The U.S. Census reported that 1.6 million individuals under the age of 18 were arrested in 2010, a substantial increase from previous years (OJJDP, 2012; US Census Bureau, 2012). Of those individuals detained, over nine percent were convicted as juveniles and entered into a juvenile detention facility (Risler, 2009). Approximately 500,000 children are currently in the foster care system, while almost 300,000 have medical problems, have neurological impairs, and developmental delays (Earls, 2013). In addition, they were all exposed to some degree of critical abuse or neglect, leaving almost 80 percent of those children with serious emotional difficulties (Earls, 2013). As a result of various complications, emotional disturbances, and multiple placements, many children get involved in illegal activities and end up in the juvenile delinquent system (Center for Children and Youth Justice, 2014). This paper looks to examine the connection between both the juvenile justice system and the foster care system, and its implications on a minor’s future. With the prevalent research, statistics, and an interview from an expert in the probation and foster care field, one will be able to thoroughly understand the impact both systems have on each other and society as a whole.
Legislation & Data
In 2012, Governor Brown projected to close the Division of Juvenile Justice, ultimately putting a halt in the ongoing debate about the actual progress of the juvenile justice system (Curcio, 2012; Bundy, 2012). With the closing of the DJJ, this would move the responsibility of juvenile offenders from the state, to local counties, with the anticipation of rehabilitating juveniles more effectively at the local level, rather than strictly punishing them (LA...
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...states that permit judges to sentence minors to life imprisonments and ultimately die in prison. The concern with this practice is that juvenile development and the societal influences are often not taken into consideration when discussing juvenile crime. Currently there are 309 inmates in the California Correctional and Rehabilitation system who were sentenced to life sentences before the age of 18 (Thompson, 2012). These individuals were convicted as juveniles and are now serving life sentences, even after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles (Thompson, 2012). Senate Bill 9 was introduced so persons who had received a sentence of life without parole, prior to turning 18, many of whom were first time offenders, would be offered reduced sentences with proof of rehabilitation progress in prison (Thompson, 2012).
The Juvenile Justice system, since its conception over a century ago, has been one at conflict with itself. Originally conceived as a fatherly entity intervening into the lives of the troubled urban youths, it has since been transformed into a rigid and adversarial arena restrained by the demands of personal liberty and due process. The nature of a juvenile's experience within the juvenile justice system has come almost full circle from being treated as an adult, then as an unaccountable child, now almost as an adult once more.
This article describes the similarities and parallelism of the foster system to the prison systems and how they perpetuate and are influenced by each other. It describes how these systems commodify and dehumanize these human beings, especially women who receive long, severe sentences for minor offenses and are thus denied ability to parent their child from behind bars. This, thus, affects the child in the short and long term because these children are taken from their mothers by the state, often put into foster care, in which the state then refuses to take care of these motherless children. This then leads to social workers developing more aggressive and hostile tactics when dealing with these types of cases, because often the children must scavenge the streets in order to survive and become troubled by the social realities they face. The author then begins to discuss how the welfare system becomes heavily involved with these families, along with the stigmatizations government assistance is attached with. . It is unfortunate that this article only very briefly discusses pregnant, black incarcerated women, and the lack of prenatal care they are provided with during
Juvenile Justice Reforms in the United States. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2011, from Juvenile Transfer to Criminal Courts: http://www.ojjdp.gov
Life is precious and we live it only once, however, what we do with it is to our own discretion. It is a shame that many people at young ages decide to live a life of misdeeds and become what we call juvenile criminals, but, every action has a consequence and to deal with these unlawful adolescent we have the Juvenile Justice Department. The juvenile justice system is a network of agencies that deal with juveniles whose conduct has come in conflict with the law. These agencies include police, prosecutor, detention, court, probation, and the Department of Juvenile Corrections. However, when young offenders commit a series of crimes, constantly being in trouble with the law, they are waivered into Adult court where they will be subject to any
Heinous crimes are considered brutal and common among adults who commit these crimes, but among children with a young age, it is something that is now being counted for an adult trial and punishable with life sentencing. Although some people agree with this decision being made by judges, It is my foremost belief that juveniles don’t deserve to be given life sentencing without being given a chance at rehabilitation. If this goes on there’s no point in even having a juvenile system if children are not being rehabilitated and just being sent off to prison for the rest of their lives and having no chance getting an education or future. Gail Garinger’s article “ juveniles Don’t deserve Life sentence”, written March 14, 2012 and published by New york Times, mentions that “ Nationwide, 79 adolescents have been sentenced to die in prison-a sentence not imposed on children anywhere else in the world. These children were told that they could never change and that no one cared what became of them. They were denied access to education and rehabilitation programs and left without help or hope”. I myself know what it’s like to be in a situation like that, and i also know that people are capable of changing even children when they are young and still growing.
When our thoughts turn to the criminal justice system it is only a natural instinct to assume everyone associated with policing, courts, and corrections will have to deal with juveniles sometime in their career. Young people in today’s society can be so easily influenced by social situations, peer pressure, and family members. The courts in the United States are faced with difficult decisions on a daily basis. Sentencing juveniles to adult facilities for their crimes is becoming a common trend in the justice system today; however it is not a deterrent whatsoever. “The current policies of juvenile bind over to adult criminal court and severe sentencing have been unsuccessful
In 2007 there were approximately 77,200 fathers and 65,600 mothers incarcerated in the United States (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2007). As our society continues to grow, our jail and prison population are growing as well. When a parent or guardian is taken into custody the juvenile (child) is taken and released to a relative or child protective services. The children are either given to a close family member or a surrogate parent, meaning a foster home. This may have an emotional impact on the juvenile involved, which may lead them to committing delinquent acts. The children sometimes feel they are left to fend for themselves emotionally and the stress of these emotions are left upon the guardian at the time. These intense sufferings sometimes leave the juveniles in a harmful mental state resembling depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and feelings of abandonment from their parents/guardians. Children with incarcerated parents are five times more likely than their peers to commit crimes (Texas Department of Criminal Justice, 2008).
In today's society juveniles are being tried in adult courts, given the death penalty, and sent to prison. Should fourteen-year olds accused of murder or rape automatically be tried as adults? Should six-teen year olds and seven-teen year olds tried in adult courts be forced to serve time in adult prisons, where they are more likely to be sexually assaulted and to become repeat offenders. How much discretion should a judge have in deciding the fate of a juvenile accused of a crime - serious, violent, or otherwise? The juvenile crime rate that was so alarming a few years ago has begun to fall - juvenile felony arrest rates in California have declined by more than forty percent in the last twenty years. While California's juvenile population rose by a half a million since the middle and late 1970's, juveniles made up less than fifth-teen percent of California's felony arrests in 1998, compared to thirty percent in 1978; according to the Justice Policy Institute. The juvenile arrests have dropped back, even as the population of kids between ages of ten and eight-teen has continued to grow, and the number of kids confined in the California Youth Authority (CYA) has fallen. With all the progress our society has made in cutting back in juvenile crimes there is still a very serious problem. But if locking kids up is the best way to address it, how do we explain a drop in crime when there are more teens in California and fewer in custody? First we must look at the economy around us. With so many job opportunities available more and more teenagers find honest ways to keep busy and make money. Our generation has a brighter future than the generation a decade ago. Next we look at successful crime prevention efforts: after-school programs, mentoring, teen outreach programs, truancy abatement, anti-gang programs, family resource centers. There is evidence that these programs are beginning to pay off. Sending more, and younger teens through the adult court system has been a trend across the country in reaction to crimes, such as school shootings and violent rapes. Yet evidence shows that treating youth as adults does not reduce crime. In Florida, where probability wise more kids are tried as adults then in any other state, studies found that youth sent through the adult court system are twice as likely to commit more crimes when they're release...
Supreme Court ruling Graham v. Florida (2010) banned the use of life without parole for juveniles who committed non-homicide crimes, and Roper v. Simmons (2005) abolished the use of the death penalty for juvenile offenders. They both argued that these sentences violated the 8th Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. While these landmark cases made great strides for the rights of minors passing through the criminal justice system, they are just the first steps in creating a juvenile justice system that takes into consideration the vast differences between adolescents and adults. Using sociological (Butler, 2010) and legal (Harvard Law Review, 2010) documents, this essay will explicate why the next such step to be taken is entirely eliminating the use of the life without parole sentence for juveniles, regardless of the nature of the crime being charged.
Justice has always been the goal of our court system, but it is not always served, especially in cases involving juveniles. The judiciary process has evolved from a system that did not initially consider juveniles, to one where juveniles have their own court proceedings, facilities, and even rules or laws. The juvenile justice system has come a long way, and people have worked very hard in its creation. A juvenile is considered to be an individual, under the age of 18, resembling an adult. However, resembling an adult does not always mean that juveniles will have an adult mindset. Thus, juveniles may need extra attention to help get their lives on track. This paper will analyze various ways involving juveniles and correction facilities and programs.
In 1899, the nation’s first juvenile court for youth under the age of 16 was established in Chicago to provide rehabilitation rather than punishment. By 1925, following the Chicago model, all but two states had juvenile courts whose goals were to turn youth into productive citizens utilizing treatment that included warnings, probation, and training school confinement(Cox et al. 2014, p.2). Treatment lasted until the child was “cured” or turned 21. Although judges spoke with the offending children and decided upon the punishment, the lack of established rules and poor rehabilitation led to unfair treatment. In 1967 “ U.S. Supreme Court case of In re Gault held that juveniles were entitled to the same constitutional due process rights as adults, beginning a national reform in juvenile justice and the system was repaired to afford children many of the same rights that adults have in court” (Cox et al. 2014, p.4). Also, state legislatures passed laws to crack down on juvenile crime, as recently, states have attempted strike a balance in their approach to juvenile justice systems as research suggests that locking youth away in large, secure juvenile facilities is ineffective treatment towards different genders in which it doesn’t provide appropriate rehabilitation.
“More than 2,500 children in the United States had been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Most juveniles sentenced to life imprisonment without parole had been convicted of homicide crimes. We estimated there were fewer than two hundred juveniles serving life without parole for non-homicide offenses” (Stevenson, 2014, pp. 269-270).
The historical development of the juvenile justice system in the United States is one that is focused on forming and separating trying juveniles from adult counterparts. One of the most important aspects is focusing on ensuring that there is a level of fairness and equality with respect to the cognitive abilities and processes of juvenile as it relates to committing crime. Some of the most important case legislation that would strengthen the argument in regard to the development of the juvenile justice system is related to the reform of the justice system during the turn of the 19th century. Many juveniles were unfortunately caught in the crosshairs of being tried as adults and ultimately receiving punishments not in line with their ability
The United States, a country who has prisons filled with juvenile delinquents. Many of the offenders are arrested for status offenses, but there are also offenders who are incarcerated for serious crimes. Are these offenders getting the treatment needed to succeed after their release? Are the punishments in the juvenile detention centers creating more problems? Is the juvenile justice system addressing the needs of those juveniles participating in the system? The answer to these questions will be answered from viewing three separate documentaries on the juvenile justice system.
As a society we often find it difficult to swallow the fact that children are capable of engaging in and committing crimes. The thought of a child, a being that represents innocence, would perform an act that deviates to social order shocks and confuses society. The questions of, how could you do that? What were you thinking? Which, then leads to statements like, “We did not raise that way! ” or “You know better than that!” when trying to comprehend the concept of the unacceptable actions of juveniles. Suicides, runaways, and later life offending seem to have a common link of juvenile delinquency. Children deviating from societal norms can affect the future of society because offending. Juvenile offending can be the result of a plethora of culprits and perhaps, as a society we can to come to terms with there not being one exclusive answer to explain why juveniles deviate from social norms.