Juvenile Justice And Delinquency Prevention Act Of 1974

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

Throughout the semester, we have been reading and exploring the internet on juvenile delinquents. We as a class have had many good questions to answer about the different ways juveniles are treated, and what the correct or incorrect treatment is for juveniles. We have written many papers and had many discussion on historical milestones, landmark cases, adult courts, juvenile courts, probation and parole, detention centers and juvenile training programs. This semester has really changed the way that I look at juvenile delinquents.

The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) is the principal federal program through which the federal government sets standards for juvenile justice systems at the state and local levels. It provides direct funding for states, research, training, and technical assistance, and evaluation. The JJDPA was originally enacted in 1974 and even though the JJDPA has been revised several times over the past 30 years, its basic composition has remained the same. Since the act was passed in 1974, the JJDPA focused solitary on preventing juvenile delinquency and on rehabilitating juvenile offenders.

Every day, 70,000 juveniles are thrown into juvenile centers nationwide (Source: Juvenile justice system schools “do more harm than good”). The juveniles in juvenile centers often lose valuable education and knowledge, such as the knowledge they gain from living in the real world. Juvenile centers are not currently beneficial to troubled teens. Juvenile centers must take steps towards better education programs and must track the educational progress of the incarcerated juveniles.

Juvenile delinquency has become a controversial issue within the Criminal Justice system. In the United States, juvenile delinquency refers to disruptive and criminal behavior committed by an individual under the age of 18. In many states, a minor at the age of 16 to 17 ½ can be tried as an adult. Once the individual reaches adulthood, the disruptive and criminal behavior is recognized as a crime. However, the criminal justice system has divided juvenile delinquency into two general types of categories that has brought upon controversial issues of inequality and corruption. Yet, putting young individuals in juvenile detentions facilities seems to open the door for them to commit more crimes in the future. Therefore, under certain circumstances juveniles should be tried as an adult.

Getting transferred into a big adult facility affects the way the teenager develops mentally and physically. Nearly all of the juveniles that get taken in for trial, do not have a fully developed mentality or brain. The mind at this young age is not fully developed which means that the minor will not develop into an adult mind like they should. Teenagers in this environment are five times as likely to get sexually assaulted by another prisoner in an adult prison. Beating is one of the most common injury that happens to these juveniles. Committing suicide among these juveniles in an adult facility is eight times more likely to occur than in a juvenile facility. Punishment this harsh is a failed strategy in trying to change these juvenile’s behaviors and making them have more positive attitudes and beliefs. Juveniles tried as adults puts them in a spot where they are most likely to not get any classes on rehabilitation. The juvenile’s criminal record could contain more weight after they finish their sentence since they were not rehabilitated or around much experience with maturity ("6 facts about crime and the adolescent brain",

The purpose of this paper is to research the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act. The paper will focus on the purpose of this legislation, as well as the values that are expressed by this policy. This paper will not only address why this piece of legislation is important it will discuss the effects this act has had on the communities as well as the youths themselves. This paper, will also address the potential for change about the public attitudes towards the juvenile justice system and the social conditions it faces. Arguments will be presented to support the policy as well as arguments that were opposed to the passing of this it. The overall effect of the paper is to provide an overview of the issues surrounding the legislation and the importance of this act being passing for the betterment of the Juvenile Justice System.

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.

Some jurisdictions require the child to be over a certain age and charged with a felony, while others permit waiver if the child is over a certain age regardless of offense. Still yet, others have no conditions. Juveniles can be tried in all stated in one of three ways: 1. Concurrent Jurisdiction: the prosecutor has the discretion of filing charge offenses in either juvenile or criminal court. 2. Excluded offenses: the legislature excludes from juvenile court jurisdiction certain offenses that are either very minor, such as traffic or fishing violations, or very serious, such as murder or rape. 3. Judicial waiver: the juvenile court waives its jurisdiction and transfers the case to criminal court. Barry Feld, Juvenile Law Scholar, suggests that waivers to adult court be mandatory for serious crimes. Those espousing the crime control model believe that the overriding purpose is protection of the public, deterrence or violent juvenile behavior, and the incarceration of serious youthful offenders in the adult criminal justice system. The rehabilitative justice model view this as an attack on the juvenile justice system, but crime control advocates consider such steps a necessary response to a rising juvenile violence rate. Life in Adult Prison The Southwest Multi County Corrections Center, a two-story adult jail is the largest maximum-security program for juveniles under federal authority. The BOP pays

The most recent data and information provided was 14,500 juveniles were estimated aged to be housed in adult corrections. Some where still housed in public and private facilities and that made it a total of 107,000 youth incarcerated at Adult Corrections. Due to them being young they are at a much greater risk of harm than those housed in a juvenile facility.

VJuvenile housed in Adult Prisons and Jails since 1992 and 45 States have passed on amended legislation making it easier to prosecute juveniles as andults(Nancy E. Gist Director Bureau of Justice Assistance)pg4. The trend of juveniles confinement can be measured by the number of offenders admitted into the facility or system. The most recent data and information provided was 14,500 juveniles were estimated aged to be housed in adult corrections. Some where still housed in public and private facilities and that made it a total of 107,000 youth incarcerated at Adult Corrections. Due to them being young they are at a much greater risk of harm than those housed in a juvenile facility. The idea that juveniles within the criminal justice system is itself flawed.Due to the fact that to act as though a juvenile delinquent is in the same mind as a adult offender, is to say they share in mind and matureness. The youth must be treated fairly , not punished, and the judge should act as a wise and kind parent. That can express that youth may commit crimes, but they are still in the growth and development stages in their lives for molding and changes to take place. In the process of sending juveniles offender into an adult facility leave the notion that the justice system has the best interest of the community, for where, the juvenile would be cared for and the issue of criminal activity would be addressed and treated. The juvenile is now an adult system surrounded by criminals who have

Imagine sitting in a courtroom, hoping the the judge will not give a harsh sentence. Unfortunately, that’s the case for many juveniles, some as young as 13! A juvenile is subject to a more severe sentence with the limited sentencing available. It is estimated that 250,000 youth are prosecuted as adults, each year. This number should change, as juveniles are not adults, both mentally and physically. Juveniles need an environment surrounded with guiding adults, education and the resources to help them. A juvenile is not an adult, and should not be tried as one.

From the early 1980’s juveniles in custody has been on the decline, however in 2006 there were a total of 601 young males and 50 adolescent females held in detention. On an average day in 2006-07, there were around 6,000 young people under supervision and around 5,000 in a community-based monitoring and nearly 1,000 in imprisonment (AIHW, 2008). The national youth detention population remained stable over a four year period with 848 to 1,081 young people in custody on any average night. There is a small and steady downward trend in the number of 10-17-year-olds in detention and the rate of imprisonment, from 3.6 to 3.3 per 10,000 on an average night. A majority of adult criminals being their criminal careers as juveniles. Intervention and

The Juvenile Justice System is a system modeled to provide a legal setting where youths account for their wrongs or are offered official protection. A distinct juveniles justice system commenced in the United States over 100 years ago. The first juvenile court was established in 1899. The system is founded under a range of core principles. First, juveniles are different from adults and hence need to be handled differently by the Justice System. Second, it is argued that juveniles differ from one another. Therefore, juveniles require individualized treatment depending on their unique circumstances and situations. The neglected and abused youths ought to receive different treatment from those who have committed minor status offenses (Hess,

The Juvenile System has been around for a long time. The primary reason behind separating Juvenile from adult criminals is quite simple; the judicial system believes that the children are less culpable for their irresponsive behavior and they could easily be reformed as compared to adult offenders. The crucial role of the judicial system is to critically investigate, diagnose, and recommend treatments for the Juveniles rather than accrediting them. However, because of the increasing number of juvenile arrest for crimes committed by persons considered as a child, the attention that the given to a crime involving juveniles, the decreasing trust to the juvenile system itself and the lauder roar of the society for a safer place to live in,