It is clear that some sort of change is needed in regards to the Juvenile Justice System. The more the country grows and the more youth are subjected to the juvenile justice system, the more it becomes obvious that the system we have in place is not up to the task of handling the growth we are seeing. The proper way to handle the increased flow of juveniles into the justice system is not to push them forward into the adult justice system. Juveniles have their own set of issues that are much different from that that adults go through and as such it simply does not make sense to treat them the same as adult offenders. Aside from the fact they need special treatment, it is not safe for juveniles to be housed with adult offenders due to the …show more content…
While there are many different theories that try to explain the reasons for such behavior, I think one of the more easily explained and handled with this rehabilitation idea is that of the family. A juvenile needs to be in a nurturing environment and in order to do that, the immediate family needs to be brought into the rehabilitation. In some cases however, it may simply be the area that the youth is in. It is a simple fact that in our country, some areas are not as well off as others. In those areas, we need to develop a push towards community outreach. If the families of the juveniles are having their own issues, we need to address those as well to make sure we are having the highest impact possible on the …show more content…
New laws would need to be drafted in order to put this idea into effect however. These new laws would have to line out how a juvenile would enter treatment, the terms and length of the treatment, and at what point in the treatment the individual overseeing the rehabilitation can release the juvenile. In order to have the widest change possible, there would also have to be laws put into place that include the family of the juvenile receiving treatment of some sort before the juvenile can be released into their protection. In extreme cases, statues need to be put in place that handle the occurrences in which a juveniles family refuses to be involved in the treatment. Action would not be taken against the family, but there would need to be guidelines about who could claim custody of the child once released from rehabilitation, whether that be a different family member that agreed to their part of the rehabilitation or the custody of the state. While such a thing is fairly extreme and would need to be specified quite clearly to gain any momentum, I think it can be agreed that if the family does not want to become a part of the juveniles treatment, then they are not acting in the best interests of the juvenile and action should be taken accordingly. Not being willing to take the steps
I have witnessed in my time as a law enforcement professional juvenile treatment programs help some of our troubled youth. However, the treatment program the juvenile offender is attending, must offer something to the juvenile offender in the means of rehabilitation and teaching life lessons. For instance, a ropes course is a program we have used here in Muskogee with our youth. The ropes course is designed to take someone out of their own personal comfort zone and to begin to build trust between the police and the offender. This program has benefited a portion of our youth who were willing to cooperate and take the program serious. There is another portion of the youth who
Henggeler, S. & Schoenwald, S. J. (2011). Evidence-based interventions for juvenile offenders and juvenile justice policies that support them. Social policy report, 25 (1), pp. 1--20.
In the last 42 years little to no changes have been made to correct the standards that govern punitive measures towards juvenile delinquency. Today juvenile law is governed by state and many states have enacted a juvenile code. However, in numerous cases, juveniles are transferred to adult court when juvenile courts waive or relinquish jurisdiction. Adolescents should not be tried in the adult court system or sentenced to adult penitentiary's on account of: teen brains are not mature which causes a lack of understanding towards the system, incarceration in an adult facility increases juvenile crime, and children that are sentenced to adult prison are vulnerable to abuse and rape.
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
One of the major differences between juvenile and adult corrections is the large number of private facilities in the juvenile system. Private facilities have the luxury of being able to "cherry-pick" their clients, and they can also sometimes do things and perform treatments that public facilities cannot do. One of the big problems in public juvenile justice is how long it takes to get an arrested juvenile tried and adjudicated as a delinquent. Only after they have been so adjudicated can they technically be placed in a "rehabilitation" program, and obviously, this kind of delay exacerbates the problem of delivering psychological services in a timely fashion. Juveniles who are still in detention status can only receive substance abuse treatment, sex education, remedial education, and crisis intervention services.
Many people say that the systems first priority should be to protect the public from the juvenile criminals that are a danger to others. Once the juveniles enter the system there is however, arguments on what should be done with them. Especially for those deemed too dangerous to be released back to their parents. Some want them locked away for as long as possible without rehabilitation, thinking that it will halt their criminal actions. One way to do this they argue would be to send them into an adult court. This has been a large way to reform the juvenile system, by lowering the age limits. I believe in certain cases this is the best method for unforgiving juveniles convicted of murder, as in the case of Ronald Duncan, who got away with a much lesser sentence due to his age. However another juvenile, Geri Vance, was old enough to be sent into the adult court, which caused him t...
Cox, S. M., Allen, J. M., Hanser, R. D., & Conrad, J. J. (2014). Juvenile Justice A Guide to Theory, Policy and Practice (8th ed.). Sage publications Inc.
Harassment, reckless endangerment, and burglary are all juvenile offenses. These juvenile offenses almost always stay on the juvenile’s criminal record, and the offenses displayed on a juvenile’s criminal record may cause employers, educators, and other authority figures to think less of the juvenile offender. As a viewer can see, this one mistake or lapse in judgment can ruin the juvenile offenders chance to further their success in life. For example, juvenile offenders may not obtain the dream job that they have always wanted, get into the college that they have always wanted to, or be eligible for a scholarship whether athletic or academic. However, there is a loophole in the juvenile justice system called teen courts. Teen courts give first-time offenders and some re-offenders a second chance because the offense (s) do not go on their criminal record, and their peers get to decide what sanctions the juvenile offender receives or performs. The big question that I am going to discuss throughout this essay is do juvenile offenders who appear before teen courts recidivate?
Throughout the years there has always been one question, what will we do with the juveniles when they entire the justice system? Here is the answer to that, the first juvenile court in the United States was established in Chicago in 1899 over 100 years ago. There have been significant modifications made to the juvenile court system since the late 1960’s due to Supreme Court decisions, federal legislation, and changes in the state legislation. Up until these changes were made, children who broke the law were treated the same as adult criminals. Children as young as seven years old who were accused of wrongdoing were imprisoned with adults. “In the early nineteenth century, the idea of reforming youth offenders took root in the United States & The House of Refuge in New York, which opened in 1824, was the first juvenile house of reform in the United States. This was the first attempt to house juvenile offenders in a separate facility and other States, like Maryland, would soon follow suit” ("History of the Juvenile Justice System," n.d.).
Girls become delinquent for many different reasons then boys based on biological, social and cultural differences in each gender. From hormones and brain development, to the child’s upbringing by families, to the way girls are expected to act in public compared to boys; a different set of circumstances exists for the reasons why girls become delinquent compared to boys. Siegel, (2007, p.174) explains this by stating. “There are indications that gender differences in socialization and development do exist and that they may have an effect on juvenile offending patterns.”
Introduction: Recidivism or, habitual relapses into crime, has time and time again proven to be an issue among delinquents, which thereby increases the overall juvenile prison population. This issue has become more prevalent than what we realize. Unless a unit for measuring a juvenile’s risk of recidivism is enacted and used to determine a system to promote effective prevention, than the juvenile prison population will continue to increase. Our court system should not only focus on punishing the said juvenile but also enforce a program or policy that will allow for prevention of recidivism. So the question remains, how can recidivism in the juvenile prison population be prevented so that it is no longer the central cause for increased juvenile delinquency? Simply put, we must create a means of measuring juvenile’s level of risk and in turn, form an effective rehabilitation program that will decrease their risk level for future recidivism.
This paper describes the various legislations and movements that were established in 19th century to address the issue of juvenile justice system. It outlines the challenges faced by the legislation and movements and their implications in addressing the issues of the juvenile justice system.
Andrews, D.A, Phd. Principles for Effective Delinquency Prevention and Early enders. United States: The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1995.
Today?s court system is left with many difficult decisions. One of the most controversial being whether to try juveniles as adults or not. With the number of children in adult prisons and jails rising rapidly, questions are being asked as to why children have been committing such heinous crimes and how will they be stopped. The fact of the matter is that it is not always the children's fault for their poor choices and actions; they are merely a victim of their environment or their parents. Another question asked is how young is too young. Children who are too young to see an R rated film unaccompanied are being sent to adult prisons. The only boundaries that seem to matter when it comes to being an adult are laws that restrain kids from things such as alcohol, pornography, and other materials seen as unethical. Children that are sent to adult prison are going to be subjected to even more unprincipled ideas and scenes. When children can be sent to jail for something as minor as a smash and grab burglary, the judicial system has errors. The laws that send juveniles to adult prisons are inhumane, immoral, and unjust. Kids are often incompetent, which leads to unfair trials. Adult prisons are also very dangerous for minors, and in many cases this leads to more juvenile crimes.
Juvenile delinquency is one of the major social issues in the United States today. Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is when “a violation of the law committed by a juvenile and not punishable by death or life imprisonment” (Merriam-webster.com). Although we have one justice system in America, the juvenile system differs from the adult juvenile system. Most juvenile delinquents range from as low as the age of seven to the age of seventeen. Once the delinquent or anyone turns the age of eighteen, they are considered an adult. Therefore, they are tried as an adult, in the justice system. There are many different reasons why a child would commit crime, such as mental and physical factors, home conditions, neighborhood environment and school conditions. In addition, there are a variety of effects that juvenile justice systems can either bad effects or good effects. Finally there are many different solutions that can reduce juvenile delinquency. As a result, juvenile delinquency is a major issue and the likeliness of it can be reduced. In order to reduce juvenile delinquency there has to be an understanding of the causes and the effects.