Analysis Of The Juvenile Justice System

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Recommended: Racial and ethnic inequalities within the justice system

In today’s society, race and socioeconomic standing can determine the quality of treatment one receives while in the criminal justice system. Racial inequality and discrimination seems to be a permanent fixture within the criminal justice system, and the juvenile justice system is no exception when it comes to that form of injustice. As it is depicted in the PBS documentary, a teenage boy named Shawn from a white, upper-middle class family was first arrested after he stabbed his father multiple times while he was sleeping in a brutal murder attempt. Apart from the attempted murder charge, Shawn also racked up a charge of sexual assault against a fellow juvenile hall cellmate and also a drug charge when he got caught smoking pot while he was …show more content…

If so many offenders who are non-violent are being transferred in order to be treated as adults, what are their chances of rehabilitation? The answer is they don’t have any because they were not even allowed the opportunity. How can a juvenile offender be expected to improve when the decision to charge them as an adult is an option that could easily be taken even if the offense committed is not the serious act the transfer process is meant to combat? In the 1997 article, Justice for Children: How Do We Get There?, the argument is that … “the juvenile court will not survive if it takes on the challenge and the ‘heat’ of attempting to deal with older children who commit serious crimes” … (Geraghty, p. 199). That insinuates that transferring juveniles who have committed serious enough crimes is in the best interest of the juvenile court system, not the juveniles who are at risk of being locked up. However, transferring a child to adult court is basically saying that the individual is any beyond help the juvenile court can provide and does deserve to be given the chances at possibly improving and being rehabilitated. How can the title of juvenile justice system be claimed by a court system that is not serving the children who just happen to be the very reason for its

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