Essay On Juvenile Detention Center

761 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Juvenile court system

Thousands of juveniles go through our court systems every year. Many are placed in detention centers for noncriminal offenses. Many are placed in these facilities for offenses such as underage drinking, truancy or running away from home. These acts are only forbidden due to the age of the youth. These children are usually acting out or having difficulties stemming from an array of underlying issues. There are many alternatives that can allow these youths to receive the attention and care they need, while still holding the child accountable, without placing them in a facility that may do more harm than good or set these children up to be career criminals. There are more therapeutic and less expensive avenues for these young offenders other than …show more content…

These could all be quite beneficial in the rehabilitation of these children as well as perhaps acting as a deterrent to other juveniles. There is still a cost to parents or taxpayers for these alternatives however it is much less of a financial burden than incarceration or housing these delinquents in a detention center. Community and home-based treatment have seemed to be a favorite of judges locally. Juveniles are still being held accountable for their actions as well as giving them time to reflect on their …show more content…

The juveniles report after school and remain there until 7:00 pm. The children do their homework, have recreation time, receive help with school work if need be and they are taught many life management skills that include subjects such as anger management, job readiness, and budgeting. They receive group and other therapy services as well. (Department of Juvenile Services-West Virginia Reporting Centers) Attendance is required in this program as well as school. The center monitors grades and school attendance and reports this information back to the assigned judge as well as the youths case or social

Show More
Related

  • WAIVER TO ADULT COURTS IMPACT FOR JUVENILE OFFENDERS

    651 Words  | 2 Pages

    The focus of the juvenile justice system is to rehabilitate juvenile offenders, rather than to imprison and punish like the systems adult counterpart. According to Caldwell (1961) the juvenile justice system is based on the principle that youth are developmentally and fundamentally different from adults. This has lead to the development of a separate justice system for juveniles that was initially designed to assist troubled juveniles providing them with protection, treatment, and guidance. When performing as it is designed and up to the initial intentions, the juvenile court balances rehabilitation (treatment) of the offender with suitable sanctions when necessary such as incarceration. According to Mack (1909) the focus of the juvenile justice system has shifted from “how can we help the child”, “why did the child commit the crime” to “was the crime committed”. According to Griffin (2008) in some cases juveniles may be required to be “transferred” to adult court. The prerequisites for transfer to adult court are the duty to protect the public from violent youths, serious crime, and the lack of rehabilitation chance from the juvenile court. According to Flesch (2004) many jurisdictions handle the issue of serious juvenile crime by charging juveniles as adults. Charging a juvenile as an adult is done by a method which is called waiver to adult court. This waiver allows adult criminal court to have the power to exercise jurisdiction over juveniles and handle the juvenile’s case as an adult’s case would be tried. According to Flesch (2004) a juvenile is both tried and if convicted of the crime the juvenile will be sentenced as an adult when his or her case is waived from the juvenile court. Waiver to adult court initially was viewe...

    Read More

  • Juveniles in Adult Facilities: History of the Juvinile Justice System

    1041 Words  | 3 Pages

    The quagmire of placing juveniles in adult facilities is the risk factors juveniles may experience while incarcerated. Being that juveniles are young and smaller to the adult offenders, they may be seen as a prey or easy target for rape, assault, mental issues which eventually leads to suicide. We must keep in mind that juveniles are youth meaning they are still a child, not an adult and should not be exposed to adult incarceration environment. Although it is cost saving to place juveniles and adults under one facility, it is unethical because they are not built and yet mentally ready and prepared to experience adult facilities. Alternative strategies are available to assist juvenile detainees such as healthcare, education, recreation, and work experience. The Juvenile Court Act of 1899 gave leniency to youth under the age of 16. Placing youth detainees with adult offenders will result in the reduction of rehabilitation services for youth, while increasing the rate of being a victim as a potential prey o...

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Juvenile Detention Centers

    1367 Words  | 3 Pages

    One in three teen delinquents are sexually assaulted by staff members during their time in juvie. Even in the place that is supposed to oppose crime takes part in it. Juvenile Detention Centers are supposed to help minors get on the right track for the rest of their life ahead of them. In 2003 The Prison Rape Elimination Act [PREA] was passed to help prevent and protect against prison rape. Though that was passed it still goes on and the superiors of the inmates are still getting away with it.

    Read More

  • Incarceration in An Adult Prison Increases Juvenile Crime

    1754 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the last 42 years little to no changes have been made to correct the standards that govern punitive measures towards juvenile delinquency. Today juvenile law is governed by state and many states have enacted a juvenile code. However, in numerous cases, juveniles are transferred to adult court when juvenile courts waive or relinquish jurisdiction. Adolescents should not be tried in the adult court system or sentenced to adult penitentiary's on account of: teen brains are not mature which causes a lack of understanding towards the system, incarceration in an adult facility increases juvenile crime, and children that are sentenced to adult prison are vulnerable to abuse and rape.

    Read More

  • Juvenile Offenders with Mental Illness

    1972 Words  | 4 Pages

    The juvenile justice system faces a significant challenge in identifying and responding to the psychiatric disorders of detained youth because research has shown that it is difficult to define the best means to use and enhance the scarce mental health resources (Kessler & Kraus, 2007). According to Cocozza and Skowyra (2000) “Children’s and adolescents’ mental health needs have historically been addressed inadequately in policy, practice, and research and have only the number of youth with mental illness and their level of unmet needs recognized” (p 4). Furthermore, that the juvenile justice system has gone from treatment and rehabilitation to retribution and punishment, that the prevalence is higher for youths who are involved with the system have mental health disorders when compared to the general population. In this paper I will be discussing pathways of juvenile detentions, types of mentally ill juvenile offenders, working alliance, treatment/intervention options available, challenges of untreated mental illness, and research findings.

    Read More

  • Vandergoot's Justice For Young Offenders

    1372 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Our youths now love luxury, they have bad manners, they have disrespect for authority, disrespect for older people…” Ancient Greek philosopher Socrates acknowledges the escalation of delinquency among youth in the early age’s .The rise of young offenders furthers the Canadian government to record juvenile offenders, in addition, devise an act to better control the epidemic of young delinquents. The topic of proposal is the effectiveness of the youth justice system in its response to crime. Firstly, in order to determine the effectiveness of the youth justice system, one must grasp the premise that is a delinquency, in particular a young delinquents. Under the Juvenile Delinquents Act, the first act imposed in regards to young offenders,

    Read More

  • Girls in The Juvenile Justice System

    1187 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1899, the nation’s first juvenile court for youth under the age of 16 was established in Chicago to provide rehabilitation rather than punishment. By 1925, following the Chicago model, all but two states had juvenile courts whose goals were to turn youth into productive citizens utilizing treatment that included warnings, probation, and training school confinement(Cox et al. 2014, p.2). Treatment lasted until the child was “cured” or turned 21. Although judges spoke with the offending children and decided upon the punishment, the lack of established rules and poor rehabilitation led to unfair treatment. In 1967 “ U.S. Supreme Court case of In re Gault held that juveniles were entitled to the same constitutional due process rights as adults, beginning a national reform in juvenile justice and the system was repaired to afford children many of the same rights that adults have in court” (Cox et al. 2014, p.4). Also, state legislatures passed laws to crack down on juvenile crime, as recently, states have attempted strike a balance in their approach to juvenile justice systems as research suggests that locking youth away in large, secure juvenile facilities is ineffective treatment towards different genders in which it doesn’t provide appropriate rehabilitation.

    Read More

  • Essay On Teen Courts

    1452 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Essay On Juvenile Probation

    1890 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Merriam Webster dictionary defines Probation as a period of time given to someone who commits a crime and instead of being incarcerated are allowed to spend their sentence in the community based on conditions set aside by the courts. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/probation) The task was given to me to build the ultimate model of Probation Services. After careful consideration and great thought this is the route I decided to take. I believe that parents play a great role in some of the decisions their children make. The decisions children make today are a reflection of their parents. My focus on this probation model is to place both child and parent in an institution were they would undergo a period of restoration of family values, rehabilitation, parenting courses, academia and counselling. The ages of these juveniles will range between the ages of ten (10) to seventeen (17) years old.Therefore I stand for institutionalized probation and how this probation will assist in instilling family values.

    Read More

  • The Social Learning Theory Of Juvenile Delinquency

    1195 Words  | 3 Pages

    Youths who have entered the justice system have often been diagnosed with mental disorders or diseases. “A majority of adolescents formally involved in juvenile court have at least one, if not more than one, significant emotional or learning impairment, or maltreatment experience” (Mallet, 2013). The existence of these diseases often effect the juvenile’s stability and ability to make rational decisions. Which may result in them engaging in criminal activities The prevalence of disruptive behavior disorders among youths in juvenile justice systems is reported to be between 30 percent and 50 percent (The mental health needs of juvenile offenders). The difficulties of these disorders are often

    Read More

  • Ethical Issues Of Juvenile Incarceration

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    The majority of youth can be served by these community-based services. Too often incarceration is used as a first step rather than a last resort. By using the money currently spent on incarceration and focusing it on community-based options for treatment and supervision that keep youth close to home should lead to more productive future adults.

    Read More

  • Our "Messed Up" Juvenile Law System

    1034 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nowadays, the topic of the Juvenile law system is a very controversial as well as difficult discussion to have. For every court case, trial, and scenario, there are many different circumstances that may affect the outcome. Due to the seriousness of their crimes or even their past offenses, juvenile criminals can sometimes be tried as adults. Personally, in the beginning of this assignment, I could see both sides of the argument. There are many reasons why children under the age of 18 should be tried as children, however, there are more proficient reasons as to why we should do away with juvenile court. Many of my peers do not think this, however, they are keen on keeping children tried as children. I truly cannot fathom the “good” that this is doing though. I believe that juvenile offenders should be trialed as adults because they were mature enough to make the decision to commit a crime, they need to be held responsible for their destructive actions, and statistics have shown that when given the chance, juvenile criminals do not complete the rehabilitation needed to enter back into society. The main reason most of my peers want children tried as children is for their safety. I have a simple solution for this though. If they are convicted, they should be brought to a juvenile housing block. This block should be inside an adult penitentiary but should be separate from adult offenders. This is primarily for the safety of those who may not be able to defend themselves against the larger adult inmates. An example of this type of jail is the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility located in Terre Haute, Indiana. This correctional facility is one that keeps its juvenile and adult inmates in separate buildings. This allows the juvenile i...

    Read More

  • Juvenile System Essay

    713 Words  | 2 Pages

    This is a hearing since the juveniles do not stand before a trial. The hearing will be scheduled by the intake officer. While proceeding to the court, the judge may talk to the people concerned about the juvenile, evaluate any evidence that was collected if a crime was committed or any other complaints against the juvenile, and consider the youth’s previous history if any crimes were committed and how many times the juvenile has been in trouble with the law. The judge will then order an outcome which can result in probation, institutionalization, formal diversion, or even holding the juvenile for charges against him or her. Probation is supervised and the juvenile must stay at home or in a community setting, but must report to his or her officer regularly. The juvenile must follow all probation conditions granted by the court such as obeying the laws, staying in school, staying away from drugs and alcohol and other requirements instructed. Institutionalization is a form of detention system that is to rehabilitate deviant youths. They also serve as a protection for at-risk youths. There are two types of Juvenile institutions: Long-term correctional and short-term temporary care. Long-term includes, for the most part, training schools, youth ranches and camps, and boot camp. They also usually place male and females separately. Short-term facilities include jails, shelters, detention homes, and reception areas. In the facility you also

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Community Based Corrections

    1434 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are numerous community based corrections programs available in the juvenile justice system such as: drug court or substance abuse treatment, mentoring, independent living transition services, community service, mediation or restitution, group home placement, functional family therapy, job training or work programs, Electronic Monitoring System or Global Positioning System,

    Read More

  • Juvenile Delinquency: Is there a solution?

    1566 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Essay On Juvenile Detention Center

Open Document