Child advocacy in the justice system

William S. Davidson II, Ph.D. is As sistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Michigan State Univer sity, East Lansing; Charles A. Rapp, MSW, is Research Associate, Uni versity of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Completion of this article was facili tated by Research Grant MH 22336 01 from the National Institute of Mental Health to Julian Rappaport and Edward Seidman and by an All-University Research Grant from Michigan State University to the first author. The authors acknowledge the assistance of Drs. Julian Rappa port and Edward Seidman and of Nancy A. Rapp and Warren A. Rhodes. In addition, they express their appreciation to Dr. Michael Brooks for his help in the conceptualization of this article. STRATEGIES FOR ADVOCACY An increasing concern of American the establishment of a nationwide net society has been the problems of youth, work of federal, state, and local ad in particular juvenile delinquency and vocacy councils that would be inde youth crime. As witness to this, Shah pendent of traditional social agency observed: "It can be said with little functioning. The recommendations, fear of exaggeration that the phenomhowever, have been open to highly ena of delinquency and crime constivaried interpretations.5 tute one of the most critical domestic The report of the joint commission problems presently facing the counwas a direct indictment of national pol try."1 This situation has led to a icy and of the adequacy of services be myriad of new approaches and suging provided to the country's youth.0 gested solutions.2 The advocacy approach suggests that The rationale for these current dedelinquent youths, like all youths in velopments parallels the events that this country, actually require the re led to the original creation of the judirection of community resources and venile court in this country at the beincreased social potency rather than ginning of the twentieth century.3 Diseither intensive professional individ satisfaction with the treatment of deual services or the enrichment of their linquents, violations of individual deprived environments, rights, the ineffectiveness and ineffi ciency of large institutional programs, and inflated probation caseloads have all led to recent suggestions for alternaActually, although several general tive programs. One prominent strategy characteristics of child advocacy have that has been suggested as an alternaemerged, little has been forthcoming tive is child advocacy. This article proabout specific strategies for child ad poses to describe the conceptions and vocacy since the joint commission's re background underlying the child advoport. First, the recommendations of cacy approach and to outline a multichild advocacy appeared to be revi ple-strategy model of child advocacy, talizations of the principles that guided Because of the widespread attention this country's efforts in the federally that the advocacy approach has refunded War on Poverty programs, ceived and the dearth of specific preCommunity organization approaches scriptions for action or evaluation, it to social problems had provided a large seems critically important to describe part of the rationale behind such the inception of such a model. earlier efforts as the Office of Eco The tactic of child advocacy as a nomic Opportunity and the Com legitimate strategy for intervention munity Action Program. Approaches with youths have recently enjoyed a such as these are hardly new to the rapid rush to prominence. Child advosocial service fields.7 cacy was injected into the social serSecond, several roles have been sug vice field by several federal governgested for child advocates that include ment reports, the most potent of which generating the necessary community was the Joint Commission on Mental resources for the client or with the Health of Children. Consider the folclient, or teaching the client to become lowing statement from one of its rehis own advocate. The National As p0rts; sociation of Social Workers' Ad Hoc Committee on Advocacy has suggested