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Prevention of juvenile delinquency
Challenges with the juvenile justice system
Challenges with the juvenile justice system
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Recommended: Prevention of juvenile delinquency
The act of participating in a crime by a minor is considered juvenile delinquency. This criminal act may be punished by many different means, designed specifically to deal with those who are under the statutory age of majority, which is the threshold of adulthood in law. However, many people argue that the severity of the juvenile prosecution system isn't high enough to order proper punishment. Therefore, juvenile offenders should be tried under adult laws. In 1899, the Juvenile Court Act was approved which established the nation's first juvenile criminal court. It was founded on three principles: young offenders are not ready to be held accountable, have not fully developed a sense of maturity, and can effectively rehabilitate. Now, anyone …show more content…
They believe that juveniles are different from adults, and the due process requirements give the juveniles a wider chance of intervention. However, permissiveness for the offenders is the least effective means to change their behavior and often have negative effects as well. The juvenile court system does not provide young offenders an adequate punishment for the severity of the crimes that were committed so that they may grasp the repercussions of their actions. Many of the worst offenders that have been acquitted in juvenile court are let back out on the streets and the chances of getting attacked are just too big of a risk. Officials should treat minor crimes in the same manner as any violation. The petty misdemeanors can soon turn into dangerous convicts and they won't be punished until it's too …show more content…
The issue of morals makes answering this question more difficult, as people are taught that the same rules for adults cannot be applied to children. The differences in their attitudes and mindset are too big to overlook. Minors are susceptible because of their lack of maturity and preparation; therefore, they can be easily influenced by others with stronger personalities. This is the main reason that why minors are perceived as being incapable of taking responsibility for their own actions and being held accountable for the consequences that follow. However, teenage struggle with reasoning and decision-making can hardly be used an excuse to commit a serious crime. This is not a matter of not seeing the right from wrong. There are laws that must be complied with and choosing not doing so is wrong, so there is no excuse for breaking the law. Even minors are clearly capable of understanding the law and their obligations to adhere to it. Juveniles are constantly being undermined by the court, and it is time to change it all. Offenders that have committed the most serious crimes should be charged accordingly and transferred to the adult courts. We have taken the first steps, it is now time to complete the process of abolishing this inefficient
With the current crime rates on the rise, the justice system is trying to reduce adult criminals by strictly prosecuting juvenile offenders as adults. Many people believe that in doing so will scare the criminals back on the straight path and help to lower the crime rate. Trying a juvenile as an adult will have no effect on reducing crimes, corrective behaviors, or a juvenile’s comprehension ability.
According to criminal.findlaw.com the definition of the juvenile justice system is the area of criminal law applicable to people not old enough to be held responsible for criminal acts. Juveniles are people 17 and under. Juveniles should be convicted as adults for violent crimes like assault or murder etcetera because if they can commit an adult crime they should get an adult punishment. Also if juveniles don’t get punished for their crimes then they’ll keep doing it because they got off unpunished the first time.
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.
Aftercare programs are used often with juveniles in hopes of preventing recidivism. Recidivism is of high concern to the criminal justice system in that the safety of the public depends on low recidivism rates. Juvenile Incarceration facilities have programs set up, such as education and pro-social behavior classes, to promote bettering the juvenile’s life. However, research has shown that the progress made while incarcerated slowly declines upon release. This is testimony to the importance of aftercare programs in preventing recidivism.
In the United States, many states have similar juvenile systems that stem from the juvenile system that were established in 1899. Before the establishment of these formal juvenile system structures, there was a widespread dissatisfaction of how to deal with young criminals. The states wanted a more effective and humane way of dealing with these young people, but also wanted to isolate them from adult criminals. For example, Pennsylvania, divided law-breakers into two categories infants and adults. The category or infancy covered those fourteen and under. They believe that children under the age of seven were incapable of committing a crime. Now, those between seven and fourteen fell in both the infant and adult categories. If the prosecutor could present
Juveniles are more than just kids. They are capable of doing anything an adult is capable of doing. One has probably heard the saying, “If you want to be treated like an adult, then act like an adult.” If they’re going to do crimes that “only” adults are capable of doing, then they should treated like an adult and be tried and sentenced like one. Imagine being close to a murder victim, wouldn’t you want them to feel hell? “How would you feel if you never got to see your child alive again while their killer served only a short sentence before being released from jail?” (hchs1259). This quote hits hard. One can only imagine being in the position of a parent whose child was murdered.
Juveniles deserve to be tried the same as adults when they commit certain crimes. The justice systems of America are becoming completely unjust and easy to break through. Juvenile courts haven’t always been known to the everyday person.
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.
As minors commit violent crimes without being held accountable, they can grow up to be real criminals and they can be very dangerous. Without a solid foundation of what is right and wrong, these minors will grow up believing that their actions are the norm. For this reason, minors need to be held accountable. They need to be taught that they cannot get away with their crimes. In 2007, courts with juvenile jurisdiction handled an estimated 1.7 million delinquency cases. Delinquency cases include vandalism, shoplifting, robbery, and murder. These are just some of the crimes minors can commit. This was up by forty-four percent from 1985. If a minor grows up believing that crime is acceptable, they will repeat the pattern. Without interrupting the pattern and making them accountable, these minors will always have a twisted sense of right and wrong. A sense of what is right and wrong is important and can be learned at any age. Minors learn very young, what...
crimes are committed. In 2008, seventy-three thousand of these violent crimes were committed by juveniles. When you hear about murderers, rapists, and other criminals, automatically, your mind set wants these criminals sentenced to prison for a very long time. There is no second guessing when it comes to these extreme criminals, they should be punished for the severe crimes committed. Now, lets say the criminal was a fifteen year old, suddenly people begin to question if giving them the same sentencing as an “adult” would be appropriate. Many will say it is wrong to try a juvenile as an adult for various reasons, but by committing these violent crimes they stopped being children and should be tried as adults. Regardless of the age, criminals are criminals and they should all be tried the same, age does not define adulthood. Juvenile crimes are no different from adult crimes, teens know the difference between wrong and right, ignorance and foolishness are two different things, if the criminal has the ability to plan out the crime then they will be prepared to do the time.
Today?s court system is left with many difficult decisions. One of the most controversial being whether to try juveniles as adults or not. With the number of children in adult prisons and jails rising rapidly, questions are being asked as to why children have been committing such heinous crimes and how will they be stopped. The fact of the matter is that it is not always the children's fault for their poor choices and actions; they are merely a victim of their environment or their parents. Another question asked is how young is too young. Children who are too young to see an R rated film unaccompanied are being sent to adult prisons. The only boundaries that seem to matter when it comes to being an adult are laws that restrain kids from things such as alcohol, pornography, and other materials seen as unethical. Children that are sent to adult prison are going to be subjected to even more unprincipled ideas and scenes. When children can be sent to jail for something as minor as a smash and grab burglary, the judicial system has errors. The laws that send juveniles to adult prisons are inhumane, immoral, and unjust. Kids are often incompetent, which leads to unfair trials. Adult prisons are also very dangerous for minors, and in many cases this leads to more juvenile crimes.
The United States has been affected by a number of crimes committed by juveniles. The juvenile crime rate has been increasing in recent years. Everyday more juveniles commit crimes for various reasons. They act as adults when they are not officially adults. There is a discussion about how juveniles should be punished if they commit heinous crimes. While many argue that juveniles who commit serious crimes, such as murder, should be treated as adults, the fact is, juveniles under the age of eighteen, are not adults, and should not be treated as such.
The juvenile system was first established in the United States around 1899 when Illinois had their first court appearance including a juvenile. This then led to the Nation’s first juvenile system being created, which was for youth under the age of eighteen who have been convicted of crimes. Up until then, most youth were tried as an adult until the system was put into place. The system has different sections in which they youth is taken in such as: intake, adjudication, disposition, and post adjudicatory.
Juvenile delinquency is a serious problem and leads to negative outcomes for youth, families, and society as a whole. Adolescents under the age of 18 who are arrested for committing a criminal act are processed through a juvenile justice system. The juvenile justice system is grounded on the principle that the youth have different needs than adults. During adolescence, youth are forming their identities and still developing mentally, physically, socially, and emotionally. Due to their early stages of development, juveniles who violate the law should be treated differently than adults.
There are many theories that attempt to explain the phenomenon of juvenile delinquency and the factors that cause it. There is, and has been, a great amount of young people who engage in delinquent behavior throughout the nation and worldwide. What exactly is the catalyst that incites these young people to commit crime and stray from the ethical norm established in society? Are all youth susceptible to the temptation of deviant behavior or is it just some? Theories suggest different possible etiologies, which include: social factors, biological factors, psychological factors and physiological factors, among other things that may mold a child into a juvenile delinquent.