Juvenile Courts

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There is ongoing debate as to what should be done with juvenile courts. Should juvenile courts be abolished or just reformed? There are a number of reasons offered for each viewpoint, and the ultimate goal is trying to figure out which option would be most beneficial for juveniles. Juvenile delinquency is a continuous problem in the United States. It is also considered an issue that all of society needs to take part in trying to solve or at least diminish. Despite the number of social controls that can aid in dealing with delinquency much of the burden is placed on the juvenile justice system. It is well understood that the juvenile courts have a lot of imperfections. These imperfections are what caused the calls for reform or abolishment. There are a number of recommendations that Barry C. Feld offered that could serve as reforms. Some of his recommendations pertain to rehabilitation, welfare, resources and rights. Despite these recommendations Feld still prefers abolishment or more specifically creating an integrated system. Before discussing whether abolishment or reform is a better option it is important to address the recommendations Feld suggested as areas of the juvenile court system that need reform.

One of the most important recommendations made by Feld is returning to the rehabilitative premise of juvenile courts. The juvenile court system was originally created to emphasize rehabilitation as opposed to punishment. In addition, the courts were meant to provide a way of protecting children from the harshness of the adult court, which emphasized obtaining guilt and punishing the individual (Hickey, 2010). The dichotomies of “treatment-punishment” and “child-adult” have been skewed and have resulted in a ch...

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...se the adult courts are as capable of dealing with juveniles. Ultimately, there is no need to reform an imperfect juvenile court system that is not serving the purpose it was meant to achieve. By integrating the juvenile courts with adult criminal court juveniles will have a greater chance of receiving the justice they have been waiting to obtain from the current juvenile system.

References

Fortas, J. (1967). Opinion of the Court SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: 387 U.S. 1 In re Gault. Retrieved August 12, 2010, from Cornell University Law School: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0387_0001_ZO.html

Hickey, T. J. (2010). Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Crime and Criminology, 9th Edition. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Kelly, C.T., Unit 3: Slideshow, University of Everest Online, 8 August 2010.

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