The juvenile justice system is a separate legal system from the adult criminal justice system, which deals with individuals under the age of 18 who are accused of committing crimes. This system is designed to rehabilitate young offenders and provide them with the necessary support and resources to prevent them from committing future crimes.
However, there is ongoing debate about the effectiveness of the juvenile justice system and whether it is truly fulfilling its purpose of rehabilitating young offenders. Critics argue that the system often disproportionately punishes minority youth and fails to address the underlying issues that contribute to delinquent behavior, such as poverty and trauma.
One major issue with the juvenile justice system is the over-reliance on incarceration as a means of punishment. While it may be necessary in some cases, research has shown that incarceration can actually exacerbate the problems faced by young offenders, leading to higher rates of recidivism. Alternative methods of punishment, such as restorative justice programs and community-based services, have been shown to be more effective at reducing recidivism and helping young people turn their lives around.
Another problem with the juvenile justice system is that it often disproportionately affects minority youth. Studies have shown that black and Hispanic youth are more likely to be arrested, charged, and incarcerated than their white counterparts, even for similar offenses. This disparity is often attributed to systemic biases within the criminal justice system, including discrimination by law enforcement and the unequal allocation of resources.
To address these issues and make the juvenile justice system more effective, there have been calls to reform the system and focus more on prevention and rehabilitation. This could include increasing funding for community-based programs, such as mentorship and job training, and reducing the reliance on incarceration. It could also involve addressing the root causes of delinquent behavior, such as poverty and trauma, through initiatives such as early childhood education and trauma-informed care.
Overall, while the juvenile justice system has the potential to rehabilitate young offenders and prevent future crime, it is clear that significant reforms are necessary to address the systemic issues that currently plague the system. By focusing on prevention and rehabilitation, and addressing the underlying issues that contribute to delinquent behavior, we can create a more effective and just juvenile justice system that truly serves the needs of young people.
Essay On Ethical Issues In Juvenile Justice
Mental health courts can present in two different ways, one before booking and one after booking. More States Consider Raising the Age for Juvenile Crime. Common subfactors within this family level of impact are parental attitudes, degree of family cohesion, physical violence, and uninvolved parenting Mwangangi, 2019. The juvenile justice system has not been strong enough to find an appropriate sentence for small crimes committed by children who are not living stable lives. The areas with the highest populations of gangs tend to be in Chicago and Los Angeles, which also happen to be among the highest juvenile criminal behavior populations. These kids are usually from low-income families, whose parents are alcoholic, drug addicts or mentally ill people. CYC Philosophy Becoming a professional Child and Youth Care worker is founded on the person becoming that has been an inspiration over time, and a desire to propagate my abilities to ends that suffice as being of assistance to others most especially the youths and children.
Juvenile Justice Essay Sample
Justice systems affect the screening and treatment of this population due to the inadequate resources and facilities for handling mental health youths. This shows that if people want kids to receive the same punishments, they should receive the same rights. More disturbingly, statistics show juveniles are rarely ever completely rehabilitated, which is the number one goal of the Juvenile Justice System. Simply sentencing these juveniles with restitution to the victim, community service, or a forfeiture of their driver's license isn't enough. The study was trying to see whether kids or young adults should be charged as adults when commiting serious crimes. However, harsher laws do not lower the crime rate, sending these children to prison does nothing to benefit society.
Essay On Juvenile Justice Reform
Juvenile justice proponents argued that the youth posses diminished responsibility as well as legal understanding. The policy is dependent on the crime, however, a new policy should be put into place in the macro sense, because these are still children, and as it was mentioned earlier, a lot of behaviors are learned. Consequently, children will become less likely to engage in criminal activities because they will have little knowledge about violent activities. These three ethical issues that are rising in the juvenile justice system will be further examined. Reisig, the juvenile justice system is characterized by five time periods.
Free Juvenile Justice Essay Examples and Topic Ideas on GraduateWay
Besides, there have appeared a number of alternative programs. The very first juvenile court took place in cook county of Chicago Illinois. More importantly, why would you want to punish a child, in your capacity as a member of the legal profession? In fact, it is an infringement of the rights of parents given that even the children who come up from good homes and have the best upbringing still get in criminal acts. Drug policies, specialty courts, technology, mental illness, communicable diseases, and overcrowding are some problems that affect the US juvenile justice system Smith, 2013. Besides the parents, educational institutions, culture, media, and society have a part to play in the delinquent behavior of children. Since juveniles are very different from adults they have to deal with them a certain way and a case by case basis.
