Juvenile Courts

Juvenile courts handle cases involving offenses committed by young people. In the United States, the laws differ among the various states concerning the age and subject matter jurisdiction of their juvenile courts as well as the procedures that govern how cases are heard. Ideas about juvenile courts play a prominent role in discussions of children and childhood studies because issues such as who is treated as a juvenile or an adult, what consequences are appropriate for an adolescent or a child, and what roles family, community, race, class, and gender play in each child’s life and legal outcomes are implicated when a young person becomes the subject of a juvenile court proceeding. This entry offers an overview of juvenile courts in the United States and ...