One Size Does Not Fit All: Juvenile Justice in The International Arena and a Call For Comparative Analysis
One Size Does Not Fit All: Juvenile Justice in The International Arena and a Call For Comparative Analysis

Summary/Abstract: Juvenile crime is a global enigma which virtually every country struggles to come to terms with. In this paper we trace the evolution of juvenile crime and the emergence of juvenile justice systems. We explore some of the major international initiatives that have been established to help address the plight of juvenile crime. The paper then presents an overview of six major models of juvenile justice that can be found around the world. These models serve as basis for suggesting that it would be instructive for countries to engage in comparative analysis and research in an effort to define a juvenile justice model that could be described as a “best practices” model – one that addresses the juvenile crime problem but that also addresses the needs of young offenders. This discussion is placed within the context of various interna¬tio¬nal agreements and the article concludes with a call for policy reforms to not only be grounded within a comparative framework but to be based on evidence informed research.

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