...Justice System Position Intro to Criminal Justice 21 OCT 2012 Abstract The purpose of this paper is to explain how imperative it is to maintain the juvenile justice system as a separate entity from the adult court systems. It must stay separate in both the way cases are disposed and in the way sentence is carried out. Namely, punishment as in the adult system must be avoided and continued to be replaced by rehabilitation. In recent years, there has been intensive debate about whether the juvenile justice system should focus its limited resources on rehabilitation or punishment to curtail the rising statistics in juvenile delinquency. It is my belief that the juvenile justice system should primarily focus on the process of juvenile rehabilitation as opposed to strictly punishment. This paper will include an assessment of law enforcement, court processes, probation corrections, and community services as well as the intervention programs currently available to increase the incidents of juvenile delinquency. In this paper the subject to examine is both sides of the spectrum and try to show that the process of rehabilitation, rather than just straight punishment will provide a more effective solution to the problem of juvenile delinquency. I will be examining some of the arguments that oppose the views of rehabilitation over punishment and attempt to prove that the arguments for punishment are not as valid as those...
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...Juvenile Sentencing Alternatives to Incarceration David Schuster Oakland Community College Abstract There are many different ways to punish a juvenile for a crime that they have committed. The most common is incarceration, otherwise known as jail or prison. This option has many disadvantages. I will explore the different aspects of incarceration: how it affects the juveniles, and if, over all, it is an effective way to punish young criminals. I will then present several alternatives to incarceration, now being used, such as: community diversion, counseling, education, behavior management, probation, as well as other methods that not only punish the juvenile, but also provide an opportunity for rehabilitation. For this paper, when talking about incarceration and community alternatives as sentencing options, I intend for them to be applied to the not as serious juvenile crimes. Status offenses, minor in possession, breaking and entering, and minor burglary charges would fall into this category. However, I think for more serious, violent crimes there is less discretion as to punishment options, and therefore most community alternatives may not apply to them. Keywords: Incarceration, community alternatives, juvenile delinquents Juvenile Sentencing Alternatives to Incarceration Incarceration for juveniles in this country is largely based upon our criminal justice system for adults. As Jeffery Fagen (2010) states in his article, there are many similarities between...
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...Juvenile Delinquency Juvenile delinquency has been on the decline in recent years. The study of the variables, and distinction between the adult and juvenile systems, has helped in the decline. Delinquency is a criminal behavior that is committed by a juvenile. Depending on where in the United States the juvenile lives, they will be considered an adult between the ages of 16 to 18. This age has been lowered for serious crimes like murder. In those cases, juveniles have been tried as adults in court. Delinquency refers to conduct that does not conform to legal or moral standards of society; it usually applies only to acts that, if performed by an adult, would be termed criminal (“Encyclopedia Britannica”, 2013). This helps to distinguish delinquency from a status offense. Status offense is a word used in the United States to describe acts that when committed by a juvenile are illegal, but not when an adult does it is legal. These offenses are considered to be a violation because the individual is...
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...and is detrimental to our communities” (1). For the purpose of this paper the focus will be on the incarceration of children ages 10-18 and how such can be not only detrimental to communities but also to societies and our economy.Something has to change, for some time now a large part of the United States population has bought into the whole concept of placing children who break the law in juvenile correctional facilities. As tax payers we must come to the realization that something needs to change if we want these troubled youth to have a bright future ahead of them and become law-abiding tax payers. As a country we are spending billions of dollars buying into this whole concept of incarcerating young people, while research shows it is ineffective on rehabilitating the lives of juvenile offenders. Richard A. Mendel reports that a number of studies actually show that the incarceration of juveniles, “actually increases recidivism among youth with lower-risk profiles and less-serious offending histories” (6). In order to put an end to this epidemic of just locking kids up and costing taxpayers billions of dollars we must use some alternative methods when dealing with juvenile offenders. If we want to build a stronger economy for the future we must invest less money into locking kids up and more money in building them back up. According to Mendel view on the incarceration of juveniles, “it wastes vast sums of taxpayers’ dollars. And more than not, it harms the...
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...Incarceration in the United States of America is one of the main forms of punishment, rehabilitation, or both for the commission of felony and other offenses. The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world. There were 86,927 held in juvenile facilities as of the 2007 Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement, conducted by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. There were only 70,792 juveniles in juvenile detention in 2010. The key difference between adult and juvenile incarceration is the focus on rehabilitation for underage offenders, as opposed to punishment for adult convicts. Facilities for juveniles are run very differently, and people in such jails and prisons have access to different kinds of services and support. Minors are not imprisoned with adults until after they reach the age of majority, and this isolation supports the mission of preventing future crimes and giving juveniles a second chance at successful social integration. People believe juvenile offenders need discipline and support to prevent a return to crime when they get out. Juvenile incarceration facilities share some qualities in common with adult prisons, but inmates have access to education, incentive programs, and more social services and support. Drug treatment in such facilities, for example, tends to be more readily available. Inmates in a juvenile incarceration facility usually have a very tight schedule, set to impose discipline. Like adult...
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...Introduction The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) is the principal federal program through which the federal government sets standards for juvenile justice systems at the state and local levels. It provides direct funding for states, research, training, and technical assistance, and evaluation. The JJDPA was originally enacted in 1974 and even though the JJDPA has been revised several times over the past 30 years, its basic composition has remained the same. Since the act was passed in 1974, the JJDPA focused solitary on preventing juvenile delinquency and on rehabilitating juvenile offenders. Since the original enactment of the JJDPA in 1974, the periodic reauthorizations have been controversial, as the Act's opponents have sought to weaken its protections for youth, reduce prevention resources, and encourage the transfer of youth to the adult criminal justice system. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act follow a series of federal protections, known as the "core protections," on the care and treatment of youth in the justice system. The four "core protections" of the act are, the Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders (DSO), Sight and Sound separation, Jail Removal, and Disproportionate Minority Confinement (DMC). The "DSO" and "Sight and Sound" protections were part of the original law in 1974. The "Jail Removal" provision was added in 1980 in response to finding youth incarcerated in adult facilities resulted in "a high suicide...
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...The history of the juvenile justice system in America was identical to the adult justice system when it came to incarceration of youth. The only difference during the 16th and later part of the 18th century was that juveniles faced situations where they could be incarcerated for violations that adults would not be subject to merely due to age. Children were incarcerated with adults in general population for violations that did not meet the definitions of criminal behavior. The justice system just did not know what to do with juveniles at the time (Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, n.d., p. 1). As the justice system moved into the late part of the 18th century the child saver movement was formed. During this time parents were over worked and poverty levels were at an all-time high. America formed programs to save children from extreme laborious jobs, assist with poverty issues, and provide better educational opportunities for disadvantaged children. The most notable act of the child saver movement was it kicked off juvenile justice reform ("Juvenile Justice - Reformers," n.d., p. 1). America was wake and aware children were getting lost and abused within the current adult justice system....
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...Juvenile courts have a wide range of sentencing options (usually called "disposition orders") that they can impose on juveniles or youth offenders who are found to be "delinquent" (that is, finding that the minor violated a criminal law). Typically, disposition options fall into two camps: incarceration and non-incarceration. One non-incarceration option in particular -- probation -- forms the backbone of the juvenile justice system. Read on to learn about the different kinds of sentencing options used in juvenile court, the ins and outs of probation, and whether a disposition order can be appealed or changed. (For more information on juvenile court cases, see Nolo's article Juvenile Court: An Overview.) Incarcerating Juvenile Delinquents After adjudicating a juvenile as delinquent, a juvenile court may order incarceration as a penalty. But methods used to confine juveniles are often very different from those used in cases involving adult offenders (when jail and prison are the fallback options). Here are some ways that judges can order confinement for a juvenile who has been found delinquent: Home confinement/house arrest. The judge can order the minor to remain at home, with exceptions (attend school, work, counseling, and so on). Placement with someone other than a parent or guardian. The judge can require that the minor live with a relative or in a group or foster home. Juvenile hall/juvenile detention facility. The judge can send the minor to a juvenile detention...
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... 9. Appendix………………………………………………………………....17 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In summary, the cost of housing an incarcerated inmate does affect the budget of the United States. Whether, the inmate is sentenced to life imprisonment or the death penalty. The facts in this research paper leans heavily in favor of life imprisonment as a cheaper form of punishment verses an inmate being sentenced to death row. The judicial system and politicians have formed several alternatives to assist our country with the ability to lower the cost of housing an inmate in our prison system. For example, the United States detaining systems are concentrating more on issuing a fair sentence to nonviolent offenders, such as, substance abusers and prostitutes. They realize that the majority of the inmates are in need of drug rehabilitation and have a mental illness. Also, the research shows that women offenders are the most affected with drug addiction and substance abuse. They also have the greater risk of recidivism and mental illness, due to, the drug addiction and substance abuse. The judicial system formed an alternative called “sex courts” to address the situation with female prostitutes. The alternative addressed the need of therapeutic rehabilitation (drug treatment and mental health counseling), instead of, incarcerating the...
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...Should juveniles be tried as adults? Does it depend on the crime committed? If so, what should be the determining factor(s) in deciding to transfer juveniles to adult courts? Case Assignment 4 September 5, 2011 Violent crimes committed by juveniles have fluctuated over the years. The children of today are subjected to violence in popular songs, television shows, and even computer games. Parents’ having guns accessible to children and the society the child lives in all play a part in the destruction of our youth. Juvenile offenders are now facing tougher punishment for their actions. When a child kills, does he instantly become an adult? Or does he maintain some trappings of childhood, despite the gravity of his or her actions? These are the questions plaguing the American legal system today, as the violent acts of juvenile offenders continue to make headlines. The Juvenile correction system is about one hundred years old. It was created in the 1800s on the philosophy that children are inherently different from adults and it is the state’s responsibility to protect and rehabilitate young offenders. Until the inception of the youth justice system, children were tried in criminal courts along with adults. Movement for juvenile justice reform was informed by the 16th century educational reform movement in England that perceived children to be different than miniature adults, with less than fully developed moral and cognitive capacities. As early as 1825, the Society for...
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...Juvenile Justice and Rehabilitation When discussing rehabilitation or punishment for juvenile delinquents, I believe there should be rehabilitation over punishment. Granted there are numerous cases that completely warrant punishment, but punishment isn’t always the answer. Adults are usually given second, third and fourth chances to change their lives. And sometimes rehabilitation isn’t involved. I believe since adolescents still have plenty of time to get counseling or learn about themselves and why they acted the way they did, there is always an opportunity for them to change. Adolescents don’t have the same thought process as adults. They tend to react emotionally, so if their emotions are flying high, adolescents aren’t always able to stop themselves from doing something foolish or harmful to others. This is also the point in their life when they are becoming curious about how their bodies are changing. Also add in drug or alcohol experimentation and that’s a recipe for trouble. There are numerous supporters for rehabilitation, just like there are individuals against it. As long as there is a juvenile justice system, there will always be a debate. One person that agrees with rehabilitation is Kurt Kumli, a supervising deputy district attorney for the Santa Clara County’s Juvenile Division in California. Mr. Kumli (2001) stated that there are different methods that work on different kids. But the one thing that is constant, is the need to get to the kids “sooner, than...
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...Final Final As we look at the juvenile justice system today, it is very different from what it once was. Juveniles today have more access to technology and other forms of electronic gadgets that have allowed them to become delinquents. Many more juveniles are committing the same type of crimes as before, but within gangs or with other juveniles. So instead of giving the juvenile some type of a “slap” on the wrist punishment that many have not learned from, the evidence has shown new ways of reinforcement approaches have worked. There are ways of dealing with young offenders that are more effective and less costly than prosecuting them as adults and imposing harsh sentences. With the "get tough" reforms from different states and legislation, many juveniles have spent a historic time in adult prisons. Now, widespread legislations are attempting to change the requirements for transferring young offenders from juvenile courts to adult criminal courts, where mandatory minimum sentences and other factors make incarceration more likely. Although many criminal juvenile courts dismiss and overlook the fact that these are juveniles, regardless of the crime committed, youth are not similar to adults in ways important to determining responsibility, such as having an under-developed ability to understand the consequences of their actions. Many juveniles are overlooked at the disabilities they may have, such as ADHD, slow learning abilities or other mental setbacks. ...
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...A Justice Policy Institute Report By Barry Holman and Jason Ziedenberg The Impact of Incarcerating Youth in Detention and Other Secure Facilities The Dangers of Detention: The Impact of Incarcerating Youth in Detention and Other Secure Facilities The Dangers of Detention: A Justice Policy Institute Report by Barry Holman and Jason Ziedenberg 1 The Dangers of Detention1 Introduction: The Growing Impact of Youth Detention Despite the lowest youth crime rates in 20 years, hundreds of thousands of young people are locked away every year in the nation’s 591 secure detention centers. Detention centers are intended to temporarily house youth who pose a high risk of re-offending before their trial, or who are deemed likely to not appear for their trial. But the nation’s use of detention is steadily rising, and facilities are packed with young people who do not meet those high-risk criteria—about 70 percent are detained for nonviolent offenses.2 “[F]airly viewed, pretrial detention of a juvenile gives rise to injuries comparable to those associated with the imprisonment of an adult. ” –Justice Marshall for the minority in Schall v. Martin, 1984. “Detention: A form of locked custody of youth pre-trial who are arrested— juvenile detention centers are the juvenile justice system’s version of “jail, in which most young people are being held before the court has ” judged them delinquent. Some youth in detention are there because they fail the conditions of their...
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...Juvenile Rehabilitation Shelly Stanko CJS/240 February 26, 2012 Farrell Binder Juvenile Rehabilitation In the previous few decades, the United States justice policy has become more punitive. In particular, in the 1990s legislatures all over the county passed laws under which an increasing number of young people can be charged in criminal courts and incarcerated in adult prisons. Certainly, in nearly every state today, youths between 13 and 14 can be prosecuted and penalized as adults for an array of crimes including non-violent offenses (Kristin, 2009). Punishments have become more severe even in the juvenile system. Generally, it is believed that the rising anxiety among citizens concerning the threat of juvenile crime has propelled this tendency and that members of the public favor this legislative tendency toward severe punishment. However, it is unclear whether this opinion about the right solutions to youth crime is precise. On the other hand, different surveys have found the public favors tougher policies regarding youth crime and punishing juveniles as severely as adults. However, a thorough review of sources of information about public views indicates that the perception that the public favors punishment for youths is largely based on either opinion surveys that pose few simplistic questions or publicized crimes like school shootings. It is possible that analysis of public views...
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...Juvenile delinquency has steadily increased over the years and does not look to be decreasing any time soon unless measures are taken. Juveniles are usually convicted and sentenced in juvenile court but some cases have also been tried in adult court. Status offenses are also controversial topics that need further research before any conclusions are drawn on them being an actual violation of the law. There are also a number of different variables and characteristics of each juvenile in detention, and these paint a broader picture of the environment and culture they come from. Juvenile delinquency is also known as juvenile offending or youth crime, which is the participation of juveniles in illegal behavior. A juvenile delinquent is usually a person under the age of 18 who commits an offense that would otherwise have been charged as a crime if they were an adult. It is also possible based upon the type and severity of the crime that an under-18 juvenile delinquent could be charged and tried as an adult. State policies vary as to the age at which a person legally becomes an adult, but if we refer to a juvenile as a person under the age of 18, the figures are shocking and disproportionate. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), reports that nearly 16 percent of all violent crimes and 26 percent of all property crimes are committed by under 18 year olds. What is even more worrying is that this age group only makes up 26 percent of the total population...
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