etween the twin missions of punishment and rehabilitation, just as there is in the adult criminal justice system. With juveniles, however, there is the added belief that the offenders are less responsible for their actions than are adults, that the system has a role as substitute parent, and that alternatives to incarceration are particularly valuable to combine these missions. However, 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.
The first juvenile court in the United States was founded in 1899 in Cook County, Illinois, which includes the city of Chicago. The court was the work of individuals and organizations dedicated to many social causes including prison reform, women's suffrage, the abolition of poverty, and child welfare. The court was structured on the legal model of British institutions, first the Court of Chancery under which the king acted as parens patriae (or the father of his country) to exercise guardianship over wards of the state, and the presumption in the English common law that children are more innocent than adults. These ideas had been embraced by the child welfare movement which established institutions for juveniles to keep them out of New York and Boston adult jails. In the 1860s and 1870s, separate hearings were held for juveniles in some courts, and agents were often appointed to attend juvenile hearings to protect the interests of the child. However, it was in Chicago where welfare ...