The Future of the Juvenile Justice System - Research Paper Example

The future of the Juvenile Justice System Juvenile justice system has in the recent past been faced by fierce criticism. The system has been termed as a failure and a costly project that takes millions of dollars every year. In its over a hundred years existence, it has never been under much criticism as it is now. This work looks at the various factors that threaten the future existence of the system. The various stakeholders opposed to the system will be examined and the various reasons given on why it is believed the system will be abolished or if it continues to exist, it will have undergone various reforms that will make it more or less the same with the criminal justice for adults. The future of the Juvenile Justice System The Juvenile Justice System of the United States has a long history having been established in 1899. Before its establishment, minors under the age of seventeen who committed crimes had to undergo the same justice system as adults. However, with psychological studies intensifying coupled with the change in the society about cases involving minors, it was agreed that given a chance, criminal youths would change and their involvement in crimes was loss of direction, focus and the effects of the adolescent stage. Therefore, instead of heavy punishment and prolonged jail sentences, juvenile system was established to arbitrate cases involving minors. A mechanism was established on how such minors would be given the right counsel undergoing the various transformation stages. The focus of the juvenile system is to reward good conduct rather than punishing bad behavior. In recent times, people have become increasingly opposed to the juvenile system as they feel it has not worked and it gives the youths a kind of impunity and thus the youths are increasing engaged in criminal activities as they know they will not be punished severely. The Juvenile justice system’s existence has been threatened, with its operations and legality being challenged every day. Literature Review There have been extreme proponents for the abolition of the system. Those in favor of abolition have cited the ineffective duality of the system. This duality is in the system’s attempt to act both as a social service and as a court, critics arguing it has failed in both. Barry Feld (1997) in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminality has been vocal in advocating for the abolition of the system. He argues that delinquency jurisdiction should be unanimously scrapped by all states and its place recognizes youthfulness as a mitigating reason in the ruling and sentencing of juvenile criminal offenders. This will equip the young people with the relevant knowledge about the justice system. For example, this will give them the right to an attorney and jury trial. They will also have the advantage of benefit of doubt basing on their youthful nature and would thus be liable to reduced sentence compared to the adult sentence, the reduction being based on age; the younger the offender the more the sentence will be reduced. According to him, such an act will reduce the inequalities that are rampant in the current judicial system and prosecutorial waivers. The bias of individuals will also have been catered for. He argues that judges and lawyers on numerous occasions exercise subjective opinion and end up unfairly treating the minorities. Instead of juvenile justice system, he proposes social institutions established with an aim of instilling moral and ethical standards on the youth. An article in the NYDailyNews.com (2008), comments on how the broken juvenile system siphons millions of dollars in its operation and existence yet all it does is fail in the correction of the children. The article says the New York State’s juvenile justice system has been very expensive and a burden to tax payers. The system is not only a failure and an expensive liability; it is also a source of great and unprecedented danger to children and families. The neighborhoods have remained unsafe with no effective measures being taken. It has been reported that the juvenile detention facilities in the state have over two thousand children under the age of sixteen whose offences amount to criminal offences, if they would have been charged in a normal adult criminal court. The system has damaged children in that instead of rebuking their actions by imposing heavy penalties and punishment, it has encouraged them to continue being reckless by detaining them without any form of punishment. They, therefore, never learn and once they are released and become adults, they terrorize the society. After a conclusive research, it was found that most of the children in the detention facilities of New York State ended up becoming criminals. In fact, eighty percent of these youngsters were after three years of release found to be in the adult prison facilities. The main objective of juvenile system has thus been a failure in the state. The system is thus taking taxpayers money yet it is not rehabilitating and reforming the youth and thus should be shut down and instead the money be channeled to other intelligent, proven alternatives of incarceration. The article recognizes that some juveniles are dangerous and should be put behind bars, but what they need most is education, care, medical treatment and understanding of which none are not found in the detention facilities. Conley (1994) has lamented on the failure of the juvenile justice system to reform the children in the various correctional facilities under the system. The author uses the racial representation in the facilities to show how many African Americans in the facilities never reform and end up in adult facilities. The system has not aided in solving the age old problem of African Americans being the most populous in correctional facilities and any efforts to ensure the young teens do not end up like the adults has not yielded any meaningful results. Terence (1973) in assessing the racial discrimination in the justice system, highlights the fact that the juvenile justice system has been one of the most adversely affected areas by racial prejudice. The author analyzes how minority groups are targeted by the police and become the scapegoats of the frustrated police officers and the community as a whole. According to him, African Americans and Hispanic populations are on numerous occasions arrested, tried and sent to the various correctional facilities without even hard evidence against them. Terence cites that like other institutions of justice, the juvenile system has been unable to remain neutral in cases that involve minorities; rather the system has continued to oppress or support detention, and psychological disturbance of the young children. This could be one of the reasons for higher crimes by the African Americans. As noted, the juvenile facilities are not effective in providing the necessary environment for an individual to reform; therefore, subjecting individuals to bias of which most are African Americans. Such indifferent conditions only make them hardened and once they are released, they become even worse and end up committing crimes that they had not committed as youngsters. If this problem of minorities being the majority in prison will be rectified, then the ideal place to start from should be in rectifying the failed juvenile justice system. If the young adults are given the right kind of treatment, with quality and objective education at the same time providing them with care and compassion, then change will gradually come. However, if the system of detaining these minorities right from their youth continues, then the federal prisons will never register any decrease in the type and number of inmates hosted. The minorities will continue to be the majority, of which it is ethically wrong because these are societal induced reason not natural. The juvenile justice system should thus experience major change or be scrapped altogether. Juvenile System The Juvenile justice system is very different from a normal legal system. The focus that has been emphasized over the years has got to do with rehabilitation, rather than punishing and imprisoning the young criminals. In the US, many states have endorsed the system and most states have taken an initiative of establishing special courts for the juveniles. Some of the main departures from a normal legal system are that the juveniles while on trial plead delinquent or not delinquent. In the normal legal system, the terms guilty or not guilty are used, therefore, the juvenile system has always tried to establish a clear boundary between the normal legal system and itself. In the normal justice systems, a jury decides many cases. However, a judge decides the juvenile cases and its differences from the other courts are thus further established (Krisberg, 2005). The system offers delinquents the opportunity to reform, with many required to continue with their education in the curriculum provided by the juvenile system. This way many of the juveniles have been able to acquire their high school diplomas while others college credits. Inmates have in several occasions been given the chance to utilize their skills by being offered jobs around the prison. Some have worked as teachers, gardeners, staff members and other designated tasks. Juvenile delinquency generally refers the undesired illegal behaviors exhibited by children or teenagers who are not yet past the age of seventeen. It has been argued that all minors have at one time or the other during their lifetime broken a law and therefore the juvenile courts are no special. Many people continue to be opposed to them and their future existence is threatened. Juvenile courts generally handle broad issues affecting minors including delinquency, neglect and in other cases adoption. Law enforcers and school officials are the one that mainly refer juveniles to juvenile courts. Many people feel that the juvenile system can be easily substituted with other reform programs and, therefore, need not be there. It is felt that juveniles on their arrest can be directly sent to the appropriate correction center or the matter be settled through other various means. For example, the juveniles can be sent to drug treatment centers, counseling organizations or be referred to the appropriate or the most suitable educational center or centers with recreational programs. The juvenile system has, therefore, been undermined in the modern society. Juveniles are not exclusively tried in juvenile courts. Serious crimes are beyond the jurisdiction of the juvenile courts and such crimes are tried in adult criminal courts. Juveniles can therefore, irrespective of their age be directly charged in adult criminals courts. The critics of the juvenile justice system have therefore argued that there is no need for juvenile justice system to continue existing if some of the cases can be beyond the jurisdiction of the system. Juveniles like any other person can therefore be charged in the courts and only the various considerations emanating from age should be taken in to account. If regular courts can handle severe juvenile cases, then it is logical that the same courts can handle all other case (Junger-Tas, 2006). In the past, juvenile justice system was much advocated for. In the 1960s, juvenile courts had jurisdiction of handling nearly all cases that involved minors. Involvement of adult criminal courts was limited with involvement only possible through waiver of the authority of the juvenile courts. To discourage delinquency, Congress passed some legislations in 1968 aimed at prevention and control. Other acts were designed in the following years. In 1974, an act was passed aimed at creating more preventive measures at the same time ensuring that juvenile offenders were separated from adult offenders. These laws were seen to be lenient on the part of the offenders. However, the feeling that juvenile justice system was appropriate and the most suitable in handling juvenile case came to change. During the 1980s and 1990s, juvenile crimes were reported to be on the rise and this fear of more increased crimes resulted to change of the rules. Some of the earlier formulated acts were amended to include the trying of juveniles in adult criminal courts if found to be in possession of weapons and for some violent crimes. It was during the 80s and 90s that the rules were changed to include detention for juveniles. Earlier, detention had not been there and this is said to have contributed to the high rates of juvenile crimes, as the minors had no fear of the law as they felt overprotected by the same law they were breaking. The anti- crime sentiment of the period increased with the public blaming the lack of effectiveness in the juvenile system on the increase on juvenile crimes. The juvenile justice system underwent radical transformation, which in turn made it resemble the adult criminal justice system. The transformation of the juvenile justice system has since been going on and it is projected that in the future the system will be scrapped and should be absorbed by the regular adult criminal system. There has been the general feeling offenders are not in need of rehabilitation rather they are young criminals. Rehabilitation has greatly reduced as the more imminent and crucial agenda of public safety has replaced the need for juvenile system. In the late 20th Century, America was hit hard by increased juvenile crimes with the public becoming wary of juvenile offenders. There were highly publicized criminal incidents of which the perpetrators were youngsters. Experts have since argued that the juveniles of the modern times idolize and fancy crimes, ‘hardcore looks’ and gangster lifestyle is envied by many youths unlike in the past. The pop culture and other modern trends emphasize and seem to support crime. Music, like Hip-Hop has been criticized for encouraging drug use and other criminal and immoral acts. The juveniles of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have thus been categorized and associated with idolization of violence. School shootings and many other horrible offenses have been reported to be committed by the youngsters. The public has become cynical and anti juvenile system as they feel it has been unable to impose strict measures that deter possible offenders. The majority of the public feel that the juvenile system should be scrapped, and these juveniles be treated as criminals to deter others from engaging in criminal activities. The American juvenile justice system has in the recent past been considered non-effective and referred to as a system in crisis. The system has been widely criticized for being overwhelmed by the rapidly increasing delinquency and for the fact that many feel, the system fails to be effective especially at the time it is highly needed. The system has been hit by the escalating tension of punishment versus rehabilitation with each side having its proponents and those opposed. Since juveniles are seen as less responsible for their crimes, the system has a bigger task than that of any other justice system. This is because the system is supposed to assume the parentage role of molding the offenders into responsible citizens. The system has failed to do so of which some of the reasons of its failures are beyond its control. The established correctional centers have come under sharp criticism from some areas with some people feeling that these centers have become detention camps. The public feels the system should undergo massive and radicalized transformation to try to curb the rising cases of juvenile cases. The Juvenile justice system is losing its once overwhelming influence. In the past most of the cases involving children and teenagers below the age of seventeen were referred to the system and juveniles were clearly differentiated from adults. Juveniles were supposed to been rehabilitated rather than punished. However, the society has become very impatient with the system as there are numerous juvenile cases unaccounted. The society has since changed and wants more punitive measures being taken against these juveniles the society feels are young criminals. The society’s advocacy for punishment rather than rehabilitation has greatly undermined the mandate of the system whose core principles and values are based on the foundation of collective reformation of behaviors through rehabilitation. The American society has changed considerably over the years. Illegal drugs and guns use has increased and the unstable societal trends have been cited as the main reasons for the increase in juvenile crimes. The increase in juvenile crimes has in turn resulted in the creation of tougher laws and consequently juvenile cases are being transferred to the criminal courts rather than being left to the juvenile courts to rule. This trend is a clear indication that the system is losing its once enormous credibility and going by this trend, the system’s future is not guaranteed or if it will continue to exist, then its role will be greatly reduced to minor cases. The system is thus losing its active role of reforming juveniles and might in the future become just a passive organ. In an effort to retain its active role and mandate, the juvenile system has become tougher; consequently it has been described as a branch of criminal system. The system is thus behaving more and more like a criminal system and at present day, the system has become indistinguishable from its adult counterpart. It has thus been agreed that the system needs an overhaul to make it more credible and effective. It was established differently from the adult criminal system and must, therefore, retain its identity in an authentic objective manner. Some people have cited that there is no need of having two-justice systems as they are only straining the economy on budget allocation yet they serve he same role of ensuring justice is served. Critics have also criticized the existence of the juvenile justice system claiming it has created disparities in the legal system and has created inequalities. These inequalities result from the fact that cases determined by juvenile courts some times differ sharply with similar cases decided by the criminal courts. The need to harmonize the justice system has seen many advocates for the abolition of the juvenile justice system so as not to have two contradicting legal systems in the future. Arraigning juveniles in the normal criminal courts is said to be advantageous in many ways. (Clement, 2002) said it would enable the youngsters to be responsible right from the beginning rather than face juvenile justice system while young, and all over a sudden, a criminal system when one becomes an adult. Youngsters have been said not to care about their behavior because there will be no harsh penalties. Psychologically, the mere presence of punishment and severe consequences of breaking the established laws deters potential offenders from committing crimes, as they know the repercussions are undesirable. Children are the most affected by punishment and in places where rules are strict, children have been observed to be more mannered contrary to place where rules are loosely followed. Children tend to fear and respect those individuals they know are fierce or those they know are strict on discipline as opposed to those they know will not ask them even when they are on the wrong. In general, children fear teachers more than they fear parents, because they know teachers are stricter than parents. On supporting the abolition of juvenile justice system, critics have used this model of child psychology. It has been argued that children, including those in the adolescent stage, have a tendency to be reckless and non-observant of the existing laws, as they know there will be no harsh punitive measures. It has been argued that teenagers below the age of seventeen are therefore breaking the existing laws more often because of the existence of the juvenile justice system. They are aware that even if they are found to be on the wrong, they will be accorded special treatment by being tried in the juvenile justice system. This psychological mentality has created ‘lacking’ adults in that in the transition period from childhood to adulthood, individuals are known to commit many crimes as they have not fully understood and come in terms with the responsibilities of being an adult. Critics have therefore argued that abolition of juvenile justice system will prepare children from an early age the responsibilities of preserving and observing the existing laws. The existences of juvenile court have thus been threatened and thus opposition might result to there being no juvenile system in the future or if it will be there, it will only in theory but empirically we will be talking about the adult criminal justice system. (Hile, 2000) The future of juvenile justice system is not guaranteed. There has been major shift of support since the late 20th century. The public support for the system has dwindled down significantly and there are no signs of re-emergence of support that the system once enjoyed. Juvenile courts have also been vehemently accused of coddling offenders who are youthful and therefore should be abolished since the rehabilitation process has long failed. Those in opposition of the system claim the system has taken mandate beyond its initial intentions. They say the initial agenda and purpose of the court was to handle and appropriately decide status offenses such as truancy and not the new phenomena atrocities of the late 20th century like the mass murders. The court has thus overstepped its mandate and should be abolished to create room for a more elaborate and expansive justice system. The critics of the system argue that age should not be generally used in criminal cases and like adults, the young offenders who commit serious violent crimes must be charged in criminal courts. Juvenile courts have been accused of passing shorter sentences to dangerous youthful offenders unlike the adult offenders. Since the offenders do not get what they really deserved, it is believed they are more likely to commit another crime or the same crime. The juvenile system has also been criticized for releasing dangerous criminals into the society since they get shorter sentences that guarantee them release. Many of these juveniles are reported to have been released at age twenty and others even at age eighteen. (Anonymous, 2011) On the other hand the defenders of the juvenile courts and the system in general have argued that youth crimes and related offences have decreased drastically and the system should not be judged on the distorted and media hyped violent acts of a few. They argue that the system is there to stay owing to the fact that children are treated differently in all other activities of the society and the system is legally and ethically justifiable, as it should not be discriminated. They believe exposing youngsters to the adult prisons would make them even hard and would be paving the way for them to commit future crimes. The future of the juvenile justice system is thus a contested one. However without the support of the public, the system is bound to weaken and in the future the system seems to either be abolished or would have changed and reformed drastically thus losing its initial meaning References Anonymous (2011). Juvenile Justice- The Future of Juvenile Justice System. Retrieved from http://law.jrank.org/pages/12078/Juvenile-Justice-future-juvenile-justice.html Clement, M. (2002). The Juvenile Justice System. New York Butterworth-Heinemann Feld, B. (1997). Journal of criminal law and criminality vol 123 no6 1 143-156 Conley, D.(1994). Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency vol. 31 no. 2 135-148 Hile, K. (2000). Trial Of Juveniles As Adults. New York: infobase publisjing Junger-Tas, J., and Decker, S. (2006). International Handbook of Juvenile Justice. New York: Springer. Krisberg, B. (2005). Juvenile Justice Redeeming Our Children. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc NYDailyNews (2008). Broken Juvenile Justice System Wastes Millions Of Dollars And Fails Our Kids. Retrieved from http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2008/02/10/2008-02-10_broken_juvenile_justice_system_wastes_mi.html#ixzz1J0xH4VgP Terence, T. (1973). The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. Vol64 no. 1. 1-9 Read More