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Juvenile Transfers as Ritual Sacrifice

Legally Constructing the Child Scapegoat

University of Alaska Fairbanks

This article explores the dramaturgy of juvenile transfer provisions for the vestiges of ancient practices of child sacrifice that they reveal. Relying on theories by Girard, the social discord caused by young children who commit violent criminal acts is examined as a sacrificial crisis. The rhetorical demonization of the child criminal is described as their expurgation (as "Other"), the means by which their status is converted to scapegoat for the innocents their surrogacy benefits. Rather than deterrence or retribution functions, the legal response to children’s normative violations that involves transferring children to adult criminal court are presented here as an institutionalized and symbolic form of sacrifice to resolve a cultural crisis and ensure societal cohesion.

Key Words: childhood • waiver • transfer • sacrifice

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