Youth Incarceration

Orisanmi Burton
University of the District of Columbia
Discipline(s): Criminal JusticeSocial Science
Syllabus Last Updated: 
September, 2016

In this course we will explore the various institutional bureaucracies that constitute the juvenile justice system and critically examine how they function in U.S. society. In doing so, we will engage with the following questions: How and why did the juvenile justice come into being? What are the key problems facing the juvenile justice system and what are the possible alternatives? What does our society’s treatment of young people who have committed harmful or heinous acts say about our values? How does race, class and gender influence who gets labelled a child and who is worthy of a second chance?