When a new initiative inadvertently causes youths to be drawn into the juvenile justice system whose behavior would otherwise not have been addressed formally, the initiative has engaged in:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Net-widening refers to the process by which new policies or initiatives intended to address certain behaviors actually result in more individuals being brought into the formal justice system, rather than diverting them or handling their cases in less formal ways. This can happen when measures meant to target specific issues inadvertently capture a broader group of individuals, thus "widening the net" of the justice system to include behaviors or individuals that previously might not have been formally processed.

When a New Initiative Inadvertently Causes Youths to Be Drawn