Juvenile Justice Essay

What Is Juvenile Justice?

Juvenile justice has been incorporated into the American society for over a century, but over time, this system has undergone through numerous shifts and changes before becoming what it is today. It is no doubt, then, that as the United States continues to grow, elect new officials, and change its views on major issues, the juvenile justice system will also see itself grow into something new and different to match societal desires of that time. When colonists first arrived in the New World, juvenile justice was handled informally as it was in England. Religion was of utmost importance to settlers, so the clergy was often the one who handled delinquency in juveniles. The family, more importantly, the father, also played a large role in the disciplining and control of juvenile delinquency. During the early times of American history, juveniles were treated as adults, and the punishments...show more content...

This became known as the "Child–Saving Movement." Reformers – philanthropists, middle class citizens, and professions – sought to improve the lives of at risk children through shelter care and educational programs; they wanted to extend governmental intervention rather than leave it in the hands of individuals (Lawrence, 2008). To do this, child–savers created centers that distributed food and clothing as well as provided temporary shelter to homeless children. Charles Loring Brace, one of the reformers, sent wayward children to farm families in the Western frontier; these were often called "God's reformatories." In 1864, a home was purchased to teach street youth farming skills before they were sent to their new homes in the west. Despite good intentions, it is believed these children were never treated as if part of the family and had to work hard to earn their keep (Krisberg,

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Juvenile Justice History Essay

Juvenile Justice History

Jozatte Hill Grantham University

There are five periods of juvenile justice history. The first period is considered the Puritan period then there is the Refuge period, Juvenile Court period, Juvenile Rights period, and last the Crime Control period. I will be discussing these periods and their significance. These periods begin in 1646 and go into the present. The Puritan period was from 1646 to the year of 1824 and it utilized laws from England. Juvenile control was mainly the responsibility of family, church and other social institutions. Children over the age of five were treated as small adults or property. By the age of seven, children could be sentenced in criminal courts. In 1646 Massachusetts Stubborn Child Law was established and stated that parents to use corporal punishment when children disobeyed them and the children could be kept out of school. The Refuge period started in 1824 and ended in 1899. In this period the Society for Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency made way for separating juveniles from adult offenders. Then facilities for juveniles were established in most major cities to reform...show more content... This time period focuses on the best interests of society overrule best interests of youthful offenders. There is also an addition of two more D's which are Deterrence and Deserts. Deterrence is the punishment or threat of punishment to deter delinquent acts of crime and Deserts is punishment as revenge. In my opinion I would say that the Juvenile Rights Period was the most influential time in the evolution of the juvenile justice system. I think this because of all the positive changes that took place to help the youth rather then to just discipline them. Children make mistakes and I don't think it would be fair to institutionalize them at such an early age or punish them harshly for bad decisions that would affect them in a negative way throughout

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What Is The Juvenile Justice System?

Juvenile Justice

The Juvenile Justice System as it typically functions in America's thousands of jurisdictions is the subject that will be covered. The Juvenile Justice System is defined as that "sociolegal process having responsibility and authority for public reaction to current juvenile delinquency and deterrence of future juvenile delinquency, including within that process the public and private agents, agencies, laws, rules, and policies having to do with juvenile delinquency"(Weiner, 1987, p.12). This paper will deal with the history of the juvenile system, the need for the juvenile system, juvenile court functions, parents in court and programs that have worked, along with ones that...show more content...

This house of refuge was established to meet the same kinds of needs the JJS of today tries to meet, including avoidance of harsh criminal penalties for unfortunate children, segregating "predeliquent" children from hardened delinquents, providing "proper" moral, ethical, political, and social values and role models for deprived children, and treating such children as victims rather than offenders.

This is the main reason why we do need the Juvenile Justice System. The function of the juvenile court system is to take a somewhat fatherly and protective attitude toward children, whether to offer humanitarian assistance or parental punishment. Juvenile court was primarily established however by a desire to avoid prisons for children by establishing special juvenile court which would not send children to prison. The juvenile court is also used to somewhat scare the young offender with its dark wooden atmosphere and flags to represent how alive the government is. The courts main function however is to find the best rehabilitation method for that individual. Should it be community service, a curfew or counseling, these are just a few options the court has in sentencing a young offender.

Parents play a big role in the Juvenile Court System. With the parents at the court hearing, the court can find out if the parent is providing a good home for the juvenile delinquent. The parents also Get more content

Juvenile Crime

Juvenile crime rates have nearly doubled in most countries. In the news we keep hearing about youngsters got mixed up in shady affairs and committing petty crimes. Firstly they just steal an apple from the market stands, then rob a small shop, next day we learn about a 17–year–old kid who killed his classmates. People are concerned and rightly so. That's all what we do or maybe give them a harsh punishment. It seems that the problem has only focused on punishment and very little on prevention or intervention.

There is no single cause of violence but we can certainly list a lot of risk factors, which increase the development of delinquent behavior. These include child abuse and family disintegration, violating...show more content...

Young people are allowed to live a totally free and undisciplined life in the dark streets of abandoned citydistricts. Getting a false image from these places they are assured that the proper way of living is the one they experience there. Just following the bad example, without being aware of what they are really doing,

The situation is the same with the violation, outrage, aggression fuelled by the media and computer games. Thousands of children sit down in front of the television in the late evening to switch off a little bit. What do they get? Blood, fight, hatred, war and a superman who never dies. All that in prime time. After that, what should we expect from our children? To kiss the little doll with love or play with the toy cars... That type of childhood is out of fashion by now. They will rather continue the bloody scenes in their video games using the newest weapons to murder the "bad guys". The game is never–ending because they have more lives. Most of the parents consider it as just like a game. But it's much more than that. Subconsciously everything remains in their brains and reflex. On the other hand sitting all day long at the computer kids get isolated from their peers, friends and social life, too. They don't communicate and thus fall out of the flow of real life. Losing their connections to the world they won't be able to make realistic judgements leading them into crimes.

Young people should not be expected to have the same

The move applies to critical issues in the American justice system due to the judgement convicted on juvenile who commit a big crime like murder and any other crime, it is proper to sentence a teenager to life imprisonment. America is the only nation that receives the highest confinement rate in the world and the only country that verdicts juveniles to life without parole. The movie presents to us amount of teens and grownups who are serving hard time in adult prisons for the offenses they have perpetrated. Greg who was incarcerated at the age of 15, He was retained in a cell with adult's sentences to life imprisonment, in his 18 years he has not been getting any therapy or consideration regarding what causes him to...show more content...

So, everybody that intent to commit crime know the outcome of what they involve to themselves in prior to their enactment. I suppose that the judging based on life imprisonment as well as 30 years imprisonment is too harsh on juvenile due to their age, US government supposed to find other programs or way other than sentence them to imprisonment. 12 years old serving 25 years imprison has no life again and everything about his spirit can never be cast together once more. And sentencing 12 years old to 25 years imprisonment are a harsh judgement, although what they did was wrong and by sending them to life imprisonment will make them realize their mistakes and it will also prevent people in their age who also have the intent of committing such an act to be fearful of what they want to engage themselves in. In the movie we can research how the pain and regret of their activity from the Greg statement "Every decision you take can turns to repercussion on you". As good as other criminal lamented on their actions by saying a bunch of affairs about their spirit. "People don't realize they are taking wrong choice" Also "if you cause nothing you get nothing". By reading this statement I don't think they were happy about the situation they encounter themselves and they were not satisfy how they were being regaled in the

Juvenile Justice

Juvenile justice has traditionally followed a punitive model when faced with young transgressors. Most juvenile justice departments have then also followed this model, creating a system that is in effect not only separate from the community, but also from the family unit. Many juvenile offenders are then physically removed both from their communities and their families to be incarcerated into punitive institutions. According to the Balanced and Restorative Justice model, however, accountability is best encouraged with the direct involvement of both the community and the family unit (U.S. Dept. of Justice). This is also the case with young John Black, whose offense was possession of a fire arm, although this did not lead to any actual harm to others. He is therefore an excellent candidate for family– and community–based programs, helping him to learn accountability and find his place in society in an effective and productive way. Probation in juvenile justice has a very specific role. The first important thing to keep in mind is the underlying reasons for crimes committed by youth and the importance of distinguishing this from the reasons why adults would engage in criminal activity (King County, 2012). As such, the Juvenile Probation Office regards accountability as important when young people like John commit crimes, but it is also important to prevent further delinquent activity. Hence, the Office considers incarceration or institutionalization only as a last resort

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The Juvenile Justice System Essay examples

The Juvenile Justice System

Jodia M Murphy

Kaplan University

CJ150 Juvenile Delinquency

Professor Thomas Woods

July 31, 2012

Abstract This paper takes a brief look at the history and evolution of the juvenile justice system in the United States. In recent years there has been an increase of juvenile cases being transferred into the adult court system. This paper will also look at that process and the consequences of that trend.

History and Evolution In the early nineteenth century juveniles were treated the same as adults when it came to the legal system. We did not have separate courts or jails for juveniles and they would often receive the same punishments as adults that had committed crimes. "At the beginning of the...show more content...

There are three ways cases are sent to adult court, there is concurrent jurisdiction where certain cases can be tried in either juvenile or adult court, statutory exclusion, where certain offenses are automatically tried in adult court and judicial waiver where a hearing is held to decide whether the case will be transferred (Seigel & Welsh, 2011). While the process does differ from State to State there are some basic guidelines "...states that have transfer hearings provide a legitimate transfer hearing, sufficient notice to the child's family and defense attorney, the right to counsel, and a statement of the reason for the court order regarding transfer" Seigel & Welsh, 2011). Depending on which side you view the transfer issue from, the consequences can be positive or negative. On the positive side the juvenile is afforded more constitutional rights in the adult system, such as a trial by jury. For some juveniles it could mean a chance of having their charges dismissed (Seigel & Welsh, 2011). By transferring juveniles into the adult system you are more likely to have violent offenders taken off the streets and given tougher sentences for violent crimes than they would have

Juvenile Crime Essay

One of the biggest problems which the United States is faced with is juvenile crime. The reason experts feel juvenile's commit crimes is because of risk factors when they were younger but experts still have not found the main reason why juvenile's commit crimes. Some risk factors associated with juvenile crime are poverty, repeated exposure toviolence, drugs, easy access to firearms, unstable family life and family violence, delinquent peer groups, and media violence. Especially the demise of family life, the effect of the media on the juveniles today, and the increase of firearms available today have played a big role in the increase of juveniles crimes. The most common risk factor is the demise of the...show more content...

Another risk factor is the effect of the media on the juveniles of today. Before the time a child has reached seventh grade, the average child has witnessed 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on the television. There is no doubt that heavy exposure to televised violence is one of the causes of aggressive behavior, crime and violence in society. Television violence affects youngsters of all ages, of both genders, at all economic levels, and all levels of intelligence. Long–term childhood exposure to television is a casual factor behind one half of the homicides committed by juveniles in the United States. The increased availability of guns has played a big part in escalating the number of crimes committed by juveniles. In Los Angelesjuvenile delinquency cases involving weapon violation grew by 86% from 1988 to 1992, which was more then any other type of juvenile offense. According to a University of Michigan study found that 270,000 guns accompany secondary school students to class daily. This is startling because it shows how many more juveniles are carrying guns and the juvenile use of guns in homicides has increased from 65 to 80 percent from 1987 to 1991.

The possession of firearms plays a big cause in the delinquency of children and is playing a bigger role in the crimes which juveniles commit. Another cause of the increase of juvenile crimes has been the effect

Delinquents And Treatment Models

Juvenile Delinquents and Treatment Models

Mark Roggeman

Colorado Christian University

Juvenile Delinquents and Treatment Models Among those who work in the juvenile justice system there is much discussion on how to effectively determine the appropriate consequences and or treatment for their actions. There are those who believe in punishment that includes incarceration and boot camp and there are those who believe in treatment programs with the goal of rehabilitation. There are various treatment models in place that are designed to address the problems in a youth's life that may contribute to the causes that influenced them to commit crime. An assessment of the resources that are in...show more content...

The Ten Commandants cover not stealing or not coveting the neighbor's goods and consequences for violating are also part of the Biblical worldview. In Exodus 22:4: "If the theft is certainly found alive in his hand, whether it is an ox or donkey or sheep, he shall restore double."

(NKJV) Here is seen a premise for restorative Justice, which is a Biblical principle for the concept used today which has been very effective today in many cases juvenile cases. The apostle Paul tells us about the spirit of restoration. In Galatians 6:1–2, is this admonition: "Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." (NKJV) As part of the diversion program some youth that qualify are sent to The Restorative Justice Model that exemplifies this verse. I have had the opportunity to participate in this process as part of the community, there is no judgment or condemnation the goal is restoration for the victim of the crime and for the offender. This model is a community–oriented approach to the control of the offenders rather than confinement. In this model different members of the community are brought together including the victim. The offender takes responsibility for his or her actions and the group decides what sanctions will be placed to

Juvenile Justice System Essay

The juvenile justice system is a foundation in society that is granted certain powers and responsibilities. It faces several different tasks, among the most important is maintaining order and preserving constitutional rights. When a juvenile is arrested and charged with committing a crime there are many different factors that will come in to play during the course of his arrest, trial, conviction, sentencing, and rehabilitation process. This paper examines the Juvenile Justice System's court process in the State of New Jersey and the State of California. The term juvenile delinquent was established so that young lawbreakers could avoid being classified in legal records as criminals. "The laws were designed to provide treatment, rather...show more content...

Once a minor has been transferred and convicted in a California court of criminal jurisdiction, subsequent charges will be filed in adult criminal court (Center for Juvenile & Criminal Justice). The California state legislature has recently modified the juvenile law so that a minor can be transferred from juvenile court to the adult court and tried as adult in specified serious or violent felony cases, even if the minor is as young as 14. In most juvenile crime cases a judge will determine when it is appropriate to make such a transfer, however, in certain serious juvenile criminal cases the prosecutor may directly charge a minor in adult court. (Neubauer, 446)

The laws surrounding juvenile criminal cases are much different than those concerning adults. When a child is arrested in New Jersey or California they can either reprimanded and released or they can be brought to a juvenile detention facility (State of New Jersey Judiciary). If they are brought to a facility they usually have to be processed and arraigned in a juvenile court within 48 hours unless there is a holiday or weekend. As soon as the child is arrested the police or probation officer must call the juvenile's parents (Neubauer, 448). Both the parents and the child in custody have the right to have an attorney present at any and all of the child's questioning after arrest. The child's first court date, also called a detention hearing, is one of

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