Juvenile Justice System Essay

The juvenile justice system was created for the purpose of rehabilitation to the trouble youth. The juvenile justice system has developed through the years as the incarcerate youth continues to increase. The youth of America continue to fall through the cracks as each young adult becomes involved with the juvenile justice system. Youth in America often struggle with identity, sense of belonging, validation, love, and support from their families and peers. As many of the youthful offenders continue to search for support, they often fall on the wrong path which leads them into the juvenile justice system.

Context and History In the nineteenth century, the juvenile prison came to life. These prisons were created to assist the children of parents

The federal government passed the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974. The act promoted placement of offenders in the least restrictive appropriate treatment setting, establishment of community-based programs in place of large, custodial institutions, and diversion of youths from formal juvenile justice system processing (Jenson, 1998). Several states, such as Massachusetts and Utah, closed the larger institutions and opened small, treatment oriented programs in local communities (Jenson,

Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England had a major influence on the juvenile justice system. Blackstone stated in his commentaries that there were two things that were required to hold someone guilty of a crime (American Bar Association). One of his thoughts were that the person needed to have a “vicious will” to commit a crime and second, the person had to commit an unlawful act (American Bar Association). Blackstone identified a group of people who were unable or capable to commit a crime, infants. Blackstone believed that infants were just too young to understand their actions. Blackstone set an age group that were considered infants and would not be able to be found guilty. These infants were children from the age of seven and under. Children 14 and over were considered to be able to understand their actions and therefore be held liable for their actions (American Bar Association). Blackstone believed that children that fell in between the ages of seven and fourteen would be unable to commit a crime. However, if the child was able to understand the difference between right and wrong, the child could be convicted and suffer the consequences of their actions (American Bar