What I Learned this Semester in Juvenile Justice

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I feel that I learned quite a bit throughout this semester in Juvenile Justice. It is interesting to me how much the juvenile justice system has changed both for the better and for the worse. From the time of the child savers to the get tough movement, which we are still experiencing, the entire system has shifted almost entirely. It began as a system of helping and not punishing and now has shifted to a system that severely lacks rehabilitation programs for juveniles. I have spoke, in my previous reaction papers, of what I would do to change the juvenile justice system – focusing strictly on the idea of rehabilitating juveniles to make them functioning members of our society. I firmly believe that in almost all cases, a child deserves a second chance and should be given appropriate treatment. As stated in lecture, there are several necessary policy changes that need to be made to our current juvenile justice system: “1) Maintain leniency 2) Expand treatment 3) Expand initial diagnostic services 4) Continue solid research 5) Sustain adequate funding to programs and 6) Mandate (by la...

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