Juvenile delinquency has been an ever-evolving issue in the United States. From aims focused on prevention and rehabilitation that resulted in the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974; to a reverse trend beginning in the mid-1970's, the present has brought on a more prevalent tendency to try juveniles as adults. No more have courts taken to giving juveniles delinquents a second chance through rehabilitation (Schmalleger, 2016). In recent years, juveniles have faced life sentences without parole like an adult would. If the trend continues, will the number of juveniles tried as adults grow? Is it the responsibility of the juvenile justice system to prevent crime by enacting harsh penalties on the troubled youth of the country? From a Judeo-Christian perspective, everyone in one way or another, sins. It is up to the government and the community to help sinners see their wrongs and allow them a chance for redemption. One article written by Susan Mody, details the changes of the juvenile justice system. From one that believed in more lenient penalties and rehabilitation to one that tries juveniles as adults, the system no longer aims to help juveniles redeem themselves. What happens then is a creation of a population with high recidivism rates, extensive psychological damage, and limited life chances in relation to education, wages, and family coherence (Mody, 2008). Mody mentions the adolescent brain and the need to understand it to help juvenile delinquents avoid reoffending and enable a better outcome for this troubled population. "In adolescence, the prefrontal cortex, responsible for decision making, planning, and inhibition, is still immature....
Most children, given a chance through multi-agency collaborative community-based approaches, will outgrow immature decision-making" (Mody, 2008, p. 2).
In principle, the United States should follow international treaties only if it is a signatory to that specific treaty. However, the Supreme Court of the United States cannot ignore international standards completely either. There are several reasons for this. The world is becoming more and more globalized. Large numbers of immigrants have flocked to the United States in the last several decades and likewise American military and the FBI increasingly
Ideally, diversion should take place at the earliest stages of juvenile justice processing, to refer a youth to essential services and avert further involvement in the system. On the other hand, diversion mechanisms can be put into place at later stages of justice processing, to avoid further penetration into the system and expensive out-of-home placements. Efforts to keep youth out of the juvenile justice system who otherwise would be processed
The rest were charged only with minor offenses. The harshness of punishment in such cases appears to be disproportional to the crime. Indeed, Macallair states that the system was originally implemented to target the "worst of the worst." This does not appear to be the case in reality. A further problem specific to Florida entails the disproportionate representation of race in cases transferred to the adult court system. According to
Juvenile Justice The Juvenile Criminal Justice System Juvenile courts and detention separate from adult courts is a relatively new concept (ABA, 2010). Before the turn of the twentieth century, the cases for individuals of all ages were managed by the same criminal and civil courts, and the same sentences were handed out to all parties. Of course, this has changed to a great extent since 1899 in the United States, but there
Criminals in the adult criminal justice system are often likely to be career criminals. Moreover, simply to survive in an adult institution, juveniles may have to adopt increasingly anti-social behavior. If the goal is to keep these children from reoffending, putting them in the same system as more experienced criminals, which does not have a deterrence effect on the adults in that system, simply seems like the wrong approach. The
Juvenile Justice Policy regarding juvenile crime and justice has moved to the center of public attention and political debate in recent years. Increases in youth crime, stories of frustrated parents seeking help for their troubled children, and criticisms of juvenile justice programs have led to demands for change in the way young offenders are charged, punished, and treated (Howell, Krisberg, & Jones, 1995). Public concern about violent juvenile crime is also
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now