Juvenile Justice
How was the "get tough" movement different from the original parens patriae concept? This paper reviews both forms of punishment (or penalizing) when juveniles stray away from law-abiding behaviors.
The history of parens patriae
The system known as parens patriae was developed many centuries ago, beginning in the late fourteenth century, according to the book Juvenile Delinquency: An Integrated Approach. And early in the fifteenth century parens patriae (the law that emerged from this concept was called "equity law") cases were brought before courts in England, and in time parens patriae was imported to the United States, because many legal traditions that settlers in the U.S. adopted were in fact from English law (Burfeind, 2011, 13).
What does parens patriae mean in Latin? Originally it meant "parent of the country," and in England it offered "far-reaching power" to the King of England, as the ultimate ruler and guardian of the country and its people. It was a way to settle disputes, mostly dealing with property rights, Burfeind writes (13). Along with his authority, the King was obliged under...
Law makers believed that transfer laws will assist in deterring juveniles from committing the most serious crimes. The article reports that it is unclear whether or not trying juveniles in Criminal Court as opposed to juvenile court deters crime. In fact the author points out the results of six large studies which found that the recidivism rates of those tried in Criminal Court was greater than the rate of those
However, both articles show, despite the criminal justice system's best effort, that is often not the case. Juveniles often return to the court system repeatedly, and when they do, they are often tried as adults, which only seems to add to the problem. It is not that the court systems are ineffective (although in some cases it seems that they are), it is that they are still trying to
Future Role of the Juvenile Justice System in the United States Young people are naturally prone to experimentation and impulsive behaviors that frequently result in their involvement with the law enforcement community, and police officers today generally enjoy wide latitude in resolving these incidents. In fact, in some if not most cases, police officers can release young offenders into the custody of their parents or guardians without the further involvement
Status Offenders Throughout modern history, society has struggled with how to handle children and adolescents who committed crimes. Historically, juveniles who came to the attention of the courts have been considered less guilty, because of their age, than adults (Klein, 1998). This in turn developed into an attitude at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century that the appropriate role for police and the courts was to
Juvenile Justice System: Contemporary Juvenile Justice System and Juvenile Detention Alternatives Past Issues and Historical Trends in Juvenile Justice Contemporary juvenile justice is in trouble. For nearly a century, the juvenile justice system was designed to protect young people and provide them with rehabilitation programs and services that would mitigate problems and prevent further delinquency. Young offenders would be treated less as criminals and more as persons in need of assistance, with
They must also determine what types of delinquent behavior and youth violence are causing the greatest concern in the community. (Medaris, 1996, para.# 5) As can be seen from the above statement of the first step in implementing the SHOCAP program in any community, first look at statistics on juvenile crime and second ask the community what it is most afraid of with regard to juvenile crime. This intention seriously
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