Decrease Of Juvenile Offenders

In America on any give day, approximately ten thousand juveniles are housed in adult prisons and jails. Approximately two hundred thousand juveniles enter the adult criminal justice system each year and most have non-violent crimes. Juveniles in the adult jails lose out on the educational and psychological benefits offered by juvenile detention facilities and

Youth incarceration is a growing dilemma in the United States that populates facilities as well as ruins lives at an alarming rate. As a society we cannot expect our kids to be the future of this nation when we are placing them in facilities where they become victims of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse that is far worse for them than adults. Michelle Alexander is a professor at Ohio State University and a graduate of Standford Law school. She states in her award-winning book, The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness "Children are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted once being placed into a facility" (Alexander,123).  Adolescents being detained causes many problems that are much more detrimental to them than adults. Some of them will now have exposure to drugs and gangs. Others will become victims of sexual abuse from other older inmates or staff members and risk transmitting sexual diseases. Most young juveniles have a mental illness that has not been treated or they become suicidal when staying in a facility.  These young people are still adapting to their environment and should not be treated as adults.  They are unable to grow and develop when we are punishing them like adults and trapping them in the US justice system.  The families of these children will now suffer knowing what their child faces in these facilities. As a nation we cannot consider ourselves civilized when we are placing these young people in facilities that punish them like adults.

It is highly recommended to create less restrictive alternatives for the children that don’t require secure detention but still need to be supervised. Enacting legislation that restricts the use of detention would be a very effective strategy followed with funds that could serve as incentives for the detention centers. Intake criteria that limits admission to only those who truly need it, needs to be adopted across all the detention centers in the United States followed by diligent case monitoring (Barton & Schwartz, 1994). Kids who engage in non-dangerous and non-violent behavior shouldn’t have to serve time in secure confinement but rather be put under very intensive supervision and either pay restitution, perform work for their victims or do community service. Incarcerating these youth is not only detrimental to the wellbeing to the youth’s development and the future of our society but also financially costly. We need to create a range of other options for kids who don’t fit the criteria for secure detention such as home detention, family shelter care, and

It is often stated that the future lies in the hands of our offspring’s. Meaning, that the youth are our future adults. The world revolves on the status of the children and what they will do to contribute to life. Accordingly to The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquent Prevention 1.8 million juveniles were arrested in 2009 (OJJDP). The Juvenile Justice system holds the keys to unlock many doors of broken children that are on the wrong path in there adolescent life. The difference between children and adults is that children have a greater capacity for change when an adult can be more resistant to it (JLC.org). This is one reason why The Justice System should give additional help to the Juvenile Corrections System.

It has been almost 171 years since the establishment of America’s first juvenile detention center. Despite the change in culture, developments in psychology, and many years of application, the countries approach to reconciling criminal activity among youth has changed very little. A marginally refitted form of the model of adult incarceration, with a small amount of programming added in, has been the standard for rehabilitating delinquents set forth. It is absurd and ancient standard that has only produced failure at a high cost. The American Juvenile Justice System and its laws are in need of a overhaul to a system

Many of the youths that are incarcerated are in between 16 to 22 years of age, and many of these are male rather than female. Over forty-four percent of youths arrested are under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or sometimes the combination of both. Not only that but most of the accused commit the crime with someone, not by themselves. The young adults are more inclined to commit any type of crime under the influence or with some of their 'friends' encouragement. These are most commonly seen in teens who want and need to belong. The teenage years are a period of life that is shapeable by many stressors, such as physical changes, school, relationships with friends and parents, and also romantic relationships. Many succumb to the need to belong that they turn to people that are not the right motivator the adolescent needs.

San Jose Police Chief, Bill Landsdowne, stated that, “[l]ocking up kids is the easiest way. But once they get in the juvenile justice system, it’s very hard to get them out” (Holman & Ziedenberg, date). Detaining youth, in particular non-violent offenders, has more of a negative, long-term impact on youth as well as the community. With the inception of the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, the use of retribution is being pushed aside for more restorative and rehabilitation efforts. States that have embraced this initiative are finding that not only are the numbers of youth being detained decreasing but that alternatives to detention are providing opportunity for juveniles to become productive members of the community. All this effort without increasing risk to the community and safety issues. More importantly this initiative works in addressing the underlying issues causing delinquent behavior.

Research suggests that reducing the rate of reoccurring offenses for juvenile offenders is directly related to understanding the factors that increase the recidivism rates for this age group: the origins of the offenders, the behavior problems and causes, the adjudication process, and the type of offense committed.

The decision to transfer a youth 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 under what circumstances transfer should be allowed. 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 attitude and beliefs. While others believe that if they are old enough to do the crime, they should accept the court’s punishment. Over the years several young offenders have had their cases tried

the safety of the community by performing safe and secure facilities which keeps the prisoners and offenders under control. In prison there are wide facilities are available for offenders and prisoners such as medical treatment, educational and vocational programs. These programs are there to help the offenders become better citizens. Corrections are providing the services to each state now for centuries. Every state has its own history of corrections, and every state is responsible for their department’s action and workers behavior. There are so many important rolls, regulation and lessons still need to be learned. Correction is not only for held the people behind the bars; it gives prisoners to reform and rearrange their lives in order.

Are crime rates for juveniles in the United States on the rise or are they falling? What kinds of crimes are juveniles typically arrested for? Are all the laws and policies with reference to juvenile justice seen as truly fair? Should a juvenile be locked up for life without the possibility of parole? What has the U.S. Supreme Court ruled as to locking juveniles up for life without the possibility of parole? These and other issues will be discussed in this speech.

The United States leads the world in the incarceration of young people, there are over 100,000 youth placed in jail each year. Locking up youth has shown very little positive impact on reducing crime. Incarcerating youth have posed greater problems such as expenses, limited education, lack of employment, and effect on juveniles’ mental and physical well-being.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention established that in 2009 there were a total of 1,812,900 juvenile arrest. These arrest consisted of those who were arrested and never tried as adults, for the purpose of this paper the same definition of a juvenile will be used. It can be easily argued that the juvenile population is Americas most vulnerable, and this is the population that we are arresting at such high numbers. To understand why these juveniles are being arrested at such high numbers we must take a closer look at our criminal justice system. We as a nation are currently in the business of warehousing humans under the guise of “justice” in order to turn a

Juvenile repeat offenders receive little to no punishment for the crimes that they commit. The disposition that juvenile repeat offenders receive in some states at the highest are community service, detention centers, or probation. What makes a juvenile crime is status offenses. A juvenile status offense consist of crimes that would not under law be considered as crimes by an adult but crimes by juvenile youths. Status offenses consist of truancy, running away, violating curfew, underage possession of alcohol, and tobacco. The problem with the juvenile justice system is the fact that they receive little to no punishment for the crimes they commit. The reason for this being is because by law being a minor the activity they are committing is not a crime.

It is a common believe that adolescents require a special system thru which be processed because they are “youth who are in a transitional stage of development…young offenders that are neither innocent children nor mature adults…” (Nelson, 2012). Because juveniles are in a process of constant development sociologically, psychologically and physiologically, the juvenile court system focuses on alternative sentences and the creation of programs that will offer them rehabilitation instead of incarceration. However, in cases of extraordinary circumstances, the juvenile system shifts from looking at rehabilitation as a first choice to accountability and punishment (Read, n.d). All levels of society are collectively involved in delinquency