Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The component of the juvenile justice system
Challenges in the juvenile justice system
Challenges in the juvenile justice system
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The component of the juvenile justice system
In the past 50 years, juveniles have gained many rights but yet are still struggling to receive the accurate treatment that a juvenile deserves. The juvenile justice system was developed to protect the rights of under aged offenders. However, recently the system has steered away from rehabilitating those offenders. The current system has actually proven to fail in keeping juveniles out of the juvenile justice system. Juveniles still have the possibility of rehabilitating their lifestyle. Not every juvenile will change, but if one can be saved then the purpose of the system has been successful. The punitive approach has attracted a more rebellious attitude in juveniles, making them repeat offenders. The self-fulfilling prophecies of the Label Theory can help justify why some youth chose to engage in delinquent acts in multiple times. Those offenders are just fulfilling that prophecy that is embedded into their mind early in their childhood by their surroundings. Repeat offenders often find it very hard to get out of the system, because they make a lifestyle out of these acts. The juvenile justice system lacks in providing each juvenile with the proper treatment, there should be restorative steps in place to make the juvenile justice system more titrated to meet the needs of each individual child. Some of the steps to keep troubled youth out of the system are making the juvenile justice system more restorative and diverse. As well as having an evidence based system the faculty, parents, and juveniles need to have the proper training available to them. The best proactive approach for the juvenile justice system is making risk factors a target. The juvenile justice system should remain to be a youth-oriented system and be designed to... ... middle of paper ... ... The main purpose is to keep those offenders who are having problems at or school away from the system, and being labeled as a criminal. If a person constantly hears themselves being described as a criminal then they will behave in that manner to fulfill that label. Intervention at an early stage can help have been proven to be encouraging to this approach (Farrington, 2012). The aftercare programs in this new system are different. The focus in these programs are centered on gaining trust, building relationships, and having rehabilitating programs available. These new elements will help make the juvenile justice more restorative and rehabilitating to offenders who still have their entire life in front of them. These changes will ensure that the juvenile justice system maintains to be youth-orientated, who see the offender as a child victim not a criminal.
The adult system’s shifts leaked into the juvenile system, causing an increase in incarcerations even when delinquency rates were declining at the time. Juvenile reform legislations prompted more compulsory sentencing and more determinate sentences for juveniles, lowering of the upper age of juvenile jurisdiction, considerable ease in obtaining waivers to adult court for juvenile prosecution, and made it easier to gain access to juvenile records as well. Furthermore, it led to greater preoccupation with chronic, violent offenders, which in turn led to a redirection of resources for their confinement. Thereby, the absence of reliable criteria for identifying such offenders tends to stereotype all delinquents and is more likely to raise the level of precautionary confinements. These three major shifts in juvenile justice policy demonstrate the power and depth of traditional beliefs about the causes and cures of crimes in U.S. society. It also shows how the system can bend for a time in the direction of new approaches to prevention and control. Today, we are presently in a time of conservative responses where the prevailing views about crime express beliefs about prevention, retribution, and incapacitation that are profoundly rooted in our
One of the fasting growing juvenile treatment and interventions programs are known as teen courts. Teen courts serve as an alternative juvenile justice, to young offenders. Non-violent, and mostly first time offenders are sentenced by their peers’ in teen courts. Teen courts also serve as juvenile justice diversion programs. Teen courts vary from state to state, and sometimes within the same state. With this program, all parties of the judicial setting are juveniles with the exception of the judge. Each teen court, is designed specifically to meet the needs of the community it serves. Teen courts were created to re-educate offenders throughout the judicial process, create a program with sanctions that will allow the youth not to have a juvenile record, and to also instil a sense of responsibility.
Jenson, Jeffrey and Howard, Matthew. "Youth Crime, Public Policy, and Practice in the Juvenile Justice System: Recent Trends and Needed Reforms." Social Work 43 (1998): 324-32
Juvenile Justice Reforms in the United States. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2011, from Juvenile Transfer to Criminal Courts: http://www.ojjdp.gov
Studies and anecdotes have shown that our modern approach, however, is ill-equipped to reduce crime or deal with chronic delinquents while at the same time protecting their due liberties. We now stand on the precipice of decision: How can we strike an appropriate balance in the juvenile justice system? Should we even retain a separate system for children at all? The answers are usually difficult, sometimes subtle, but always possible to attain.
Progar, J. (2012). Review of juveniles at risk: A plea for preventive justice. Journal Of Youth And Adolescence, 41(12), 1702-1704. doi:10.1007/s10964-012-9841-0
A growing number of probation officers, judges, prosecutors as well as other juvenile professionals are advocating for a juvenile justice system which is greatly based on restorative justice. These groups of people have been frustrated by the policy uncertainty between retribution and treatment as well as unrealistic and unclear public expectations. As a primary mission, the balanced approach or policy allows juvenile justice systems together with its agencies to improve in their capacity of protecting the community and ensuring accountability of the system and the offenders . It enables the youths to become productive and competent citizens. This guiding philosophical framework for this policy is restorative justice as it promotes the maximum involvement of the community, victim, and the offender in the justice process. Restorative justice also presents a viable alternative to sanctions as well as interventions that are based on traditional or retributive treatment assumptions. In the policy proposal for restorative justice, the balanced approach mission assists juvenile justice system in becoming more responsive to the needs of the community, victims, and the offenders . Therefore, this paper considers how restorative justice reduces referrals of juveniles to criminal and juvenile justice systems and gives a proposal on the implementation of restorative justice in the community together with a number of recommendations. For instance, preliminary research reveals that application of restorative justice in schools significantly reduces school expulsions, suspensions, and referrals to the criminal justice systems. Restorative justice programs are an alternative for zero-tolerance policies for juveniles or youths .
Handling a young fragile mind can be difficult; but studies have shown therapeutic rehabilitation is key in not causing unrepairable damage. The majority of youth offenders has been exposed to harsh environments and rough upbringings. Years of exposure to violence and neglect can create a sort of brain-washing. It is imperative to focus on important aspects of life in order to transform the mind of the juveniles. An efficient method that involves keeping the juvenile in the community is referred to as multisystemic therapy. “Multisystemic therapy is an intensive therapy program which focuses on numerous aspects the delinquent’s life: family, school, social and other unique factors which may relate to the behavior” (May, Osmond, and Billick 298). When using the multisystemic approach juveniles decrease association with other delinquents, juvenile and adult. The therapeutic method gives an individual approach on focusing deeper on the root issues and helps the juvenile renew their minds and thought process. In the end, adopting multisystemic therapy decreases the likelihood of the youth continuing in a criminal
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.
With increased media coverage of violent juvenile behavior, legislators began to pass laws to toughen up on juvenile crime. Many laws made it easier to waive juveniles into adult courts, or even exclude juveniles who had committed serious crimes from juvenile court jurisdiction. Furthermore, the sentences to be handed out for offenders were lengthened and made much more severe. As a result, the juvenile courts began to resemble the adult courts. Yet, this movement’s influence began to fade, and by the turn of the century, another shift had occurred. In the current juvenile courts, a balanced approach is emphasized. While the court deals with chronic and dangerous offenders with a heavy hand, needy youth who need help to get back on track are still assisted under the parens patriae philosophy. Restorative justice has come to be the preferred method of today’s juvenile courts. In an overall sense, the modern juvenile court has taken on a paternalistic view similar to parens patriae towards youths who are in need of guidance, while punitively punishing offenders who do not respond to the helping hand extended to
... working with. Overall it helps distinguish juveniles who are in immediate needs of treatment from a large group in a short amount of time, thus making it efficient and gives a more likely reason to send them to be treated properly, rather than sending them to be imprisoned.
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.
Over the years many laws and policies have been created and altered. As a result many activities have become illegal. With so many laws in place now, juvenile crime is also on the rise. More and more juveniles are being sent to prison than ever before. The goal of the juvenile justice system was to rehabilitate but now it is more focused on punishment. However, many rehabilitation programs are still in place to help delinquent juveniles get back on the path to becoming successful productive members of society. One program that comes to mind is the restorative justice program.
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 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.