Position paper
Juvenile delinquency
Juvenile delinquency is becoming one of the most debatable subjects in the media not only in America but also all over the world. Some think that we must be severe with the youth that commit violent crime but others think that we should treat them as youngsters first, then as criminals. In “Adult Crime, Adult Time” attorney Linda J. Collier tries to convince the reader that young criminals are to be treated like adult criminals if they commit violent crimes. Timothy Roche and Amanda Bower in the article entitled “Young Voices from the Cell” defend a different point of view saying that young criminals should be treated as young people who suffer from psychological disorders. I disagree with Collier’s argument and I defend the idea and arguments discussed by Roche and Bower because I think that young criminals commit such atrocities because they are young and don’t realize the gravity of their acts, and because many of them suffered from psychological disorders that can be cured with therapies. The first article “Adult Crime, Adult Time” gives some historical facts about juvenile delinquency and depicts how juvenile justice started and then the author clearly states that “children who knowingly engage in adult conduct and adult crimes should automatically be subject to adult rules and adult prison time”(Collier). On the other hand, the second article “Young Voices from the Cell” the author talks about what pushed this young people to commit these crimes, how it is hard for them to be in prison, and many of them realize after growing up that what they did was awful. The author put a lot of emphasis on the mental disorders that pushed many of them to commit crimes such as for the case of Wurst “ who believes he is real but everyone else is unreal”(Roche and Bower). Although the idea of punishing the criminals is necessary may be true, when it comes to youngsters we should approach the problem differently. Not only
Juvenile delinquency is becoming one of the most debatable subjects in the media not only in America but also all over the world. Some think that we must be severe with the youth that commit violent crime but others think that we should treat them as youngsters first, then as criminals. In “Adult Crime, Adult Time” attorney Linda J. Collier tries to convince the reader that young criminals are to be treated like adult criminals if they commit violent crimes. Timothy Roche and Amanda Bower in the article entitled “Young Voices from the Cell” defend a different point of view saying that young criminals should be treated as young people who suffer from psychological disorders. I disagree with Collier’s argument and I defend the idea and arguments discussed by Roche and Bower because I think that young criminals commit such atrocities because they are young and don’t realize the gravity of their acts, and because many of them suffered from psychological disorders that can be cured with therapies. The first article “Adult Crime, Adult Time” gives some historical facts about juvenile delinquency and depicts how juvenile justice started and then the author clearly states that “children who knowingly engage in adult conduct and adult crimes should automatically be subject to adult rules and adult prison time”(Collier). On the other hand, the second article “Young Voices from the Cell” the author talks about what pushed this young people to commit these crimes, how it is hard for them to be in prison, and many of them realize after growing up that what they did was awful. The author put a lot of emphasis on the mental disorders that pushed many of them to commit crimes such as for the case of Wurst “ who believes he is real but everyone else is unreal”(Roche and Bower). Although the idea of punishing the criminals is necessary may be true, when it comes to youngsters we should approach the problem differently. Not only