Treating Juvenile as adults Affects the Community - Essay Example

Treating Juvenile as Adults Affects the Community Treating Juvenile as Adults Affects the Community In the United s, only two states have courts that try 16 and 17-year-old defendants as adults and New York is one of them. These courts try such defendants in the adult criminal justice system irrespective of the seriousness of their alleged offense. At the same time, New York considers 13, 14, and 15-year-old suspects of critical offenses J.O.s (Juvenile Offenders), which means they treat these youths as adults unless their proceedings are moved to Family Court.

Treating youths as adults in court affects the New York community in various negative ways. First, the safety of the New York community deteriorates significantly when courts treat children as adults for their alleged crimes (Schneiderman, 2015). Study findings released by the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice in 2006 found out that public safety was at risk when courts tried youths as adults, and especially when these youths were found guilty and jailed (Jordan, 2014).

Trying and ruling juvenile as grownups threatens the welfare and security of these children. In New York, delinquents tried as adults were discovered to be more prone to breaking the law again or behaving violently. This means New York youths tried this way were more likely to go back to jail at substantially higher rates than those tried as juveniles. The release of such youths back into the new York community after serving their term endangers the community. Secondly, the community suffers a reduction in white-collar employees or applicants as previously convicted youths do not quality for white-collar jobs with a criminal record (Goidel et al., 2006). Youths tried as adults are forced to carry this mark for life, which makes it hard for them to build their lives academically, professionally, and even socially.

The physical and often psychological health of such youths is ruined practically. The outcome of a lifelong criminal record can include substantial limits to higher learning and employment, likely deportation, and the deprivation of housing privileges (Schneiderman, 2015). New York’s economy suffers from this outcome as such people do not contribute as much to the community’s progress as they ought to or would. Thirdly, ethnic groups, neighborhoods, or communities from which youths tried as adults come from will be affected by such trying more than others will (Jordan, 2014).

This is because law enforcement is more probable to target such communities on statistical and legal basis and proof. Eventually, the treatment of this community by the police becomes unequal at nearly all aspects of the justice system. For instance, statistically, youths of colored ethnicities are more likely to bear critical and lasting impacts of being tried and jailed under the adult criminal justice system than white children (Goidel et al., 2006). In conclusion, treating youths as adults in court does not decrease crime rates or raise public safety.

If anything, it raises the delinquents’ odds of behaving violently and committing the same or a different but still serious crime within a short period after completing jail terms. In New York’s case, it is at risk of increased public insecurity, reduced economic productivity, and proof-based profiling by law enforcement.ReferencesGoidel, R. K., Freeman, C. M., and Procopio, S. T. (2006). The Impact of Television Viewing on Perceptions of Juvenile Crime. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 50(1): 119- 39.Jordan, K. L. (2014). Juvenile Status and Criminal Sentencing: Does It Matter in the Adult System?

Youth Violence & Juvenile Justice, 12(4): 315-31.Schneiderman, E. T. (2015). Trying Youths as Adults. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/opinion/trying-youths-as-adults.html?_r=2