Introduction The research done for this paper examines different studies of juveniles and their place in the United States’ justice system based on their race, gender, and social class, as well as looks into policing tactics that may be beneficial to the affected youths. By looking at a wide variety of academic journals and books it was clear to see that youths are looked upon and treated differently depending on what their race is, the sex that they were born, or their family’s economic standing. Resulting in the outcome of these youths being treated more harshly than others due to aspects about themselves that are out of their control. Doing further research into the juvenile justice system and how it is structured to help certain youths while neglecting others, it is clear that the treatment of minority youths is entirely unjust and that a reform of this system is, without question, necessary, not only to maintain an even and fair justice system for juveniles, but also to help these minority youths strive in their lifetime rather than fall victim to a life of crime.
Literature Review
Race
The subject of race is one that has come up countless times when discussing or reading about the juvenile justice system. According to Jennifer Peck and Wesley Jennings article “race differences in court outcomes to the disadvantage of Black youth…” (Peck & Jennings, 2016). Youths that are Black or Latino are more likely to be punished more harshly than white youths who have committed
Evidence-based studies imply that youth of color are being placed in detention at a higher rate all throughout juvenile justice system not only in Kentucky but, nationwide. Disproportionate minority contact (DMC) in juvenile justice alludes to youth of color being place into the system at a greater rate than their Caucasian counterparts. All races break the law at about the same rate; however, youth of color are arrested, charged and institutionalized at a higher percentage than Caucasians for similar offenses. African-Americans made up 16 percent of all youth in the United States, but constituted 28 percent of youth arrests, 30 percent of referrals to juvenile court, 37 percent of detained youth, 34 percent of youth formally processed by juvenile court, 30 percent of youth adjudicated delinquent, 35 percent of youth judicially waived to criminal court, 38 percent of youth in residential placement, and 58 percent of youth sent to state adult prisons. (Grieshop et al 2009)
Research has shown that sentencing is different between African Americans and Caucasians in many ways. First we will identify the two types of justice systems. There is the juvenile justice system, that was to be an alternative for juveniles and the punishments that the criminal justice system utilized (John Wiley, 2012). The thought behind the Juvenile system was the thought of rebuilding and restructure to rehabilitate the prisoner. The criminal justice system is set to punish those who know right from wrong for crimes they have committed. The correctional facility
The Black youth is over represented at every stage in the United States juvenile justice system. Ten years ago, Black youth were more than two times more likely to have a delinquency case before the juvenile court than white youth. Dr. Shook and Dr. Goodkind examined three possible avenues to prove if black youth, are more likely to be detained than similarly situated white youth. “Three possible avenues have begun to be examined—the first is related to youths’ attitude and character as assessed by justice system personnel, the second is related to judgments about adequate parental supervision and/or school and work involvement, and the third is related to what some have called ‘‘justice by geography.’’ To conclude Dr. Shook’s and Goodkind findings, Black youth are treated
“The system is not fair. Institutional racism is alive and well in the juvenile justice system as it is in the criminal justice system, due to racial disparity and bias in the court room” (Jones, Bridgett). This is a statement that plagues many people involved in the justice systems. There are huge racial disparities throughout the world. Post-Slavery: the early development of the Race/Crime Connection, Profiling: Racializing possible cause, and differential bias involvement as well as institutional racism. We can work on having better policies and procedures driven into police practices and we need to make sure people of color are not excluded from juries to stop most of the disparity.
The racial disparities article also shares that even though the article focuses on adults, juvenile justice cases often have extreme racial/ethnic disparities as well. Apparently, the race and ethnic disparities are often more noticeable in the beginning of Juvenile justice system. From other cases, cases have accumulated and have noticed a high rate in African American
“In early 2009, it was discovered that a private juvenile detention center paid two Pennsylvania judges $2.6 million over a five years to reject pleas for leniency and alternative punishment for hundreds of teens” (Anderson). Juveniles fall prey to the penal system due to discrimination, lack of education, and social status. As adults, we are tasked with the responsibility to protect, and educate the generation that is to be our successors, but it seems that not all kids fit the bill because some kids are selected for greatness while others are deemed expendable. The selection process is quite questionable because these expendable children largely reside in poor communities made up of minorities. An example of this discriminatory act can be seen in public schools in underprivileged neighborhoods where police officers are placed to push at risk-students out of the classroom and into the criminal justice system, opting for punishment such as suspension, expulsion, and arrest for minor offenses that would be best settled at an administrative level (Jackson et al.). He goes on to say, “70% of students arrested in school or referred to law enforcement are African Americans or Latino” (Jackson et al.). As such, the effects of these measures have resulted in an increase in the
Minority youth are disproportionately represented throughout juvenile justice systems in nearly every state in the nation. Disproportionate minority contact (DMC) in juvenile justice occurs when minority youth come into contact with the system at a higher rate than their white counterparts. African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Pacific Islanders and Native Americans comprise a combined one-third of the nation's youth population. Yet they account for over two-thirds of the youth in secure juvenile facilities (Armour & Hammond, 2009).
The incarceration of minority youth is at a high as well as the cost for the imprisonment of them in their states, many of their offenses are non-violent. There is a need for initiatives to be created to reduce the numbers of imprisoned youths. Male youth of color are entering the criminal justice system in an increasing amount. This does not only change the life of their families, the communities they live in and the families of the crimes by the offender. It’s understandable that the at-risk adolescents are from poor communities, some or little to no education, no family support.
Disciplinary changes applied to the juvenile justice system in addition to negative impressions of juvenile males have caused juvenile male incarceration rates to surge. African American male juveniles encounter racial differences in society everyday due to view that media portrays them to be. Racial bias amongst these juvenile African American males is the principal cause of their incarceration rates climbing higher each year. The lives of these juveniles are seriously altered after being incarcerated due to the negative labels given to them. This chapter will discuss the findings, implications, and future research of the impact of incarceration on the social conceptions of African American juveniles.
This essay will explore whether there is equality in the criminal justice system. It aims to look at statistics, legislation and studies from the past 30-40 years to get a thorough analysis of the processes and experiences different races in particular black and ethnic minority youths have been through within the criminal justice system.
Juvenile Justice System are beneficial to troubled teens. The idea of a teen that is committing crimes is an idea that should be dealt with instead of ignoring and taking the teens to jail for a crime that maybe had some emotional story behind it. The DMC helps the male teens to build their character. Not only does it build character but it also rehabilitates and treats the teens. Specialist are stunned when they found out about this program. Only a few of these programs exist around the country.
According to Fairsentencingofyouth.org 45% of all incarcerated youth are African American, 30% are white & 25% hispanic. Youth of color are treated more harshly than other racial groups. For example, in Florida two-thirds of juveniles transferred to adult courts are African American. Fewer than 50% of Florida’s prison inmates are black, the state’s population is 17%. Recent studies show that minority juveniles are given a more harsh punishment than Caucasians with similar criminal backgrounds. In fact, “African Americans are likely to get sentenced twice the prison term than whites that committed the same crime under the same circumstances” inferred from
court this is how they are looking at and judge. You don”t see a teen standing before the courts anymore this is why the court system is blurred. The courts have to look at children Black and Hispanic youths are treated more severely than white teenagers charged with comparable crimes at every step of the juvenile justice system, according to a report released Tuesday that was sponsored by the Justice Department and six of the nation's leading foundations. (Abstract (summary)
This paper describes the various legislations and movements that were established in 19th century to address the issue of juvenile justice system. It outlines the challenges faced by the legislation and movements and their implications in addressing the issues of the juvenile justice system.
The criminal justice system conducts trials, determines guilt, and decides what kind of punishments to give to adults who have committed some sort of crime. Adults, however, are not the only ones who commit crimes. Kids under 18 can commit crimes too. In 1899, the juvenile justice system began to form. People thought that kids should be treated differently after committing crimes. Being younger, they were believed to be more able to rehabilitate than adults, the criminal justice system was believed to be too harsh for them, and some believed that juvenile’s behavior was based strongly on their parents and the society they lived in. In a peer reviewed article titled Are we criminalizing adolescence? there is a statement that in a constitutional sense, youth are different than adults. In this essay, I will talk about what the juvenile justice system is, what it does, how it is different than the criminal justice system, and how some people believe it should change.