Outline Juvenile Court System

These studies also show that a great deal of teenagers who commit serious felonies have a severe psychological illness. Instead of getting the help, teenagers are forced into adult prisons without getting the mental help they desperately need. The author chose to write this article to advocate for the teens that are tried as adults when there is a juvenile court system. He uses Greg as an example of a teenager who was tried as an adult committing murder. He uses Greg to represent the other teenagers in the adult system who have committed a serious felony similar to his.

The matter by which juveniles are processed and handled in the criminal justice system vary on the model and philosophy being used in the proceedings itself. If Parens Patriae, or the Treatment Model was being used, The state would deal with juveniles differently than it would adult offenders, in a much more gentle and caring way, which would be considered informal and flexible. The judge would act in a very calm and caring manner, and would attempt to probe the roots of the child's difficulties. The Treatment Model views child delinquency as some sort of underlying personality problem.

Research has shown that transferring adolescents from juvenile court to criminal court increases the recidivism rate. Thus, exposing minors to adult treatment increases crime. Generally, juvenile detention facilities are equip for rehabilitation, offering programs to aid reformation. Society does not hold youth to the same maturity level of an adult. Furthermore, juveniles are not afforded the same rights as adults (e.g. smoking, drinking, voting) because we understand their inability to make responsible decisions.

There are indication that most criminals have a juvenile records in the US, indicating that crime manifests from a tender age. Therefore, to reverse the incidence of crime, it follows that the best strategy is to reduce the criminal orientation in the juvenile offenders as opposed to hardening them and preparing them for criminal careers. The case of the Crossroads Juvenile Center demonstrates the willingness of the juvenile justice systems to make these changes on the children. References Day, S. (2014). Runaway Man: A Journey Back to Hope.

She adds an informative graph with statistics about the juvenile justice system. This graph appeals to logos and shows how unsuccessful children involved with the juvenile detention centers become. “40% of kids who went into juvenile detention end up in prison by the age of 25.” the MGP states. This supports Hermiller’s argument by showing that juvenile detention centers set children up for more failure rather than helping them.

This time of rehabilitation could also give him the help to make sense of his troubled childhood since he was never given an opportunity before his crime. There are many ways in which an offender not receiving rehabilitation could negatively affect them. In his viewpoint essay, Adult Sentencing Does Not Deter Juveniles from Crime, Enrico Paganelli uses a study on increased recidivism among juvenile offenders as an example of why rehabilitation is important for the future. This study was conducted by Jeffrey Fagan of Columbia and Paganelli states that Fagan “compared the recidivism rate of such youths charged in criminal court under New York's automatic transfer statute to those charged in New Jersey's juvenile court and found a significant increase in the recidivism of juveniles who had been transferred to the adult system”. This increase in recidivism would not greatly affect Miller if he was given a juvenile sentence.

The Juvenile system was first established around 1899 during the Progressives Era Reforms. The progressive era reform was the first system to actually try to reform juveniles due to the fact that they were being trialed as adults. Psychologist made developments with research on the psyche of the juveniles being trialed as adults not beneficial to the state of mind that some minors can’t comprehend at the adult level. The findings from the research that were conducted, made society change their views on the juvenile delinquency.

In Gail Garinger’s, “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences,” she argues that juveniles have great potential in being able to change their lives for the better. Garinger starts off with the superpredator theory which involves kids who will commit crimes in groups, and in response, laws were made to easily try kids as adults in court. Even with the superpredator prediction never coming true, the laws that were made still exist. Garinger then moves on to describing how teens are different than adults in many different aspects. Garinger states, “As a former juvenile court judge, I have seen first hand the enormous capacity of children to change and turn themselves around” (Garinger par.

Sending a juvenile to adult prisons won’t necessarily help solve their wrongdoings but they may be influenced by older offenders and never be able to change for the better. Richard may have never been able to get out of jail if he had been strongly influenced by older offenders even with the possibility of parole. The courts have a bias against Richard that can not be shifted even with Sasha’s family's endorsement. They control how Richard’s life will turn out while trying to solve a mistake they had the possibility of making another

”(Ryan, 2) What has been brought to attention is, not only does the most government money go into incarceration, but a higher amount is funded in the process of incarcerating young Americans. As much money it cost to take care of young child is typically doubled when you are putting them in prison. A Lot of thought is put into the decision of incarcerated someone under the age of 18, an even bigger arrangement for a minor under 16. The Justice Policy reviews the comparisons of funding towards youth confinement centers versus public education cost “Thirty-three U.S. states and jurisdictions spend $100,000 or more annually to incarcerate a young person, and continue to generate outcomes that result in even greater costs.

Not only does Berstein call for an overall reform of this nation’s juvenile prisons, she goes as far as saying the practice of locking up youth is in need of a “more profound than incremental and partial reform” (13). The fact that Bernstein outlines the numerous failed strategies and goals of this practice with her compelling use of studies and statistics is enough to promote an audience to reject the practice of locking up youth. The statistic she shares that “four out of five juvenile parolees [will be] back behind bars within three years of release” as well as the studies she conducted on numerous instances when a guards abuse of power lead to the death of a child work to further prove her point: being that “institution[s] as intrinsically destructive as the juvenile prison” have no place in a modern society (13, 83). Bernstein refutes this false sense effectiveness further by sharing her own ideas on what she believes works as a much more humane solution to rehabilitating

Imagine being a child imprisoned for committing a crime for which you did not understand the consequences. Alone and afraid, with only hardened criminals and psychopaths as adult role models, you live in fear. Through a vicious combination of physical, sexual, emotional, and mental abuse, there is no option but to turn back to crime as an adult, and continue the cycle. This is a daily reality for thousands of American juveniles. Yet, we continue to call it the juvenile justice system.

There are differences between a juvenile court and criminal court in the United States. The focus of the juvenile justice system is on rehabilitation, in hope of deterring the minor away from a life of crime so they will not commit a crime again as an adult. In contrast, the criminal justice system focuses on the punishment and often bases the sentencing outcome on the criminal history of the youth. In a study conducted, Butler (2011) showed that the participants’ experience with adult jails and prisons show that those facilities may instill fear but are otherwise emotionally—and often physically—dangerous for youth. Many of the adult prisoners, who were minors when they enter the adult institution, felt they were forced to “grow

In the article, “Greg Ousley Is Sorry for Killing Parents. Is That Enough?” Scott Anderson exemplifies that juveniles may be living in a toxic home environment, which leads to potential murder. In “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentence,” Garinger speaks about juveniles that are mistreated and were subject to life without parole sentences. Lastly, the article that also justifies that juvenile justice is solidified would be, “Report: Juvenile justice system schools “do more harm than good,” Frey argues that the juvenile system may be harmful, in that some juveniles suffer from disabilities and behavioral issues.

(1994). JUVENILE OFFENDERS: WHAT WORKS? A Summary of Research