The Fight Against Juvenile Crime

Skip Hollandsworth candidly explores the subjects of juvenile crime and sentencing in the electronic long form newspaper article, “The Prisoner”. The purpose of the essay is to inform the reader about juvenile sentencing and to persuade the audience that there are clear problems with aspects of the U.S. prison system. The article is easily accessible to a large audience because it is online. Hollandsworth takes into account that his audience, mostly consisting of Texas Monthly readers, may already have pre-established notions about the topic, so he considers other sides while still supporting his argument. Edwin Debrow, a preteen member of the Crips, committed a murder when he was 12-years old and received a 27-year sentence through the

It has been one hundred years since the creation of the juvenile court in the United States. The court and the juvenile justice system has made some positive changes in the lives of millions of young people lives over the course or those years, within the last thirteen years there has been some daunting challenges in the system.

Minors are a diverse group that varies in terms of the severity of criminal acts they commit, the frequency with which they commit criminal acts, how early they begin their criminal career, and how long they commit these crimes for. For many minors, juvenile lawlessness is a short-lived flirtation that disappears as quickly as it emerges. It is common and even normal for minors to engage in trivial forms of misbehavior and delinquency as they mature through adolescence and enter adulthood. However, for some minors, juvenile lawlessness has a more troubling meaning.

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.

These individual rights must be effectively balanced against these present and emerging community concerns: Widespread drug abuse among youth The threat of juvenile crime Urban gang violence High-technology, computer, and Internet crime (cybercrime) Terrorism and narcoterrorism Occupational and whitecollar crime

Throughout this essay, I am going to be looking at the topic of youth offending. I will be looking at what factors can be used as the predictors for youth offending and in particular I will be researching into how important social and cultural factors as predictors of youth offending. In order to do this, I will be looking at different sociologists theories as far as young offending is concerned and what evidence there is to support these theories. I will then conclude by discussing whether I believe social and cultural factors are important in determining youth offending.

In the United States, juveniles have always known to cause trouble in the community. In recent times, many individuals have the perception that juvenile crimes are on the rise and that these offenders are getting younger. Charging juveniles as adult has always been a debate, because of their thinking process and protecting their rights. There are many cases that regard juveniles that have changed the policies of this nation. Also for those juveniles that are convicted as adults, there are many challenges that correctional officials have when housing them. Waivering juveniles to adult court has many factors to it and whether or not juveniles age thirteen and fourteen should be

The high incarceration rate of juveniles is a significant social problem that affects society as a whole as well as the youth’s individual welfare and developmental trajectory. Adolescents who are incarcerated in the juvenile justice system face a multitude of negative lifelong implications. The history of incarcerating youth in residential facilities such as juvenile halls, camps, ranches or group homes as a consequence for committing crimes has a deep-rooted history in the United States. “For more than a century, the predominant strategy for treatment and punishments of serious and sometimes not-so-serious juveniles offenders in the US has been placement into large juvenile corrections institutions” (Mendel, 2013, p.4). During the 18th and early 19th century, the judicial system harshly reprimanded youth and confined them in overcrowded penitentiary institutions with populations of adult offenders and the severely mentally ill (Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, 2014).

There have been many studies conducted that examine ways in which the juvenile justice system responds to female offenders. Historically juvenile female offenders have been treated under status offense jurisdiction (Zahn et al., 2010, p. 10). United States Courts would exercise the principle of “parens patriae” to place the female in detention as a form of punishment for misbehavior (Sherman, 2012, pp. 1589-1590). This principle also remains prevalent as it pertains to how the juvenile justice system currently responds to juvenile female offenders.

In 2012 a ten year old boy in Southern California murdered his friend with a kitchen knife by repeatedly stabbing the friend in the chest. The suspect was said to have anger issues and a mental illness that he was medicated for. The boy, charged with felony assault and murder, was tried in a Juvenile Court and later sentenced to juvenile rehabilitation. Depending on the crime and age of a defendant, the Juvenile Justice System decides whether or not to put the case in the hands of the Juvenile Court and try them as children. Due to the defendant's unusual young age he was tried as a child,. Often times fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen year olds are tried as adults, when they should not be.

When it comes to discussing the criminal justice system and juveniles, there have been many landmark cases that have made a significant impact on the juvenile justice system. The cases arise from dealing with certain aspects that comes from handling juveniles entering the system. Since juveniles are very different from adults they have to deal with them a certain way and a case by case basis. The court cases concerning juveniles and the decisions that have come from them is what has made what the juvenile justice system is today. Juveniles are not treated the same as adults since juveniles are not ad developed as adults common sense wise. They don’t always know what is right from wrong and sometimes they do not have guidance or good influences around them helping them in the right direction. In class we have learned that instead of punishing them, the goal of the juvenile justice system is based on rehabilitation. For instance, juveniles cannot be sentenced to death if under the age of 18 and also can not be given the sentences of life without parole because they consider these punishments cruel and unusual for juveniles. If the system is able to rehabilitate them and give them the tools they need, they have a second chance at changing their lives for the better and getting away from all of the crimes. They rather try to send them to programs or to complete community service to better themselves instead of giving them hard time. The court cases that I will discuss is what

Juveniles committing crimes is not a new issued being introduced to society; actually, it has been an issue for centuries. However, the big question is, should juveniles be tried in adult courts? Before answering, take into consideration every possible scenario that could have led them to commit the crime. For instance, were they the leader in the act? Did they participate in the crime? Was the juvenile even aware of what was taking place? Were they peer pressured? Did they have any other choice at the time? There are so many other questions we could consider when making a decision here.

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.

Once youth is committed a crime he or she must face the criminal justice. Whether it is simple face to face contact with the police officer or trip to juvenile facility, juvenile is becoming part of the criminal justice system. For many youth it is their first contact with the justice system however for some others it is a very familiar process. So once juvenile is making face to face contact with the police officers, his life is in the hands of that officer who can make very important and sometime life changing decision for that youth. It is up to that officer to determine whether the youth will be headed to the juvenile facilities or straight home. The difference between youth and adults crimes, is that with adult crime, police officers don’t have much of discretion to whether arrest or not that offender. Majority of the time they follow certain guidelines and laws. With juvenile justice system, officers have more freedom to make that decision. However officers do not just have a discretion whether to arrest juvenile or let him go, they also can impact juvenile’s court decisions after he or she are arrested.

In the 1990s, violent juvenile crime rates had reached record high levels throughout the United States. During these years, many Americans considered the criminal justice system too easy on violent juvenile offenders and demanded reform. Many states, including Florida began to focus efforts on juvenile crime. “Florida’s criminal sentencing laws and punishment policies from 1980 to 2000 reflected an ongoing, focused effort to deter serious crimes” (Taylor). Crimes were given stricter sentencing guidelines. Serious offenses carried mandatory minimum sentences. “When it comes to kids and crime, Florida is known and the toughest state in the nation” (Clary). More juveniles are prosecuted as adults than in all other states combined. Juveniles were at the hands of these harsher adult sentences.