The Pros And Cons Of Juvenile Crimes

In 1899, Illinois became the first state to establish Juvenile trials. This came about because children were being treated the same as adults. Juveniles would be convicted and sentenced to either prison or death. Reformers were heavily against this and suggested that juveniles be rehabilitated rather being punished due to their immaturity. The House of Refuge in New York, which opened in 1824, was the first juvenile house of reform in the United States and the purpose was to house juvenile offenders. This, plus research that differentiate juveniles and adults is what birthed the first Juvenile trial. As years progress, juveniles trials spread out like wildfire across the country of the U.S to the point that it became a standard.

After the

One evidence is the environment. In a survey conducted with the use of offenders, results showed that offenders gone through poverty, abuse, exposure to community violence, and familial incarceration, and were frequently raised in homes with few adult guardians. 79% reported that they witnessed violence in their homes, and 46.9% reported experiencing physical abuse. A staggering 77.3% of females that took the survey said they have been sexually abused in the past. These statistics show that exposure to things like this can take a toll on someone’s psych and lead them into committing

Juveniles would probably spend their time in prison learning from others in adult prisons. Eisikovits and Baizerman (1983) conducted a study which showed that because juveniles are exposed to other dangerous criminals and they themselves become a target for others, juveniles would try to deal with the constant danger around them by trying to fit into the criminal society. It’s basically a “if you can’t beat them, join them” scenario. They would do this to mainly deal with inmates that are extremely violent. These juveniles would basically accept violence into their life and, thus, would make them even more violent and would lead to recidivism. Another study conducted by Redding and Fuller (2004), shows those who reported witnessing or experiencing violence in prison, were less likely from shifting away from committing crimes in the future. This shows that juveniles who experience or witness violence are more likely to be influenced by this and this would lead to recidivism. This study also suggests that juvenile may be receiving lessons from witnessing and experiencing the brutality in prison and their feeling of unfairness within the justice system would lead to an increase of recidivism as