Making Things Right: Meaningful Community Service For Juvenile Offenders

Helping juvenile offenders can mean two things; helping them become productive in life and preventing them from committing crime again. Both means of assistance to be effective need to be made in the light of reasons as to why children resort to delinquency at such an early age (Darbouze 108). Darbouze says that rehabilitation is an effective method of helping juvenile offenders because it is practical in that it addresses the individual needs of the offender and gives realistic options to the juvenile for the future (Darbouze 110). Rehabilitation can include a different combination of methods to address criminal behavior in juveniles. Vocational education/training, group therapy and family therapy are some of the ways in which offenders can be helped to get back on track.

Community service by offenders is perceived to establish a positive connection between the offender and the community he/she serves and therefore helps integrate him/her back into normal life. Thomas and Hunninen say that community service can right a wrong and pay back the debt incurred by the offender by being involved in a criminal act (3).
“Giving back” to society through community service cannot always be perceived as mending what an offender did wrong and neither can it ensure that the offender is naturally feeling regretful for what he/she did. Moreover, community service does not necessarily help the young offender but can actually be perceived as punishment due to its “mandatory” nature. Community service should be voluntary and given to the offender if he/she wishes to help a particular cause as part of an individualized rehabilitation