Essay On Juvenile Delinquency

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Recommended: Juvenile delinquency (young criminals)

One of the most debated topics in adolescent psychology is the approach for dealing with juvenile delinquency. In the 1990’s, a number of laws were passed which permitted large numbers of juveniles to be tried as an adult in the court of law and sentenced to adult prison. Adolescents as young as 13 years old can be tried, convicted and punished as an adult for a variety of crimes, including violent and nonviolent crimes. Since then, punishments in adult court and juvenile court alike have gotten ever more severe. There are many different contrasting opinions on this subject. Should adolescents be tried as adults or should they be remediated using therapeutic approaches? The United States adopted the idea of punishment rather than rehabilitation …show more content…

Rather than punishing them the same as adult criminals, therapeutic approaches are the best way to solve the problem. Adolescents are sent to juvenile rehabilitation centers by juvenile judges for offenses such as running away from home to theft, robbery, and assault. While in the rehabilitation programs, the adolescents are no harm to society and are focusing on getting their life back on track. There are many programs available to the juveniles, such as individual and group counseling, religious services, career planning, and other activities (Piquero & Steinberg, …show more content…

punishment relates back to chapter 3 of the Adolescent Development textbook. There is a great disagreement about how we should treat adolescents who commit very serious offenses. Before being tried in adult court, it should be determined that the adolescent is competent enough to stand trial. An evaluation should be conducted before the adolescents’ case is discussed in court. (This also applies to individuals with mental illness and individuals with mental retardation.) If they do not understand the charges against him or her, then it is a questionable act if tried in an adult court (Steinberg,

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