What Is The Criminal Justice System?

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

1. In the article, The School-to-Prison Pipeline: Rhetoric or Reality, by Aaron Kupchik, he discusses youth introduction to the juvenile justice system. The article argues that schools do in fact shape a child’s interaction with the system and it has to do with the school’s discipline, which Kupchik describes using “the school-to-prison pipeline” metaphor. The article delves into the unhealthy changes which schools have implemented to their discipline that promote the pipeline. He concludes by proposing strategies for reform that address the issue head on.

Finally, I believe that by being rehabilitated the juvenile will have a better chance at life because eventually they will be back in society.

There are times juveniles should not be convicted as adults because sometimes the “crimes” may not harsh enough to be charged as an adult. For example, if a 8 year old saw a gun in their mother's purse and thought it was a toy and grabbed it and began to shoot who would be at fault ? Plus children in adult prisons are 10 times more likely to be taken advantage of in their time. Research shows that children prosecuted in the adult criminal justice system are more likely to reoffend than those held in the juvenile justice

“Tomorrow 's future is in the hands of the youth of today” is not a particularly new sentiment. But what is new, what has become a pressing question, is what is to become of the future if our youth are behind bars instead of in schools? Youth today are being pushed into the criminal justice system at an alarming rate. This issue is known as the school to prison pipeline ─ the rapid rate at which children are pushed out of schools and into the criminal justice system. The school to prison pipeline is a term that came into use by activists in the late 1970’s and has gained recognition throughout the years as the issue became more prominent in the 1990’s. Some activists view policies meant to “correct” misbehaviors, especially in regards to Zero Tolerance policies and the policing of schools, as a major contributor to the pipeline. Others believe that the funding of schools and the education standards are to blame for the rapid increase of youth incarcerations. While the school to prison pipeline affects every student, African American students, both male and female, are more often the victim of discrimination in education. The school to prison pipeline must end, and the trend must be reversed.

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 Criminal Justice System has undergone numerous, yet significant, changes within the last century. In fact, current research reflects the progressive movement from one of rehabilitation to that of punishment and retribution. Such transition reflects issues pertaining to the management and supervision and treatment of offenders. This study will, therefore, consider and evaluate dilemmas within the Criminal Justice System, as well as, issues that have transpired while trying to reduce crime through punishment. Furthermore, the Criminal Justice System will be discussed through a law perspective regarding supervision and management in order to understand the current challenges and issues involving crime.

The school-to-prison pipeline is a growing epidemic in the U.S school system. The school-to-prison pipeline represents the policies and practices that push minority school children out of the classrooms and into the juvenile justice system. According to Best, “social problems are products of what people do” (Best p.14). When children are rejected from schools disciplinary actions and are now handled by the court system, most of these children will become criminals later in life. The school-to-prison pipeline is a growing social problem because the school system is creating more criminal behavior within children, since they refuse to deal with the situation themselves. These children are now the products of a failing system.

Most of the time, the system has proven itself to be unsuccessful in dealing with juvenile crimeMost often, the system is unsuccessful. “There are kids who are five times more likely to be raped or otherwise sexually assaulted in adult prisons than in juvenile facilities. The risk of suicide is likewise much higher for juveniles in adult jails.”(How to reduce crime Pg 3). When juveniles are sent to jail, they are still relatively impressionable from people in the prison, and may go back into crime after they’re released, hindering rehabilitation and just creating another violent criminal in the world. The court sentencing the criminal is also at

There have been a number of changes within the legal and criminal justice system in the last 3-4 decades. History remembers, for example, the Kent State and Chicago Democratic Convention riots in 1968, and since then, a number of criminologists and political scientists have been asked about the use of force, rights-based policing, community involvement, and crime prevention (Russell 2005). The Red Cross and Amnesty International, for instance, have endorsed a rights-based policing model. This idea tempers all police activity with the basic tenet of human rights and rights under the Constitution. Central to this argument is the nature of the relationship between the community and the Criminal Justice System. Local law enforcement bond with community members to implement the day-to-day needs of that community. The idea centers around a basic philosophical tenet: use less force, communicate more, pay attention to human rights, and work to dialog and prevent, not to punish and incarcerate (Williamson 2008).

Juvenile justice has failed our delinquent children by being too lenient in punishments towards crimes that, if committed by and adult would garner a life sentence or death. While many people argue, “they’re just kids” we should look beyond that. True, they are kids, but if they don’t learn that there real consequences behind what they do, where will our world be in the future. I feel the justice system is far too lenient with kids, giving them a couple of year’s stint in a juvenile hall for heinous crimes.

If the juvenile justice system prosecutes youth on their early offenses, the juvenile will be able to be monitored and therefore it will be easier to spot if they will be a repeat youth offender. If the juvenile is given a chance and let off on the first offense he or she may not commit another crime. The future of the juvenile is more important and should be given another chance. Race also plays a role in the unfairness of the justice system. The system is unfair and it needs to be more organized and evenly balanced. A system that neither punished nor rehabilitates youth is unworkable. Majority of the crimes juveniles commit should not be classified as adults because children don’t think like adults. Instead they should be given a chance to

Juveniles come with different personalities and backgrounds. What works for one adolescent might not work for another. The conservative idea of strict justice, incarceration, has a valid benefit; the stricter the punishment, the more likely they are to deter from crime. However, in most juvenile courts, they are tried as adults. It’s a given fact that juveniles don’t have the rationality and cognition of an adult. It is definitely unfair for the adolescent to be tried as an adult for an event they most likely won’t remember or comprehend. Juvenile incarceration doesn’t instill the discipline that juveniles need to understand their actions and rationalize why such behavior is inappropriate; they are more likely to “engage in repeated criminal

I do not think it is a good idea to lock juveniles up in prisons with adults. For a child to set down and plan a murder for instance, there would have to be some kind of deep emotional problem. On the other side of this, if the child knows right from wrong and he can sit down and plan a murder, then you could say if he is old enough to kill someone then he is old enough to die. The juvenile criminal is rooted much deeper than right from wrong. It starts back from when they are small children. Most of them are usually outsiders or outcasts. Who can you hold fault for that other than society? If juveniles don't fit in with the popular kids in school they are considered an

Every process has room for improvement, but the juvenile justice system can be altered by adding in possible solutions of what can be done to help this problem in American society. About 100 years ago, juveniles were always tried as adults. Now, that the government has altered the system for the better, the government knows that trying juveniles as adults is not always justified. It depends on the crime, but the majority of the time, juveniles are often always tried as juveniles, based solely on their age. Not only that has changed; the process of juvenile justice has changed as well to better help the juveniles in the system. The rights of juveniles in the system have changed so that the children can improve their lives once they are out of the system. Even though the process has changed and the rights have improved for the juveniles, there are still many improvements to be made. Studies show that recidivism rates are in fact going down, but the rate can always be better so that juveniles do not return to a life of crime.