Juvenile Delinquency and Intervention to Stop Recidivism - Research Paper Example

Causes Of Juvenile Delinquency are several. Adolescents are deviated from public interaction and socialization. Adult supervision and guidance is reducing at a fast rate. Increasing influence of mass media also block adolescent from having proper interaction in the society. Peer group influence and other activities also encourage adolescents to neglect extracurricular activities and interaction. They prefer to be lonely interacting with their PCs and video games. Society has become very sedentary nowadays. Computer, television, and video games are responsible for the inactive lifestyle of teenagers. Children, especially girls, become less enthusiastic and active as they move through adolescence. According to the estimates, nearly forty-three percent of adolescents watch more than three hours of television every day. They become very reluctant to engage themselves in activities that would require interaction. It is high time that society recognize the importance of making children and teenagers engage in various activities that would socialize and make them useful for the society. In some families, children are not given proper care and they are not treated properly. Parents will be preoccupied with their works or will be under various malpractices, and seldom give any time for their children. There are cases when children are completely neglected. When parents get divorced, children have to stay with one of the parents or with relatives or other caretakers. They may have to undergo physical and mental abuse and even big assaults also. Such children will be deprived of parent’s love and care and will lose a good family environment. Parents who are busy with their tough job schedules, suffering from various financial, social and personal strains naturally will not have sufficient time to spend with their children. Relatives and caretakers will be least bothered about their welfare and will torture them to maximum. These abused and neglected children suffer from various mental and physical problems that can lead them to wrong paths. Some children are exposed to drugs in their childhood itself since they their parents use drugs. Children, who are brought up in families where there are frequent fights, will naturally have fighting mood or other bad characteristics. Also if parents are having criminal background and other unlawful practices, children who are brought up in that environment also will have criminal characters and behaviors. Socializing the adolescents is the best away to distract them away from drugs and other detrimental activities. Social interaction and adult guidance is necessary to keep the adolescents in the right track. Socializing children at home, at school and other levels would erase the negatively influences their mind. More adult supervision and guidance would help solve the problems of childhood. Parents can guide their children and socialize them at the family level. Teachers also play a major role in socializing children at the societal level. Socialization at various levels can divert adolescents from negative practices like drugs usage and early sex. Juvenile justice system can play a major role in limiting juvenile crimes. Juvenile justice system must focus on rehabilitation. The juvenile justice system that comes under the superior court jurisdiction must have every right over children who are under 18 years of age (who may come as juvenile dependents (juvenile wards)). Juvenile justice system ensures the safety of the juvenile. The main target of the court must is to offer a safe and healthy environment for children and adolescents who are deprived of safety and care in their homes. Juvenile justice system provides rehabilitation to adolescents who are thrown out of their house by their parents. Juveniles are increasingly becoming lost in the world of drugs and sex. Adolescents are deviated from public interaction and socialization. Adult supervision and guidance is reducing at a fast rate. Increasing influence of mass media also block adolescent from having proper interaction in the society. This generates a need for adolescent socialization. It is not possible to influence juveniles unless they are dealt with extreme care. Juveniles who are involved in criminal activities cannot be corrected by giving cruel punishment. A place of ‘socialization’ only can bring them back to life. A new home or a place of rehabilitation is found to be effective in correcting juvenile minds. Socializing the adolescents is the best away to distract them away from drugs and other detrimental activities. Social interaction and adult guidance is necessary to keep the adolescents in the right track. Juvenile justice system can provide a place of rehabilitation where juveniles are properly socialized to erase the negative influences from their mind. Problems faced by the adolescents are numerous. They drink most, smoke most and have sex at very early age. They hate schools, neglect their health, and are least satisfied in their life. They don’t have any fellowship with their parents and are always out of their house. They lack good company and guidance. Adolescents are highly vulnerable to drug abuse and various other problems. The drug problem has also become a major problem in United States. Almost one third of the juveniles aged 12-to 20-use alcohol in US. According to the estimates nearly 11 million children or juveniles are alcohol consumers. According to the study conducted by the federal Substances Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, nearly children and juveniles consume 20% of the alcoholic drinks in United States. More than 7000 children in United States start drinking alcohol everyday. Adolescent marriages are also not uncommon in the modern world. Teenagers also get involved in sex and invite unplanned or unexpected pregnancy. Youngsters look forward for marriage before they are mentally and physically prepared for it. This brings about disastrous consequences like teenage marriage failure, divorce and dissatisfaction in sex life. Juvenile justice system can save these miserable adolescents by providing them a new rehabilitation where they encounter a new environment. This new house of socialization can save the juveniles from their troubled life. Rehabilitation also is of great help to juveniles who live in dangerous environment being addicted to drugs and sex. Juveniles often resort to dangerous practices that destroy their future and also disturb the peace of the society. Juveniles from families that have criminal background will indulge in similar unhealthy practices. They may become drug addicts at very early age and may even start selling drugs. A juvenile court is for helping and rehabilitating such abused minors, in order to protect the public and for helping the minors come out of their unhealthy habits and practices. Majority of the juveniles under the protection of the juvenile court (less than 18 years of age) would have performed criminal actions and are therefore considered delinquents (The Lectric Law Library, 2008). The jurisdiction of a minor (delinquent minor) by the juvenile court will proceed until he become 21 years old (exceptional cases it can be up to 23 years) (The Lectric Law Library, 2008). It can be the circumstances and the unhealthy brought up of the youth that made him a criminal. If the family background of the youth is not satisfactory and if the child is having unhealthy exposures which can turn him as a criminal, court will think of keeping the youth under protective custody of the court. Court will remove the delinquent minor from his parent’s custody and will give treatment, care, advices and guidance to bring the youth to a healthy mental state. Necessary counseling will be given to youths to make them hate their previous criminal ways. Court will also take necessary measures for reunifying the youth and his family if it is possible and appropriate. These measures are of really help as it would remove the juvenile from the environment of drugs, street fighting and sex. These delinquency issues related to the minor happens when the minor is arrested (after a police investigation) because of some crimes. The police officer will investigate the issue and will decide whether to release the minor or to submit him to some community agency which will give him shelter, care, counseling, making his mind divert to good topics and thoughts (Brooks, 2006). The police officer may keep the minor in custody and bring him under the juvenile court. The police officer will consider the interest of the minor as well as the safety of the community in the issue. If a minor is taken into custody, the police officer would do the needful for bringing him under the juvenile court and also would inform the minor’s parents, relatives or guardian. The probation officer is supposed to explain to the minor his entire constitutional rights and privileges. The minor will be kept under the custody of the juvenile court if he does not have a responsible parent or a healthy home environment. Rehabilitation is thus an effective set up under the juvenile justice system. Juvenile justice system should never focus on punishment. The juveniles resort to evil practices because of their miserable background and wrong brought up. What they need is a new house where they can find warmth. A new set up to meet their requirements can change their mind and make them a normal human being. Punishment can never change the character of a youngster. Punishment would only further criminalize him. Adolescents are not able to understand the real motive behind punishment (Brooks, 2006). Punishment would only disturb their psychological levels. Juveniles should not be punished as they are not really responsible for their criminal behavior. Their circumstances and poor family environment only must have criminalized them. It is true that there are few disadvantages in keeping the children in juvenile homes instead of letting them live with their parents. Children who live in juvenile homes would miss the family environment and lose their fellowship with their siblings (Chalk, et al, 2002). They would be deprived of the family love and may not fit in a family environment in their future. Even though these are some obvious disadvantages on juvenile homes, the advantages of juvenile homes outweigh the disadvantages. It is unsafe to leave children with irresponsible abusive parents. In his book "Turning Stones, My Days and Nights with Children at Risk" Marc Parent the caseworker for Emergency Children's Services in New York speaks about one of his experiences. His role was to be the final protector of children from abusive parents. He was supposed to respond to the house calls and decide whether the child needs to be rescued from the house. He recalls one of is fatal mistake in which he couldn’t recognize the condition of a little boy who later died of starvation (Parent, 1998). If they had moved the child to a care centre he would have survived. Similarly juvenile justice system has saved the lives of thousands of children and juveniles who would have become lost if they stayed with their parents. In some families, children are not given proper care and they are not treated properly. Parents are preoccupied with their works and are under various malpractices, and seldom give any time for their children. There are cases when juveniles are completely neglected. This is when the parents or the caretaker fails to offer necessary care, food, clothing, shelter and other requirements of a child. For some parents, drugs are more important than their kids. Such people may make their children use these drugs (compelling children to use drugs) (Vittachi, 1989). Children are nuisances for another group of parents. All these results in severe child abuse issues. There were cases when children had to undergo heavy physical tortures also. When parents get divorced, children have to stay with one of the parents or with relatives or other caretakers. They may have to undergo physical and mental abuse and even big assaults also. Such children are deprived of parent’s love and care and will lose a good family environment. Relatives and caretakers are least bothered about their welfare and will torture them to maximum (Vittachi, 1989). These abused and neglected children will suffer from various mental and physical problems that can lead them to wrong paths. Some children are exposed to drugs in their childhood itself since they their parents use drugs. Children, who are brought up in families where there are frequent fights, naturally have fighting mood or other bad characteristics. Also if parents are having criminal background and other unlawful practices, children who are brought up in that environment also will have criminal characters and behaviors. Children are abused in different ways and are made deprived of all their childhood happiness and privileges. They are troubled and exploited and are subjected to mental and physical exploitations (Vittachi, 1989). There were incidents in which children were beaten, burnt and killed even. Children brought up in such an environment would turn out to be criminals at young age. When these abused children come to their adolescent stage they exhibit all types of criminal behavior. They engage in criminal activities that may involve punishments. These adolescents have become criminals just because of their wrong background and poor brought up. No punishment can save them from their misbehaviors. A good place of rehabilitation only can help them. Juvenile justice system, therefore, must focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment. These measures are supposed to help prevent juvenile crimes. Works Cited Robert J. Brym and John Lie, Sociology: Your Compass for a New World, Wadsworth Publishing, 2004. Brooks, L. (2006) The Story of Childhood, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. Chalk, R., Gibbons, A., & Scarupa, H. J. (2002). The multiple dimensions of child abuse and neglect: New insights into an old problem. Washington, DC: Child Trends. Mark Parent (1998) Turning Stones, My Days and Nights with Children at Risk, New York, The Ballantine Publishing Group. “Protecting the Welfare of Minors -- The California Juvenile Court,” (2008) The Lectric Law Library. http://www.lectlaw.com. Vittachi, A. (1989) Stolen Childhood: In Search of the Rights of the Child, Cambridge: Polity. Read More