Juveniles And Rehabilitation

With the escalation of murders and rapes committed by minors as seen in recent years the people are looking for the right answer. Public concern over the effectiveness of the juvenile courts when dealing with these offenders has brought about change in the justice system. (Stolba, 2001). The courts now, are quicker to transfer a juveniles’ case to adult court than when the juvenile system was first formed. There stands a conflict of interests within the two court systems. Juvenile courts are to protect the rights of youths determined incapable of adult decisions. The primary concern is that the youth be rehabilitated and not become a repeat offender. Thus, protecting the child from incarceration with adult criminals and any possible future victims. The concerns of the adult court is to make sure the convicted offender pays for their crime and that the victim gets justice. Rehabilitation is not a primary concer of the adult justice system.

“I think it's important for us as a society to remember that the youth within juvenile justice systems are, most of the time, youths who simply haven't had the right mentors and supporters around them because of circumstances beyond their control,” (qtd. in Brainy Quotes) are wise words from Q'orianka Kilcher, a human rights activist. Many Americans feel adolescents should be held accountable for their behavior; however, trying them as if they are adults is not always the optimum course of action. Because the teenage brain matures from back to front, the prefrontal cortex is not established until mid-twenties. Ordinarily adolescents can be rehabilitated in order to avert future offending; yet when tried as an adult, all hope for rehabilitation is lost. A one time mistake will follow an adolescent around for the rest of his/her life, dramatically decreasing the opportunities for success. Trying adolescents as adults is an injustice due to their lack of rationality and potential for rehabilitation.

Today, we live in a society faced with many problems, including crime and the fear that it creates. In the modern era, juveniles have become a part of society to be feared, not rehabilitated. The basis of the early juvenile justice system was to rehabilitate and create safe havens for wayward youth. This is not the current philosophy, although the U.S. is one of the few remaining countries to execute juveniles. Presently, our nation is under a presidential administration that strongly advocates the death penalty, including the execution of juveniles. The media and supporters of capital punishment warn of the "superpredator," the juvenile with no fear, remorse, or conscience. Opponents of this view

Juveniles committing crimes is not a new issued being introduced to society; actually, it has been an issue for centuries. However, the big question is, should juveniles be tried in adult courts? Before answering, take into consideration every possible scenario that could have led them to commit the crime. For instance, were they the leader in the act? Did they participate in the crime? Was the juvenile even aware of what was taking place? Were they peer pressured? Did they have any other choice at the time? There are so many other questions we could consider when making a decision here.

The issue of juvenile transfer to criminal court is a very sensitive subject to every individual who care about the young ones in society, because it pertains to our youths who are considered to be “the future.” Many will ask if it is right for us to allow juveniles to be transferred to adult criminal court, and if so under what circumstances. Some believe that the best course of action regarding juvenile offenders is not transferring them to criminal court but rehabilitation – these individuals view punishment as a failed strategy for changing behavior, teaching skills, or developing new or more positive

The Juvenile Justice System was created as a separate network from the Criminal Justice System so that juveniles could be treated differently from adults but still be held accountable for their crimes. This system takes more of a rehabilitative approach to help the juvenile offenders rather than to simply punish them because the goal is to keep the youth on the right path and prevent them from becoming lifelong criminals. While the goal remains the same, different states have different laws in place and other methods when it comes to rehabilitation as well as punishment. Punishment for juveniles always sparks debate because many people argue that punishments such as the death penalty and life in prison should not apply to the youth because of their age. Others argue that without this kind of punishment there would be no fear for juveniles in committing serious crimes which would lead to an unfair practice of justice. An unfair practice of justice occurs across the juvenile justice system already in which race, gender, and ethnicity plays a huge role in determining how far into the system a youth goes. Changes have to be made to this system in order for improvement to be seen but it has to start from the beginning where the juveniles first come into contact with the system.

What is juvenile justice? When justice comes to mind, no matter for adults or juveniles, the idea leads to believing justice will be served; the crime will be justified, whether it is by retribution, an eye for an eye, treatment, or prison. Looking at juveniles, what is justice; when the juvenile is punished for the choices he made, or when that juvenile is rehabilitated into the positive youth that is outlined with potential? There are two opposing sides for juvenile justice; providing justice through punishment, and providing it through rehabilitation. I stand behind supporting that juveniles are able to serve better justice when they are rehabilitated and provided with the resources and potential to be better members of a community, instead

The legislation of trying and sentencing youth criminals under adult justice system has been a hot topic of debate. Supporters of tough laws on insist the need to enforce harsh penalties to uphold justice. The practice of treating youth criminals as adults since the 1990s is a result of the steep rise in youth crimes. However, youth advocates argue that tough laws should not be applied to youth offenders anymore. The core issue of the controversy is whether, because adolescents are biologically and mentally different from adults, they should be treated differently. For minor offenses such as property crime in which nobody is

The issue of whether juveniles should be prosecuted like adults is a controversial one. Today, a high percent of juvenile offenders have a past criminal history or have been arrested for violent crimes such as rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and homicide. These offenses are serious and should be dealt with seriously. If a juvenile choses to act in violence and currently been on probation for such acts, then perhaps, they should be treated in the adult court. If the juvenile is, a repeat offender and they did not learn anything from the rehabilitation facilities provided by the state, harsh consequences should follow. It is estimated that seventy-five percent of adolescents who spent time in juvenile detention centers are incarcerated

In the discussion of heinous juvenile crime, one controversial issue has been whether juveniles committing such crimes should be locked up for life or should they be given a second chance? The conventional wisdom seems to be the latter. For example, according to a one survey by the Anchorage Youth Development Coalition, seventy-four percent of American adults argue that young people committing serious crime have the capacity to change for the better. My own view is that juveniles who commit heinous crimes cannot be excused because they are still a danger society since they cannot be rehabilitated and juvenile violent crime is rising. Moreover, it is not fair to the family members of the victims.

Since the 19th century, policymakers have been struggling to develop and explore new ways of responding to juveniles engaging in criminal offenses and rehabilitation. In the traditional justice system, juveniles were subject to the same types of punishments and housed in the same facilities as adult criminals. However, due to the underlying issue of increased criminalization among juveniles, their welfare, and the fact that the Bill of Rights did not apply to minors in which the

A study was conducted in Tennessee in 1998, to see whether rehabilitation should still be recommended. The study found that majority of the public, were open to the idea of juvenile rehabilitation than that of adults. The participants indicated that rehabilitation is an essential goal of the correctional facility. Participants favored intervention programs over the idea of imprisonment and were willing to recommend rehabilitative programs. In conclusion to the study, the public does not support harsh punishment to juvenile offenders and supports the idea of saving youths.

State laws and judicial norms were customary with the understanding that the protection of the privacy of juveniles adjudicated in the juvenile court is a serious factor of the youth's rehabilitation. However, in the face of increasing public concerns over juvenile crime and violence, government agencies, school officials, the public, and victims are seeking more information about juvenile offenders. An increasing number of States are responding to this need by allowing public access to and victim participation in juvenile proceedings, broadening access to juvenile records, fingerprinting and photographing delinquent youth, and altering expungement laws for juvenile records.

The reason I believe that rehabilitation is the best punishment for juvenile crime, is the fact that adolescents in today’s society have many hurdles to overcome in their life. Adolescents no matter their background, poor or rich, black or white, has issues coping with family matters, peer pressure and sometimes substance abuse. According to Reimagining Defense Counsel, “The court has recognized that adolescents are less blameworthy for the offenses they commit because of actions and they are more vulnerable to external pressures” (Cardozo Law Review, p. 1122). Researchers have found that adolescent brains are still under development

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