The juvenile justice system was designed to be different from the adult system in a number of ways, offering rehabilitation more than punishment and taking both a protective and a custodial role over its charges. As juvenile crime has increased in incidence and severity, the public has become less patient and has demanded punishment over rehabilitation, seeing this as a way to protect itself against the depredations of young offenders. Community based corrections programs are seen as a viable alternative to "detention centers" in the eyes of the justice system and other professionals who work with young offenders, but the creation of such programs must also protect the public from juvenile crime and will certainly come under increased criticism for any failure to do so. This continuing contradiction in the mission of the juvenile justice system, extended now to the community programs which are seen as an important component of the juvenile justice system of the future, needs to be resolved so the public feels safe and supports the programs. One form of program that has been instituted goes under different names but can be categorized generally as an intensive supervision program, or ISP.
The system that prevailed from the turn of the century was changed after the Supreme Court found flaws in the system, and changes were made in the early 1960s at both the state and federal levels with a substantial revision of juvenile codes to add many of the procedural safeguards called for by the Supreme Court. California and New York led the way with revisions following a period of an increase in appellate court cases involving the juvenile court, criticism of the lack of procedure in the juvenile courts, and the establishment of special commissions to study the problems of the juvenile courts. At the federal level, the changes that were brought about were fundamental and derived from concern brought about by increased juvenile arrests an...