By the nineteenth century, many child welfare advocates reformed the country’s view on children, and the states found it counter productive to convict children along with adults. States then recognized that minors are indeed young enough to be rehabilitated. Thus being said, the United States began discussing the idea of a separate justice system specifically for juvenile cases. In 1925 an official juvenile system has been established in the United States. “Juvenile courts do not exist to punish children for their transgressions against society…The aim of the court is to provide individualized justice for children…The delinquent is the child of, rather than the enemy of society and their interests coincide.” (Ogilvie at p.…
The United States government is based on a checks and balances type system. The three main parts of this system are the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. This judicial system’s job is to uphold the law of the land. Law can be defined as a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide punishments for those who do not follow the established rules of conduct (Wikipedia.org, 2005). This is a very wide and all encompassing definition of the law and the governing judicial system. Just like the United States government the judicial system is broken up into different checks, balances, and systems. Two of these main systems are the juvenile justices system and the adult justice system. The obvious difference between these two courts is that the juvenile system is designed to handle youth offenders and the adult system is designed to handle adult offenders. Both of these two systems despite their difference have the same end goal; to administer justice. In the pages to follow we will discuss the big picture of the juvenile justice system, go over a point by point comparison between the juvenile system and the adult system, touch on both the benefits and disadvantages to being tried as a minor in the juvenile court from the perspective of a minor, and review the societal implication of abolishing the juvenile court system.…
Juveniles in the criminal justice system are a special population. Throughout history juveniles have been looked at as needing to be protected from the harsh realities that face adults daily. The juvenile justice system has primarily operated in a parens patriae capacity and protected the rights of those that were legally incapable of protecting themselves such as minor children and the mentally ill. From 1987-1993 the juvenile homicide rate doubled causing critics and conservatives to questions the approach of the juvenile justice community calling it ‘soft on crime’ Steiner &…
Every year, juvenile courts in the United States handle an estimated 1.7 million cases in which a youth was charged with a delinquency offense (“Youth in the Justice System,” 2012). Throughout most of history, youthful offenders were handled under the same laws and system as adults were. While deviance has always been around, societal intervention and participation in handling juvenile transgressors has gained the most momentum in the last 100–150 years (Whitehead & Lab, 2013). A separate juvenile justice system was established in the United States with a goal of diverting youthful offenders from the adult system while encouraging rehabilitation. Today, one would hear that the system’s goal is to react to juveniles in ways that protect the…
From the 1980s to the 1990s there has been a surge in minors who commit violent crimes as shown in a research study conducted by the Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch Currently. The information was based on federal and state correctional data related to race, history and nature of crimes committed by minors. The study showed inmates under the age of 18 in state prisons has more than doubled from 1985-1997. The study also shows that 61% of those minors admitted were convicted of violent offenses1. The Juvenile Court Act was founded in 18992 when the idea of reforming minors took place and the majority of crimes committed by minors were of minor misconduct. The justice systems were separated because adults were treated as criminals and minors were treated for rehabilitation. , created to rehabilitate and protect minors. The courts intended the system to be more informal and treat the juveniles rather than punish them. This system was not developed to undertake the current rise of…
Juveniles have been incarcerated in secure facilities since 1974. Juveniles are committing more heinous crimes and citizens have advocated for tougher penalties on crime. They want justice for the violence perpetrated on their families, businesses and communities. The Juvenile Justice system is charged with simultaneously protecting the public as well as reforming those juveniles who are convicted and sentenced to secure facilities. Barry C. Feld (1995) believes that there is a “desire to "get tough," fueled in part by frustration with the intractability of crime, that provides political impetus to transfer some young offenders to criminal courts for prosecution as adults and to strengthen the sanctioning powers of juvenile courts”(p.966).…
It is argued that one of the main issues as to why the needs are not being met is because of the tensions in the juvenile justice system itself. Delinquent behavior must be responded to only when competing mandates and priorities. The main focus of the juvenile justice system is rehabilitation for the youth, in performing this it must be taken in account that while holding juveniles for their behavior the community must also be protected.…
The question of whether we should have continued use of a separate juvenile justice system or should we abolish it is a huge debate in the U.S. Is the separate, juvenile justice system still feasible? If not, what can replace it? Policymakers need to confront these questions, and they need innovative answers. New policies should aim for more than simply abolishing the juvenile court's delinquency jurisdiction and sending all young offenders to conventional criminal courts.…
In today’s society, there is a national debate about what to do with juveniles in the criminal justice system. This debate is a result changes in practice throughout United States. The United States made it possible to try juveniles as adults in court after the case of Kent vs. the United States in 1966. The change in legislation is relatively new due to the fact that juvenile courts have "for most of the past century, treated youngsters between 7 and 17 not as criminals but as delinquents." The United States choose to treat the kids as delinquents because there was a major focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment.…
The juvenile justice system and the adult justice system share their commonalities and differences. For example, the juvenile justice system makes it the point to rehabilitate instead of punishing juvenile delinquents. However, one must take into consideration that punishment is still a feasible concept within the juvenile system, but it is used prudently as a “last resort.” In instances of punishment for a teenager who is accused of an atrocious crime, he or she may be tried as an adult (Goldstein, 2007). According to Dr. Goldstein (2007) there are some similarities between the two justice systems as he states that “the police, judiciary, and corrections have discretion relative to decision making in both systems.”…
A juvenile court system was intentionally created and designed to accommodate offenders under a certain age, who committed certain offenses. Consideration of sentencing was based on future recidivism, and possible rehabilitation for proper functionality within society. Yet, the courts do not appear to be separating this judicial process and are sending these young individuals directly to adult criminal courts as a preemptory strike against the potential for future crimes, as well as the protection of society as a whole (Brink, 2004).…
In this assignment, I am required to explain the court process as it relates to the juvenile offenders in the criminal justice system. I think that first, it is very important to realize that there are many different outlets to consider when speaking on the ways in which the juvenile court process works. I think that we need to realize that there are different ways that a juvenile can be processed after committing a crime. The defendant is required to be examined to see, the severity of the crime, the number prior convictions the defendant has and the reasons and the cause of the crimes. These are all things that a prosecutor needs to know in order to determine if a juvenile is to be incarcerated or released or if they are to have other forms of punishment.…
. The juvenile justice system is an institution 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. The conflict arises when public expectation of order collides with the right of young people to be on the street. The police have a high level of contact with people under the age of 18. UCR data indicate that juveniles account for about 17% of all arrests and nearly 29% of arrests for Index crimes. When juveniles "hang out" on corners or ride around town, they create citizen conflict, regarding the use of public space. The term juvenile delinquent was established so that young lawbreakers could avoid being classified…
The juvenile justice system in dealing with juvenile offenders has cyclically gone from a rehabilitative approach to a punitive approach a number of times since its inception (Jenson & Howard, 1998). Research by Bernard (1992), as cited in Jenson and Howard (1998), examined the history of the juvenile justice system from 1820 and found that when juvenile crime is determined to be high, the justice system responds with severe punishments and few rehabilitative approaches. This approach forces officials to either respond with harsh punishment or doing nothing at all. Eventually, the system is reformed and a greater amount of leniency takes effect. This continues until the final phase, as…
Through the juvenile criminal justice system and adult criminal justice system, the United States incarcerate more of its youth than any other industrialized country in the world. There’s approximately 34,000 youth incarcerated in the United States. This is not including the 5,200 youth incarcerated in adult prison, since they are considered adults, and the almost 20,000 youth that the juvenile justice system holds in residential facilities away from home, since that is not technically jail or prison. 1.900 youth are incarcerated for drugs charges, mostly for possession. 13,900 youth are incarcerated for person charges including sexual assault, homicide, aggravated…