JUVENILE JUSTICE TS AMERICA: PHILOSOPHICAL REFORMS

I had best at the outset say some limiting or qualifying things about the title which appears on the program. There is something unfair, or at least unduly seductive, about the word "reform." It is difficult not to be in favor of reform. Reform is modern; it is forward looking; it is good; and it is quite in bad taste to stand squarely opposed to reform. Yet the truth is that dispute and dis agreement embellish virtually every aspect of this subject in Ameri ca, and I would be grossly misinforming you if I masked in any way the philosophic turbulence that is so prominent. So if you would view the subject as one of "change," then I think it might be easier for you to agree or disagree with my own views about whether I am talking about reforms or so-called reforms, whether the change is progress or regress, whether vice or virtue is at the heart of the matter. A second caution is also called for, although it cannot be dealt with by semantic manipulations. For identifying the central issue as one of "change" introduces a dimension of change-over-a-period of-time and the question: How can you know where you are going unless you know where you have been? Change is a process; not an event. There is, in other words, only a little sense in the concept of change unless it is seen in the context of a large sense of history. On account of a number of reasons, however, I can do no more than note that what follows would benefit greatly from a compre hensive history of juvenile justice in America which is, as far as I know, yet to be written.