A Study and Evaluation of Probation as Practiced in the Cases of Twenty Adolescent Girls by the Queens County New York Children's Court: January, 1944, to December, 1946
Abstract
This study deals with an evaluation of the probation method as aa tool in the control of juvenile delinquency. The purpose of the study is to analyze the quality of the probation service as practiced in a juvenile court. The aim of the study is to ascertain the effectiveness of the services provided by the Probation Bureau of the Children's Division of the Domestic Relations Court of Queens County, New York, during the- three year period, from January, 1944 to December 1946. The study is based upon an analysis of twenty cases of adolescent girls adjudged delinquent by the Qμeens Court and placed on probation during the three year period. The author is particularly interested in setting up criteria for effective probation and comparing the practices of the Queens Court to these standards. Consideration will be given to the causes for its ineffectiveness, where this is found and recommendations for improvement will be made. Special attention will be given to the role of the probation officer during the probation period, particularly in the diagnostic and treatment phases of probation. The author is interested-in studying the activities of the probation officer in gathering relevant material and in interpreting and using significant data to assist the child towards adjustment. Specifically, the author desires to analyze the biologic and cultural background or the study cases and to determine what attempt has been made by the Court to rehabilitate them. The author shall attempt to answer the following question: 1. Who are these delinquent girls? 2. What is the nature of their delinquent behavior? 3. Did the Probation-Bureau understand their problems? 4. What effort was made to assist them to deal with their difficulties? In this study, attention is directed to twenty adolescent girls who have been referred to the Children's Division of the Domestic Relations Court of Queens County and placed on probation. Any adolescent girl manifesting delinquent behavior and not taken before the Court has not been considered in the study. The author limited the study to adolescent girls since it was felt that to include all delinquent adolescents would enlarge the study beyond that which was planned. Furthermore, the author's experience in the Court was limited to work with girls. Attention is being geared to the adolescent because most of the cases of female delinquency reaching the Court are adolescents. Since there are so few cases of younger girls in the Queens Court, it would be difficult to obtain reliable generalizations.
Subject Area
Developmental psychology|Womens studies|Criminology|Social work
Recommended Citation
Schiller, Mildred S, "A Study and Evaluation of Probation as Practiced in the Cases of Twenty Adolescent Girls by the Queens County New York Children's Court: January, 1944, to December, 1946" (1949). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI29281843.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI29281843
