Decrease In Juvenile Crimes
Limited data is available to evaluate automatic waivers. It wasn’t until 1997 that automatic waivers were implemented, and the information was inconclusive on exactly how many juveniles have been waived into the adult system. Figure 2 shows that in 1998, the Department of Corrections provided some idea of how many juveniles were handled by the adult criminal justice system ("Alaska Juveniles Waived into the Adult System," 1998).
Implementing the 2 types of juvenile waivers has proven inconclusive as to whether or not there has been a decrease in juvenile crime. Threatening a juvenile that they will be waived to adult status and held accountable to the same standards as an adult has not proven to be a deterrent to juvenile criminals. When …show more content…
To deter recidivism, juveniles need the opportunity for rehabilitation. Juvenile decision making is severely inhibited by the underdevelopment of their prefrontal lobe (Reaves, 2001). Because they are unable to process the consequences of risk taking like an adult they are limited in their ability to realize their criminal responsibility and the risk of being caught (Scott, Reppucci, & Woolard, 1995). This is why juvenile court was formed, to address these youth who still had the chance of rehabilitation and to give them a more humane sentence. A study done to assess the public’s opinion on trying juvenile offenders in juvenile court revealed, that even after the most violent school shooting in United States history, they still believed that youth should be tried and treated as youth in the United States courts (Appleson, …show more content…
It was found that the juvenile treatment facilities offered treatment oriented programs and had therapeutic models of rehabilitation. The juveniles felt that they were cared for and they were taught appropriate behaviors. Counseling was also provided (Redding, 2006, p. 17).
However, over the years the juvenile justice system has been criticized as being to “light” on offenders and thus not being a deterrence.
Young offenders know they can laugh off the token punishment of our current juvenile justice system, they commit more and increasingly brutal crime. That’s unacceptable… We must make clear to the violent youthful offenders – the ones who just don’t want to be saved – that California will not tolerate their depravity. It will replace slaps on the wrist with the slapping on of handcuffs… and will impose adult time for adult crime.(Dupee, 2002, p.
Implementing the 2 types of juvenile waivers has proven inconclusive as to whether or not there has been a decrease in juvenile crime. Threatening a juvenile that they will be waived to adult status and held accountable to the same standards as an adult has not proven to be a deterrent to juvenile criminals. When …show more content…
To deter recidivism, juveniles need the opportunity for rehabilitation. Juvenile decision making is severely inhibited by the underdevelopment of their prefrontal lobe (Reaves, 2001). Because they are unable to process the consequences of risk taking like an adult they are limited in their ability to realize their criminal responsibility and the risk of being caught (Scott, Reppucci, & Woolard, 1995). This is why juvenile court was formed, to address these youth who still had the chance of rehabilitation and to give them a more humane sentence. A study done to assess the public’s opinion on trying juvenile offenders in juvenile court revealed, that even after the most violent school shooting in United States history, they still believed that youth should be tried and treated as youth in the United States courts (Appleson, …show more content…
It was found that the juvenile treatment facilities offered treatment oriented programs and had therapeutic models of rehabilitation. The juveniles felt that they were cared for and they were taught appropriate behaviors. Counseling was also provided (Redding, 2006, p. 17).
However, over the years the juvenile justice system has been criticized as being to “light” on offenders and thus not being a deterrence.
Young offenders know they can laugh off the token punishment of our current juvenile justice system, they commit more and increasingly brutal crime. That’s unacceptable… We must make clear to the violent youthful offenders – the ones who just don’t want to be saved – that California will not tolerate their depravity. It will replace slaps on the wrist with the slapping on of handcuffs… and will impose adult time for adult crime.(Dupee, 2002, p.