Juvenile Justice System During The 20th Century

Before the 20th century it was common for children to be sold as slaves. In the eyes of society, they were basically property. As for the courts, they could bring juveniles to trial and punish them as they did adults. While they did not always get as severe of punishments, kids as young as seven could be given the death penalty. why the system was created, how it has changed over the years, and how youth have been viewed during the past century. The early juvenile justice system, and the problems it had, have been worked out over the years and the system we have today works.
Before the Juvenile Justice system really got started there were a lot of assumptions placed on kids and they were expected to be like adults. Society saw them as small
Near the turn of the 20th century juvenile crime rates plummeted which caused many places to rethink the 19th century model of juvenile justice and move towards community based intervention and reform. The most common route courts take is diversion, a course of action that redirects the youth to a less official punishment. Sometimes this is a form of community service, therapy or just a warning. Diversion is generally used for first time offenders or low-risk juveniles. This helps limit the number of juveniles that spend time in the system and helps the high-risk juveniles get the help, and reform opportunity’s they need with the limited resources correctional facilities have. Then, and even today, sexual assault does exist in the juvenile justice system. This is something that has been more evident in past years, but today about one in ten adjudicated juveniles have been assaulted in the last 11 months. While this is a major drawback, the time a juvenile spends in a detention facility it is generally a more positive experience than in the early days of the system. The staff are passionate about their work, volunteers come and mentor the kids, and rehabilitation programs that encourage the juveniles to explore different