Court System and Law Enforcement based programs
The Juvenile Justice System has focused on Court System and Law Enforcement based programs that help juvenile delinquents with their criminal behavior (Esbensen et al., 2011; Forgays 2008; Krebs et al., 2010; Kurtz et al., 2006; Lipsey, 2009; Tarolla et al., 2002). Court System and Law Enforcement based programs are designed to make the most of legal opportunities in the court and law enforcement system to deal with criminal behavior (Esbensen et al., 2011; Forgays 2008; Krebs et al., 2010; Kurtz et al., 2006; Lipsey, 2009; Tarolla et al., 2002). Programs such as Boot Camps, Wilderness programs, G.R.E.A.T programs, Juvenile Intake and Assessment Case Management, Juvenile Breaking the Cycle, Probation and Teen Court are set in place to reduce juvenile involvement in the juvenile justice system by providing substitutes to incarceration (Tarolla et al., 2002)
Boot camps and wilderness programs are used to discipline juvenile delinquents. The youth in these programs are enforce structure routines and are taught various life skills, to prevent them from falling into delinquency behavior (Lipsey, 2009). Juvenile delinquents in Boot Camps had strict rules, physical activities, daily schedules, and were treated about 30-180 days through military maneuvers (Tarolla et al., 2002). In the wilderness programs, juvenile delinquents are taught problem solving skills, personal control, therapy components, and physical activities (2002). In addition, they were treated for 12 months of outdoor and residence challenges and concentrated in community aftercare (2002). Studies demonstrated that wilderness and challenges programs, such as Boot camps were not effective programs to help juvenile deli...
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...nn. (2000). Effective Intervention for Serious Juvenile Offenders. Juvenile Justice Bullintin. April 2010 U.S. Department of Justice. Washington, DC.
OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available: (http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/crime/qa05103.asp?qaDate=2011). Released on February 25, 2014. Adapted from Puzzanchera, C. (2013). Juvenile Arrests 2011. Washington, D.C.: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Tarolla, S. M., Wagner, E. F., Rabinowitz, J., & Tubman, J. G. (2002) Understanding and treating juvenile offenders: A review of current knowledge and future directions. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 7(2), 125-143
Tripodi, S. J., & Bender, K. (2011). Substance abuse treatment for juvenile offenders: A review of quasi-experimental and experimental research. Journal of Criminal Justice, 39(3), 246-252. doi: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2011.02.007
Juvenile delinquency is a relatively new phenomenon. For this reason, society’s reactions and solutions to the problem of delinquency are also modern developments. The United States developed the first youth court in 1899 and is now home to many new and formerly untested methods of juvenile rehabilitation and correction. One of many unique programs within the Juvenile Justice system, boot camps are institutions designed to keep delinquent juveniles out of traditional incarceration facilities and still provide a structured method of punishment and rehabilitation. Boot camps developed in the early 1990s and quickly proliferated throughout the nation. Specifically, they are “…short-term residential programs modeled after military basic training facilities” (Meade & Steiner, 2010). Designed with the goal of reducing recidivism and preventing violent offenses, boot camps target non-violent individuals under the age of 18 and typically exclude already violent offenders. In theory, boot camps apprehend juveniles while they are committing minor delinquency and prevent more-serious crime by “giving the juvenile offender a more optimistic, community oriented outlook” (Ravenell, 2002). Fundamentally, boot camps have four central purposes; rehabilitation, punishment, deterrence, and cost control (Muscar, 2008).
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.
Tarolla, S. M., Wagner, E. F., Rabinowitz, J., & Tubman, J. G. (2002). Understanding and treating juvenile offenders: A review of current knowledge and future directions. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 7 (2), 125 - 143
Adolescent criminal acts, which include but are not limited to murder, rape, armed robbery, violent assault, mugging, arson, vandalism and robbery are a large portion of the crimes represented in the media. Alternative options to throwing these kids in juvenile detention centers is a rehabilitative boot camp where they have no control over even their own bodies or programs similar to scared straight where they see possible consequences to their actions. The importance of the success or failure of these programs is important because right now it is the popular solution. If these programs are going nowhere, time should be invested in creating new ideas and methods to treat these children before they become adults in the prison system.
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
U.S. Department of Justice. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Guide for Implementing the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders. Ed. James C. Howell. Washington: GPO, 1995.
Juvenile delinquency is a problem these days, despite a recent drop in arrests. Roughly 2.5 million juveniles are arrested every year for different crimes in America. About 100,000 of those are violent crimes, however those statistics are slightly inaccurate since only half of juvenile crimes are reported (Juvenile Justice Basic Statistics, 2011). Creating interventions to assist at-risk youth means preventing them from starting on a path to crime is a priority. Juvenile justice system researchers and professionals must gain a better understanding of the contributing elements that cause delinquent behavior.
Ramirez, F. (2008, April/May). Juvenile Delinquency: Current Issues, Best Practices, and Promising Approaches. GPSOLO .
The future of the juvenile justice system is promising. The methods and approaches utilized should continue to improve in the next twenty years in the same way that they have improved over the past twenty years. Addressing the main factors that contribute to juvenile offending will help to solve the problem of delinquency in the United States. Juveniles in the present system do have the ability to straighten out their lives. This might be less challenging for them than it has been in the past, but hopefully the future will make the road to reform easier for them.
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.
OJJDP: Juvenile offenders and victims, 1999 National Report. (n.d), National Report. Retrieved November 19, 2013, from http://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/nationalreport99
Greenwood, P., & Zimring, F. (1985). One more chance: The pursuit of promising intervention strategies for chronic juvenile offenders. (Research Report). Pittsburgh: Rand Corporation.
...(2004). Applying the principles of effective intervention to juvenile correctional programs. Corrections Today, 66(7), 26-29. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=4bd9d7f2-8ac5-42c6-a100-a2443eda9cbf@sessionmgr4002&vid=1&hid=4213
Loeber R., and D.P. Farrington. “Serious and violent juvenile offenders: Risk factors and successful interventions.” Thousand Oaks. 1998. First Search. Feb 2007
Juvenile delinquency is a problem in today’s society. The problem has created a broad spectrum of both social and individual factors. The more that society learns about delinquency the more capacity it will have to combat against it. The youth are the future of this world, a corrupted juvenile body will ensure great hazard over time. Rehabilitating juvenile offenders into conventional members of society should be the goal of the criminal justice system.