The Difference between Juvenile and Criminal Justice Why is Juvenile Justice Important?

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Criminal and Juvenile system can be complex for many people who do not understand how the system can work. Juvenile Justice would be concentered an important aspect to the American system. The system is in place to ensure or deter delinquencies from entering the adult structure. This paper examines the criminal justice system throughout history, juvenile versus criminal system, transition from juvenile to criminal justice, and the effectiveness of the justice system.
Criminal Justice has been around since the biblical times. The first documented murder was between Cain and Abel. Although back in the biblical times, it was not recognized as a structured criminal justice system. Major Gade studied at University of Dayton School of Law had stated in his thesis, “Sin and crime were correlative. The law was divine, often with citations to the Bible. The courts were a secular arm of the church. Colonial criminal justice systems reaffirmed the community's religious aim and reflected popular culture”. Justice was handled on a more immoral level, such as, an eye for an eye, hangings, beating, stoning, and repeat offenders would be expelled from the community. These penalties would often lead to a bias resolution for said crimes. Therefore, the outcome not resulting in the true meaning of justice as we know and enforce today. In history, no matter what age the crime was committed, anyone committing a crime would be punished the same. In the middle ages, the justice system changed with fewer severities. As we know now, there is a set limit of age on which a crime is performed. Usually this age would start at age eighteen and up, but there is a discrepancy on certain crimes. In the years to follow adult and adolescent punishments became s...

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...t mistreated/ bullied, rejected, and an outcast from their peers at school. Nobody knows the real story or exactly why these boys committed such a horrible crime, but this was part of the assumption. Juveniles can easy transform from non-violent to violent crimes if not handled properly, and these delinquents can become a part of the criminal justice system. These crimes can be precursors to a different level of criminality. Another problem juveniles or statues offenders have is a negative contact with police. A negative interaction with a police officer can result in a damaging manner with a statues offender. Sometimes the effects of negative labeling with more criminally persuaded adolescences can result in statues offenders becoming tangled in crime. America had changed or made cases for “decriminalization” for statues offenses, not handling them as criminals.

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