Investigating the Rights of Youths
Take Action! —Equal Justice? Girls in the Juvenile Justice System
1. Read more about the viewpoints of the early reformers who focused on the condition of girls in Schooling and the Vexing Social Control of Girls by Bernardine Dohrn. How do these viewpoints differ from your own? From those of adults you know? Given the opinions of the early 1900s, what might you have done at that time to try to improve the condition of girls in the juvenile justice system?
2. Read recent articles about Girls in the Justice System Today. What trends are developing? Do they differ from past conditions? If so, how?
3. Visit the Youth Law Center and click "YLC Cases" to read about recent cases in the juvenile justice system. From your reading, is the system adequately protecting institutionalized girls and boys? Why or why not? Give examples.
4. Visit the MacArthur Foundation's Directory of Links to find out about organizations that are working to improve the conditions of children in the juvenile justice system today. What are the organizations' goals? Based on their Web site information and your reading of Bernardine Dohrn's article, do you think these institutions are adequately addressing the needs of girls? If not, identify what you think are faults in their approaches and e-mail the institutions, asking why those needs are not being addressed.
Student Central | Students in Action | Investigating the Rights of Youths
*Equal Justice? Girls in the Juvenile Justice System*
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