Another factor to consider when determining if Jason should be tried in an adult court focuses on the child's ability to respond to treatment. It is important to understand that juvenile court is much more adapted to the rehabilitative aspect of corrections than the adult court, where little mercy and stiff penalties are the norm in today's prison culture society.
The focus should then shift to Jason's individual characteristics and abilities to see if he requires extra special attention in the form of a transfer to adult court. Jason's family life needs to be understood in greater detail as well to get a better picture on how Jason reacts in that type of environment. Any other information should also be sought after to help paint a more complete picture of Jason. These things should include his habits, friends, social networks, diet siblings and tendencies. A physical medical examination should also be…...
mlaReferences
Allard, P., & Young, M.C. (2002). Prosecuting juveniles in adult court: The practitioner's perspective. Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 2(2), 65-77.
Bryan-Hancock, C., & Casey, S. (2011). Young People and the Justice System: Consideration of maturity in criminal responsibility. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 18(1), 69-78.
Bryan-Hancock, C., & Casey, S. (2010). Psychological maturity of at-risk juveniles, young adults and adults: Implications for the justice system. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 17(1), 57-69.
Juvenile Court
Juvenile criminal justice system has enforced laws, which govern the rules for determining whether a juvenile criminal is eligible for a sentence or a counseling period is mandatory to alter the behaviors of such individuals. This system has been effectively placed for children less than the age of 21 who have reportedly committed crimes in various forms such as sex offenders; murderers etc. (Whitehead & Lab, 2012). In this aspect, several crimes have taken place in USA marking the statistics in the country by 32% of the total juvenile crime statistics (Whitehead & Lab, 2012). In this essay, a case study of one of the most fierce juvenile crime acts have been presented which explains a situation where the juvenile criminal was at first ordered to be treated as an adult for the sentence purposes due to committing first degree of the crime. However, later due to his age…...
mlaReferences
Bell, S.J. (2011). Young Offenders and Youth Justice: A Century After the Fact. Toronto: Cengage Learning .
Jones, B. (2012, April 13). Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com /news.
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 contradicts the intention of the juvenile justice system to demonstrate focus on individual cases of each juvenile offender and give it adequate time for understanding of all mitigating circumstances, rather than seeking to understand outside fear of crime. Many factors contribute to public opinion of crime and not all of those factors are realistically and truly connected to real crime occurrences and/or statistics. The "mitigating" factors of public crime fear are in dire need of reevaluation, starting with unrealistic and…...
mlaResources
Cothern, L. (November 2000) "Juveniles and the Death Penalty," Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Accessed July, 10, 2008
http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/184748.pdf
Medaris, M (August 1996) "Serious Habitual Offender Comprehensive Action Program. (SHOCAP)" Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Factsheet Accessed July, 10, 2008, http://www.ncjrs.gov/txtfiles/shocap.txt
Juveniles as Adults: Pros and Cons
Severe and continuing juvenile offenders are progressively being tried as adults in criminal court all over the country. These juveniles face incarcerations in adult correctional facilities and the dangers that come from being with an adult criminal population. This type of movement poses significant inquiries for policy makers. To what degree do trials in criminal courts and imprisonment in adult reformatories endorse or hinder community security and the answerability and reintegration of juvenile offenders? This research paper deliberates on the legal consequences of adjudication in criminal court and offers a comprehensive review of research discoveries on the preventive effects of transfer laws, sentencing patterns and conviction and recidivism rates in juvenile as opposed to criminal courts, and programming and conditions in juvenile as opposed to adult correctional facilities. The pros and cons of trying juveniles as adults are discussed along with the evidence to…...
mlaReferences
Bartol, C.R., & Bartol, A.M. (2011). Chapter 6 Consulting with Juvenile and Civil Courts. Introduction to forensic psychology (3 ed., pp. 187-219). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Cooper, D.K. (1997). Juveniles' understanding of trial-related information: are they competent defendants?. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 15(2), 167-180.
NCIDS. (n.d.). Chapter 3: Juvenile Court Jurisdiction and Parties to Juvenile Proceedings. Retrieved March 23, 2014, from http://www.ncids.org/other%20manuals/JuvDefenderManual/JuvenileDefBook_03.pdf
Ojo, M., & Olufemi, D. (2012). A SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW OF ISSUES ON JUVENILE DELINQUENCY. Journal of International Social Research, 5(21), 468-482.
Having open court procedures would also lead to more liability and more community engagement that would in turn lead to better outcomes for children and families who may get caught up in the criminal justice system (Ashley, 2007).
There has been a recent increase in the number of violent crimes that are being committed by juveniles. This has caused a shift in thinking from rehabilitation to that of retribution and deterrence. Many states have begun to open juvenile proceedings to the public when a minor is charged with a violent crime that may provoke community outrage because of the nature of the crime (1990's: Juvenile The Courts Proceedings and ecords Continue to Be More Accessible to the Public, 1999).
There has been a lot of evidence presented as to why juvenile court proceeding should be open to the public. Everything has been presented from not violating the First Amendment of the…...
mlaReferences
1990's: Juvenile the Courts Proceedings and Records Continue to Be More Accessible
to the Public. (1999). Retrieved April 17, 2009, Access to Juvenile Courts Web
site: http://www.rcfp.org/juvcts/index.html
Ashley, B. (2007). Difference Between Open vs. Closed Juvenile Court Proceedings.
Loud I Shout
Edward Humes' book follows the cases of seven teenage boys as they work their way through the juvenile justice system. It is clear from the title of Humes' book that something was amiss, something was terribly wrong, in the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles, California, in 1994. Readers don't know what reforms have been instituted subsequent to 1994, but that is not as priority in this assignment. hat is being conveyed and critiqued in this paper is what Humes reports from that era, and it opens up numerous issues and questions for an alert reader to contemplate.
The question that will be addressed in this paper is (1): hen you look at kids who land in adult court, you often find that they've been bouncing through the system for years, basically getting a free pass for lesser crimes until they commit a horrific act. Discuss how that…...
mlaWorks Cited
Humes, E. (1996). No Matter How Loud I Shout: A Year in the Life of the Juvenile Court.
New York: Simon & Schuster.
On several occasions, the judge did seem to make an inquiry into motivation or reasoning, but the juveniles failed to give a coherent answer; it was clearly not a setting in which they felt comfortable opening up about their lives and issues. Instead of pursuing the matter to get a satisfactory answer, the judge just moved on to the ruling phase if the juvenile declined to give a full answer to questions or just responded "I don't know" or "I guess so" when it should have been obvious that there was much more to the story.
In another case, the judge asked a juvenile if he (the juvenile) knew why he was so angry at his mother. Everything about his body language, his facial expressions, and the way he stared at his mother suggested that he knew exactly why he purposely made his mother's life so difficult. Even as the juvenile…...
Adult vs. Juvenile Courts
The assignment being completed in this module response is to answer to the differences between the juvenile and adult criminal systems. The author is asked to make a case for a certain age being the level of distinction for adult vs. criminal cases. The author will do all that and more.
Court Differences
The differences between juvenile and criminal courts are obvious. First, children and adults are not housed in the same units and the amount of punitive punishment in the adult system is much more severe and the jails certainly match that. The amount of punishment in terms of years and money is entirely different as well, with a much higher focus on rehabilitation and repair with the juvenile courts as compared to a much higher focus on punishment, monetary or jail sentence-related, with the adult courts (Bishop, 2010)(LegalMatch, 2013).
People who commit, and are tried, as children are…...
mlaReferences
Bishop, T. (2010, October 4). Trying Juveniles As Adults | Report says trying juveniles as adults is counterproductive - Baltimore Sun. Featured Articles From The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved February 26, 2013, from http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-10-04/news/bs-md-just-kids-partnership-20101004_1_juvenile-system-baltimore-jail-juvenile-court
LegalMatch. (2013, February 26). Juvenile vs. Adult Criminal System | LegalMatch Law Library. Find a Lawyer | Find an Attorney - Present Your Case to LegalMatch. Retrieved February 26, 2013, from http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/juvenile-vs.-adult-criminal-system.html
, 2009). While there are schools in the juvenile system, some of these Hispanic children may come in so behind in their educations that they will requires special services to bring them current in their educations. Therefore, educational and mental health concerns are highlighted for Hispanic youth entering into the juvenile justice system.
Conclusion
The juvenile justice system in the United States is out-of-control. While Fairfax County, Virginia's juvenile justice system is not experiencing the same problems as other areas, it would be erroneous to assume that its system is still the best way of dealing with juvenile offenders. Fairfax County has a large Hispanic population, and Hispanic youth are overrepresented in its juvenile justice system. One must assume that a lack of cultural sensitivity has helped contribute to this problem. Ensuring that Hispanic youth and their families have access to the same quality of non-penal services as other youth would help…...
mlaReferences
Chambers, B. (2009, June 11). Latino youth in the juvenile justice system -- key facts.
Retrieved October 11, 2011 from Reclaiming Futures website: http://www.reclaimingfutures.org/blog/node/1028
County of Fairfax Virginia. (2011). Delinquency (juvenile criminal cases). Retrieved
from http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/courts/jdr/jdrDelinquency.htm
Juvenile facilities provide intensive and specialized therapeutic programs with brilliant results. The juvenile placed in juveniles' corrections enjoy an education-centered curriculum and trained staff that functions exclusively with the juvenile offenders' population. On the contrary, those juvenile held in adult jails and prisons do not enjoy these services (Siegel 2009, 671). Understanding that juveniles hold different emotional, safety, social and physical requirements from adult offenders, guidelines requiring certified juveniles to get placements in divergent setting other than adult prisons and jails is paramount. More than sixteen states in America hold certified juveniles in juvenile corrections and not in adult prison until these offenders reach eighteen years.
Six states hold juvenile in juvenile facilities until they attain the age of 21. Pennsylvania and Virginia passed the laws requiring that juveniles, regardless of their crime, get placement in juvenile correction facilities and not in adult jails (Dietch 2011, p.11). This is because juvenile…...
mlaReference List
Deitch, M 2011. Juveniles in the adult criminal justice system in Texas. The University of Texas at Austin, school of Public Affairs.pp.1-44.
Elrod, P., Ryder, C 2011. Juvenile justice: A social, historical and legal perspective. Michigan: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Roberts, a., Springer, D 2007. Social work in juvenile and criminal justice settings. Texas: Charles C. Thomas Publisher.
Siegel, L 2009. Introduction to criminal justice. New York: Cengage Learning.
e. school, religious activities, sports, family involvement)." ("Juvenile detention," 2005, p. 11-12). These negative affects of increased usage not only directly affect juvenile drug abusers with increased occurrence of detention, but also make less effective rehabilitation programs needed for these young offenders.
Prevention Programs:
Over the last two decades, there have been a plethora of clinical trial research that have identified effective adolescent substance use prevention programs.
Sadly, funding for drug use prevention services has decreased over recent years, partly due to the increased need for drug user treatment for young people. As an example, in 2002, Congress reduced funding for community drug prevention studies at the U.S. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), by $50 million, in order to increase drug user treatment studies at the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. With reduced funding, it is of even greater importance that prevention programs are as effective as possible. Kumpfer, Alvarado, and Whiteside…...
mlaReferences
Bilchik, S. (1997). From the administrator. Retrieved September 21, 2007, at http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/167251.pdf .
Juvenile detention as a disposition. (2005). Journal of Juvenile Justice Services, 20(2). Retrieved September 21, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.
Kumpfer, K., Alvarado, R., & Whiteside, H. (Jul 2003). Family-based interventions for substance use and misuse prevention. Substance Use & Misuse, 38(11-13). Retrieved September 21, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.
Lexcen, F. & Redding, R. (2000). Substance abuse and dependence in juvenile offenders. Retrieved September 21, 2007, at http://www.ilppp.virginia.edu/Juvenile_Forensic_Fact_Sheets/SubAbuse.html .
, 1914, p. 500).
Meanwhile when the state asserts control over the child due to his non-criminal behavior that governmental intervention supports parens patriae, Siegel maintains. (Parens patriae in Latin means "substitute parent"; its been the court's prerogative to intervene in cases where through no fault of his own a child has been neglected or is dependent, Alarid, et al., explains on page 326). States' intervention supports parens patriae simply because state courts believe -- and they assume without really knowing for certain -- that status offender is in his best interests (Siegel, 17). Approximately 150,000 under age youths (technically children) are sent to juvenile court as "status offenders" every year, Siegel explains (17). This policy takes due process and throws it out the window, just because the individual is under age.
The U.S. Congress passed the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act in 1974, which provides funds to make it possible…...
mlaWorks Cited
Alarid, Leanne Fiftal, and Del Carmen, Rolando V. (2010). Community-Based Corrections.
Florence, KY: Cengage Learning.
McLaughlin, Andrew Cunningham, and Hart, Albert Bushnell. (1914). Cyclopedia of American
Government, Volume 1. Emeryville, CA: D. Appleton and Company.
Juvenile Total Institutions
Total Institutions ( prisons/jails) juveniles. A. Discuss history B. Goals C. programming youth held . D. Issues/Problems Present facilities Below Guideline paper. 1. Students expected draw information class material scholarly sources journal articles, government websites, NPO websites.
Bortner and Williams (1997)
define a total institution as a physical location such as a prison or a reformatory where all the total needs of the residents are met. The needs of the individuals are mostly physical such as health, clothing, nutrition, shelter, etc. For juveniles, total institutions must be able to meet their educational and psychological needs as the youth. For an institution to quality as a total institution, the totality of the care that is provided in the institutions must be reflected in the round the clock confinement of the residents including holidays and weekends Shoemaker, 2009.
Goffman (1961)
argues that in many different ways, correctional institutions also serve as total institutions because…...
mlaReferences
ABA Division for Public Education. The History of Juvenile Justice. In ABA Division for Public Education (Ed.), Dialogue on Youth and Justice (pp. 1-8). Chicago, IL: American bar association.
Austin, J., Johnson, K.D., & Weitzer, R. (2005). Alternatives to the Secure Detention and Confinement of Juvenile Offenders (pp. 41). Rockville, MD: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Dept of Justice.
Bortner, M.A., & Williams, L. (1997). Youth in Prison. New York: Rutledge.
Commonwealth v. Fisher, No. 213 48 (1905).
According to Lawlor, Connecticut has "developed a flexible approach geared toward immediate intervention and proven results" (Lawlor). He explains that not every teenaged car thief with a record of several arrests should be sent to prison, just as not every 10-year-old first time truant needs to be simply sent home to his parents (Lawlor).
The state of Connecticut has sole responsibility for all probation, adult and juvenile, and all graduated sanctions programs are operated by the state or by private, non-profit organizations funded by the state (Lawlor). For more than twenty years, the term 'juvenile' in the state of Connecticut refers to only youths under the age of sixteen; youths who are sixteen years and older are treated as adults for all crimes (Lawlor). In 1995, before the graduated sanctions were implemented, the most serious violent juveniles were the focus of the juvenile court, and all other cases were for…...
mlaWorks Cited
Bilchik, Shay. "Sentencing juveniles to adult facilities fails youths and society."
Corrections Today. April 1, 2003. Retrieved November 30, 2006 from HighBeam Research Library.
Feld, Barry C. "Abolish the juvenile court: youthfulness, criminal responsibility, and sentencing policy. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. September 22, 1997. Retrieved November 30, 2006 from HighBeam Research Library.
Grisso, Thomas. "The evolution of adolescence: a developmental perspective on juvenile justice reform. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. September 22, 1997. Retrieved November 30, 2006 from HighBeam Research Library.
Juvenile Justice
Juvenile delinquents
Shifting to a restorative model, acknowledging the needs of victims
Juvenile justice:
Shifting to a restorative model, acknowledging the needs of victims
The adult justice system in America has long focused upon retribution and community restoration as well as rehabilitation of offenders. Victims must be 'made whole,' not just offenders within the adult system. However, the juvenile justice system has had a far less clear focus upon the restoration of justice to the community than that of its adult counterpart. This is partially due to the oft-expressed view that juveniles are less morally responsible than adults. Juvenile records are usually 'wiped clean' after the adolescents have served their time in probation or prison. The focus of the juvenile justice system is always on the improvement of the life of the juvenile and to reduce the likelihood of recidivism, rather than outright punishment.
On the other hand, juveniles are also prosecuted for so-called…...
mlaReferences
Balanced and restorative justice. (2010). OJJDP report: Guide for implementing the balanced and restorative justice model. Retrieved July 4, 2010. http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/pubs/implementing/balanced.html
Giacomazzi, Andrew L. (2005, February). Review of Restorative justice by Ruth Ann
Strickland. (New York, NY: Peter Lang, 2004). LPBR. 15.2: 139-142. Retrieved July 4,
2010. http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/lpbr/subpages/reviews/strickland205.htm
Impact of the Juvenile Act on the Criminal Justice System
The Juvenile Act is a legislative framework that governs the treatment of juvenile offenders in the United States. It has profoundly impacted the criminal justice system by introducing specialized procedures, diversion programs, and rehabilitative measures designed to protect and rehabilitate young offenders.
Specialized Procedures
Confidentiality: Juvenile proceedings are typically closed to the public to protect the privacy of the child and their family.
Due Process Rights: Juveniles have the same constitutional rights as adults, including the right to an attorney, the right to a fair trial, and the right against self-incrimination.
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