colonial times was found in:

A) The Code of Hammurabi
B) English common law
C) the Bible
D) the Ten Commandments

Question 33

Houses of Refuge were established for youths aged 18-21 who committed criminal acts.

Question 34

The case of People v. Turner (Danny O'Connell) essentially reinforced the doctrine of parents patriae and the Crouse decision.

Question 35

In the case of Ex Parte Crouse the Court ruled that the children could not be committed to institutions without a jury trial nor the youth having an attorney.

Question 36

The definition of "delinquency" originally provided by the 1899 Illinois Juvenile Court Act was:

A) acts that would be criminal if committed by adults;
B) acts that violated county, town or municipal ordinances;
C) violations of such catchalls as "vicious or immoral behavior," etc.
D) all of the above
E) a and c only