Juvenile Offenders Essay

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) defines a child as being “a human being under the age of eighteen years, unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.” CRC encourages the establishment of systems, authorities, actions and laws distinctively appropriate to children who are accused of, suspected of, or recognized as having infringed any laws. In the Caribbean, the law relating to child offenders is recognized by names such as Juvenile Act, Juvenile Ordinance, Juvenile Offenders Act, Children Act, Children and Young Persons Act or Criminal Code. In Grenada, under the Criminal Code, children who come within the relevant justice classifications are referred to as juveniles. Over the years, there has been an increase in juvenile crimes amidst the absence of an appropriate facility to house and aid rehabilitation in Grenada. As a result, offenders under the age of eighteen are placed into the adult prison system which consequently results in the prevalence of repeat offenders and a negative impact on the socioeconomic and multi-sector environment. It is with this in mind that the introduction of a juvenile rehabilitation centre will counteract the negative effects and offer a restorative environment, separate from adult offenders.

A phrase we hear all the time is “adult time for adult crime.” While catchy, such an idiom reflects poor perspective of criminal justice codes. If the penalty is to mirror the crime, both the nature of the offense and the fault or moral responsibility of the offender must be taken into account. Research has shown that the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for regulating violent behavior, future planning, psychological flexibility, intellectual ...

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...ur, academic enactment, and positive attitudes accordingly. Through an array of these programs and others, detainees are guaranteed exposure necessary to help them in making more apt and tolerable choices that will help them become nation builders.

In Barbados there have been numerous success stories in the Juvenile Liaison Scheme, a multi- faceted organization involving the church, the police, welfare, child care, probation and education officials and ordinary citizens which plays a preventative and rehabilitative role. With the establishment of such a project in Grenada, we too can experience a decline in the rate of crimes committed by youths, lower the amount of repeated juvenile offenders, the elimination of block limers who engage in alcohol and drug abuse, and in return promote a nation that can rest assured that it’s future is in the hands of capable youths.