Chinese Journal of Sociology ›› 2016, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (4): 212-240.

Previous Articles     Next Articles

The Creation of “Juvenile” and Its Demise: A Sociological Inquiry on U.S. and Japan's Juvenile Justice

XIAO Shihao   

  1. Department of Sociology, School of Social and Behavioal Sciences, Nanjing University
  • Online:2016-07-20 Published:2016-07-20

PDF

653

Abstract:

This study attempts to expose the socio-historical mechanism that gave birth to the concept of juvenile and the juvenile justice system in America and Japan. It points out that both are social constructs that are historically and culturally specific. The emergence of writing culture began the distinction between child and adult. Industrialization, urbanization and nuclear family structure have brought a new conceptualization of childhood. This modern idea of childhood as a special development stage distinctive from the adult world became the base for the conception of juvenile and the modern juvenile justice system. However, the new social media environment and the increasingly individualistic nature of western societies have transformed yet again not only childhood itself but the idea of childhood as well, leading to the dissolution of “juvenile” and the adultification of the juvenile justice system in America and Japan. The Chinese juvenile justice system is still in its infancy, largely a carbon copy of Western practices. Law makers in China should not blindly copy foreign systems without questioning their validity. Instead, they should reassess the system, give the Chinese reality a thoughtful examination and formulate realistic laws in dealing with delinquent children. Legal scholars also should free themselves from legal documents and pay attention to concrete conditions, thus avoid the usual formalistic presumption from theories.

Key words: Juvenile Justice, sociological study, America, Juvenile, Japan