Incarceration Of Youth And Its Effects On Reducing Crime Essay

For starters, children in the juvenile correction system are not rehabilitated for drug addictions or treated for mental health conditions. Being incarcerated does nothing positive for them. These children become stuck in the cycle of arrests and reoffending, in which every time they are brought back to a facility it is now exponentially harder for them to return to be a functioning member of society. In fact, there are kids who have been trapped “in this system for decades” (Mayeux). Obviously juvenile detention policies do not work, or these children would have been reformed and not have been in the same situation for so long. Young adults stuck in this cycle get released and then are immediately back where they started when they break another law, harming the teenager’s future, and endangering public safety (Mayeux). Society, in fact, would benefit from a rehabilitory stance on juvenile crime instead of a punishing one. Juvenile detention intervenes in these at-risk children’s lives in a way that actually turns them into criminals, by imposing stereotypes on them, and treating them like they are dangerous, and not worth fixing. The American perspective on juvenile crime needs to change, because the current program is not benefitting at-risk children, or

The state juvenile corrections systems in the U.S. detain youth in several different types of facilities such as, group homes, residential treatment centers, wilderness programs, boot camps, country-run youth facilities, and some of these are locked or secured through staff. Richard Mendel stated (2012), “The latest official national count of youth in correctional custody, conducted in 2010, found that roughly 48,000 U.S. youth were confined in correctional facilities or other residential programs each night on the order of a juvenile delinquency court (p 1).” This amount of juveniles in these facilities is roughly the same amount of adolescents that live in cities like Louisville, Kentucky or Portland Oregon. America relies heavily on

Studies suggest that there is a divide between the government and public response to juvenile incarceration. Bullis & Yovas (2005) state that support is given to correctional facilities to house juvenile offenders as a form of punishment (as cited in Shannon, 2013, p. 17). Individuals who support this perspective are often more likely to support the construction of more prisons and stern penalties on crime based upon the presumptions that youthful offenders are aware of the consequences of their actions (Drakeford, 2002 as cited in Shannon, 2013, p. 17). On the other hand, opponents of this perspective believe that incarceration creates an opportunity to rehabilitate the offenders (Huffine, 2006 as cited in Shannon, 2013, p. 18). This perspective supports the purpose of juvenile detention centers as “preparatory in nature – that is, offering services focused on the development of skills needed to return successfully to mainstream

The United States has the highest prison population in the world, with over two million incarcerated (World Prison Brief, 2016), of whom many are juveniles. It is well documented that youths who enter this system are more likely to suffer a host of negative health and lifestyle outcomes, such as alcohol/drug abuse, high school dropout, and mental health problems. Such phenomena occur in stark contrast with the aims of the US juvenile justice system, which supposedly intends to help offending youths re-assimilate back into society as productive citizens. As previously mentioned, incarceration often leads to poor mental health, which when combined with the conditions of confinement significantly raises the rates of suicide and

Since the 1970s, America’s prison population rate has risen 700%. Despite the U.S. comprising only 5% of the world’s population, it is the largest jailer with 25% of the world’s prison population with one in 99 adults in prison and one in 31 under some type of correctional control (Mass Incarceration Problems, 2014, p. 1). According to 2013 data, 2.2 million are currently incarcerated in U.S. prisons or jails (Incarceration, 2013, para. 1), a figure that indicates a rising problem with prison overcrowding. While prison overcrowding increases the economic burdens on local and state governments, common factors leading to the high prison population is linked to the need for improved juvenile programs that deter criminal behavior and fund for rehabilitation for reentry into mainstream society. With effective programs to deter juvenile crime and to aid in offender reentry coupled with sentencing reforms, overcrowding in the nation’s prisons would decline.

This book’s main proposal is that there is a blatant contradiction in the way that the juvenile justice system is carried out. Throughout the book, Feld proposes that as a result of this contradiction, the modern juvenile justice system fails in every way possible to establish justice for youthful offenders, provide them with any rehabilitation, or provides any preventative measures that were originally the purpose of the system. What originally constituted the juvenile justice system no longer is supported through its processes, but the ideas that helped form the original system are still somewhat maintained. The idea of childhood during the progressive era, in short, say that there is a definite distinction between kids and adults, and that kids deserved special treatment when it came to dealing with offenses. Kids did not deserve as much blame as adults do because they are not yet totally in control of their actions, and thus to preserve and protect troubled children’s futures, kids

Juvenile offenders are being accused of crimes in an alarmingly high rate. According to the report of Manila Department of Social Welfare, most crimes that involve children are mostly from poor rebellious families. Juveniles are the ones who fall under the age of 18. The students agree with Underage Imprisonment due to the fact that age is not a factor on taking responsibility for one’s actions. These delinquents must understand and learn the consequences of bad decisions. The students deem it important to discuss the topic since it is a controversial topic – some people are suggesting a way to make the world safer by trying juveniles as adults. Will convicting juveniles be judged as an adult be a better solution? Will it create discouragement to stop crime?

It is understood that at an early age, it is impossible to some advocates, for children to have the mental ability like that of a normal adult, to plan and execute a crime and moreover to understand the consequences of it. Therefore it is controversial where or not to try them as adults. During the adolescent years, it is asserted that a child becomes mature and begins to understand important concepts like society and expectations they are still trying to deal with society, their own inner battles of peer pressure, lack of direction, impulsiveness and lack of identity, according to the Legal and Justice Center. At

The position of juveniles in the current society is very important, as well as their position in criminal procedure. The presence of an individual adolescent justice system separates of the adult criminal-justice system and general criminal procedure, as well as the sporadic modifications of the dominant approach in philosophy and preparation reflect the power of different hypothetical viewpoints in the juvenile justice system.

In the last 42 years little to no changes have been made to correct the standards that govern punitive measures towards juvenile delinquency. Today juvenile law is governed by state and many states have enacted a juvenile code. However, in numerous cases, juveniles are transferred to adult court when juvenile courts waive or relinquish jurisdiction. Adolescents should not be tried in the adult court system or sentenced to adult penitentiary's on account of: teen brains are not mature which causes a lack of understanding towards the system, incarceration in an adult facility increases juvenile crime, and children that are sentenced to adult prison are vulnerable to abuse and rape.

Juveniles who is housed with adults is a major issue. It’s important to address this issue accordingly, however the issue is not addressed. Why would you houses juveniles with adults together? Juveniles and adults have two different minds fames. Yes, some would say “you the crime, you do the time”, however juveniles are not mentally and physically equal. I believe that, their lives can be ruined. Everyone deserves a second chance. The outcome of housing then together could produce a negative effect on the juvenile and society as a whole. Are we creating more problems for ourselves?

Many adolescents were tried as adult, therefore given them the same punishment as adult. Juvenile court reformers argued that justice system should offer treatments that cure juveniles of their antisocial ways. People believed that criminal punishments should be based on the culpability of the person as well as the harm he or she causes. Development researchers clarifies that juveniles should not be deemed as culpable as adults since they are immature, this does not mean these juveniles are innocent whose crimes should be excused, this known as the development model. People should take in consideration that teenagers and adults are different. In areas like decision making ability, future orientation, personal identity and response to peer pressure.

There is a controversy on whether or not minors under the age of 18 who have commited a crime should be charged and punished as adults. Many people think that in certain situations, juveniles should be tried as adults, not all the time. In court, there are five criteria that is used to determine the offender’s fate. The five criteria taken into account are the degree of the crime, previous delinquent history, previous rehabilitation, how long the delinquent has to be rehabilitated, and the seriousness of the crime. Serious crimes, also considered adult crimes, include murder, rape, torture, arson, and more. With all ideas and facts taken into account, juveniles convicted of serious crimes should be tried and punished as adults.

No, incarceration is not an effective measure for response to youth crime. Due to youths’ mental immaturity, they are vulnerable to high levels of stress and anxiety, with addition of mental disorders arising from the distress. The youth had already been exposed to “abuse, family instability, involvement with child welfare, and school difficulties” (Corrado & MacAlister, 2016, p. 358) and therefore, intervention is more important than a punitive sentence. It is recommended to use alternative measures such as placing youth into family-focused and multi-focused correctional programs, which are found to more efficient than programs which are focused on the youth alone.

It may seem shocking that America has one of the highest crime rates per capita compared to other similar industrialized nations. Over the years, there have been many discussions and efforts in order to reduce this problem. Perhaps one of the more sensitive issues when discussing crime in America is the problem of juvenile crime. Recently, juveniles make up 3% of all felonies committed each year and 6% of all violent crimes (criminamerica.net). These statistics have troubled politicians for decades as they have worked to find a solution. Starting in 1994 the Clinton administration started putting stricter punishment on juvenile offenders, but it was quickly realized that this harsh punishment may not be the best solution. Various studies and programs put into action have shown that early prevention in a child’s life is much more effective and more cost efficient in reducing crime. Because of these efforts, juvenile crime has reduced 68% since the violent boom of the 1990s. In light of these discoveries, it is important for states to focus on these results in order to reduce crime.