BOOK REVIEWS
THE
CHILD SAVERS: JUVENILE JUSTICE OBSERVED.
By Peter S. Prescott.
New York, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1981.
Reviewed by Thomas A. Sheehan*
Peter S. Prescott's book, The Child Savers, gives the reader a penetrating and frightening view of the day to day struggle of those who are
involved in the workings of the juvenile justice system. Social workers,
court officers, judges, attorneys and defendants have, at one time or
another, attempted with varying degrees of success to describe the
problems and their origins extant in our juvenile justice systems. But is
it possible for a reporter, as Prescott is, to merely observe and then
adequately tell this frustrating story? The problem is so large, and the
subject so complex, that there is a tendency on the part of those who
participate in the system to feel that a writer, even with Prescott's obvious skills, will find it impossible to master the complex flow of
human aspirations and the conflicting goals within this drama that is
played out each day in the courts charged with the responsibility of
solving children and family matters.
The author effectively uses his reportorial style to narrow the focus
of his investigation to New York City using a series of detailed individual cases which outline the pitfalls and Catch-22 mentality facing
those who are before the court, as well as the frustrations and helplessness of the operators of the system. From Los Angeles to Dallas to
Detroit and back to Boston, there is a steady and seemingly inexhaustible supply of children in crises: children absorbing pain and children
inflicting pain. An army of specialists seeks to unravel the puzzle and
provide answers. These are the "child savers."
The terminology of The Child Savers remains standardized and includes, but is not limited to, issues of abuse, neglect, crime, delinquency, the stubborn child, brutality and children in need of services.
The author captures and accentuates the pathos and indifference in
the chaotic, littered, noisy, odoriferous corridors of the courts of New
York City, which are at once the stage and prison for those partici* Legal Counsel, Massachusetts Department of Youth Services; J.D., Suffolk University Law School, 1961; B.S., Boston College, 1956. Mr. Sheehan is a former Assistant
Attorney General and former member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
CRIMINAL AND CIVIL CONFINEMENT
[Vol. 9
pants in Prescott's The Child Savers.
This is an important book because it pierces the veil of secrecy surrounding the entire juvenile justice system, and allows the public at
large to understand the magnitude of the problem and to join the debate over solutions. The plain fact is that the debate has raged on and
on for years among the "child savers" and, amazingly enough, the public, which pays the bill for each experiment within the system, has
largely been excluded from the councils where decisions are made.
Children and their resulting problems were deemed to be so complex,
that only those professionals familiar with the problems have been allowed into the decision making process. Literally millions of dollars
have been squandered in a vain attempt to find answers, and the architects of these attempts have been those within the system who spend
the money and then wring their hands when the solutions once again
evade them.
Each and every member of the "child savers" advocates a constituency beyond the child he or she purports to represent. This is so
whether it be a public defender, a member of a district attorney's staff,
a judge or a member of the probation department. Individually and
collectively they are each seeking some portion of the public pie devoted to the children's area. Peter S. Prescott comes close to pulling
the cover off this cauldron of conflicting aspirations, and then makes
his decision that the hero of this drama is Charles Schinitsky, Director
of New York's Legal Aid Society, Juvenile Rights Division.
Mr. Schinitsky is a likely hero among all the so-called villains. Schinitsky is working for the good of the children, protecting their rights
and fighting for better conditions. However, Prescott himself forgets
his earlier admonition to the reader that all those engaged in the children's puzzle tend to feel that since they are working on behalf of the
child, everyone else connected with the problem who' disagrees with
them must be the enemy. In this context, let us examine the constituency beyond the child which the Legal Aid Society champions.
The interest which Legal Aid (and other groups of public service attorneys) advocates is a continued growth of their own organization.
Working within a maze of federal grants, these groups keep steady
pressure on county, state and federal decision makers to assure a
steady flow of dollars into their area, increasing staff, and in effect
building a large self-perpetuating bureaucracy which, in their view, is a
necessary ingredient to solving the problems at hand.
The author notes that In re Gault guarantees certain rights to children who are before the courts which, with two exceptions- the right of
trial by jury and the right to an open public hearing- will give to children the same rights as are conferred in the adult system. It is debata-
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BOOK REVIEWS
ble whether equalization of children's rights with those of adults is a
desirable goal. The issue must be faced squarely. If all rights were exactly equal, then children could be as bad off as adults are who are
mired down in the criminal justice system. Charles Schinitsky, according to the author, prevailed upon the New York Legislature to grant
the same rights obtained under the Gault decision five full years before
Gault came down from the United States Supreme Court. Thanks to
Mr. Schinitsky, New York has been granting these rights for twenty
years. Is it the panacea Legal Aid thought it would be? Twenty years
later we are faced with clogged calendars, armies of legal aid lawyers,
continued delays and less delivery of services directly to the children.
Mr. Schinitsky continues to wring his hands and, joined by Prescott,
ruminates as to the successor of Schinitsky's empire.
The legal aid societies in New York are not the villains, nor are they
the answer to the problem. They have, in New York and elsewhere,
been successful in their continued growth because they have effectively
lobbied for a larger piece of the human service budget by frightening
the decision makers in Congress and state legislatures into believing
that they alone protect the children. These continued battles between
factions of "child savers" must cease. Turf wars between agencies accomplish very little for the children before the courts.
Prescott lashes out at the New York Legislature for its enactment of
a designated felony law for juveniles. Is the legislature supposed to sit
idly by watching the failures of the professionals entrusted with the
responsibility of operating the system and do nothing? They should
respond to the public outcry and take the problem in hand. In a day
and age of shrinking public tax dollars these professionals are on shaky
ground when they shift blame to legislators who have seen one experiment after another ftail, not for want of money, but rather, for lack of a
cohesive plan which does away with over-lapping bureaucracy and continued administrative foul-up. Prescott tells us that there are nine
hundred lawyers working for Mr. Schinitsky as well as an adequate
support staff. Salaries alone must exceed thirty million dollars a year.
Further, we are told that ninety percent of their clientele are guilty.
Would they be willing to submit to the taxpayer the question of
whether or not further increases in budgets of legal aid societies are
justified?
The legislative branch of government, reflecting the sincere concerns
of the public, and attempting to fill the vacuum left by unsuccessful
"child savers," are increasingly taking action on their own, in a patchwork kind of frenzy, to find equitable solutions that make better use of
the tax dollar. These legislators are motivated by a growing public
awareness that the professionals have failed to find a solution.
CRIMINAL AND CIVIL CONFINEMENT
[Vol. 9
There are some things upon which most of us would agree, and the
hour is growing late for the "child savers." They must put aside their
petty turf wars and look for better solutions. First, the children themselves will have no respect for a system which provides no standard
sanctions for unacceptable social behavior. Second, one agency working
with the courts, with appropriate divisions of areas of responsibility,
will insure a standard response to situations and eliminate continued
disagreement among agencies. Third, there must be better use of the
tax dollar spent on institutions for humane care as well as liaison services with decent aftercare programs. Fourth, more extensive use of
foster home care for minor offenders and abused children should be
encouraged and should include tighter supervision by the unified children's agency. Fifth, courts should grant the full panoply of rights to
children which adults possess, leaving the question of an open hearing
to the child, parents and representing attorneys. Sixth, a better use of
public media should be made in an aggressive public relations campaign to inform people regarding what the unified agency is doing with
the goal of involving more people in the solution-finding process. Seventh, extensive use of a masters system to cut the backlog of cases in
our children's courts should be implemented thereby allowing judges to
use their time on the dispositional phase of the process rather than on
the fact finding phase.
The juvenile justice system needs exposure from caring people like
Peter Prescott in order that it be understood. It needs the input of the
public at large. Let us hope that Prescott's lively, well written work
will reach the public at large and result in more citizen participation
within the councils of the "child savers."
GUARDS IMPRISONED: CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS AT WORK. By Lucien X.
Lombardo. New York, New York: Elsevier North Holland, Inc., 1981.
Reviewed by James A. Moore*
Mr. Lombardo is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminal
Justice at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia. The purpose of
his book is to provide a view of the work and working life of correctional officers as it is experienced by the officers themselves. The research, done at the Auburn Correctional Facility in New York, was enhanced by the fact that Professor Lombardo had worked there as a
* Former Deputy Commissioner and Acting Commissioner of the City of Boston Penal
Department; J.D., New England School of Law, 1982; B.A., Boston State College, 1975.