Juvenile justice is the most controversial discussion in which many young criminals have subjected to punishment or rehabilitation system in case of misconducting. Therefore, it is necessary for us first to understand what, when, and how do these processes take place. Apart from that, knowing how different states in America recognize and review cases related to juvenile cases. Finally, drawing a sound definition and analysis on one of the most used and preferred types of juvenile justice method those different systems of justice cases use to determine the crimes committed by young teenagers. The concepts of treatment and punishment are trying to figure out what will work best for the juveniles. There are many people that think that dealing with the consequences and being punished harshly for it is the best choice. In, my opinion placing a juvenile in an adult facility is unfair.
There are far worst adult criminals in these facilities that can expose these kids to new things and make it worst for them upon release. The differences between the treatment and punishment concepts are that one rehabilitates while the other tends to punish such as parole or life sentences and the death penalty. According to our text treatment focuses on the rehabilitation of juveniles and some juvenile treatment reforms known as ‘what works’ or ‘best practices’ have a history of being effective with juveniles who suffer from poverty, educational issues, family problems, and addictions. Treatment concepts include intervention programs such as Principles of Effective Intervention. According to Listwan, S. J. (2013), ‘On their surface, these principles are not groundbreaking. However, these principles were considered fairly radical for a field that was entrenched in the get-tough movement that focused primarily on the increased use of punishment. The following is a list of the core principles; match treatment services to the offender’s risks and needs, use treatment models that are behavioral and cognitive behavioral in nature, develop a range of rewards and consequences for behavior, and provide relapse prevention strategies.’ (Listwan, S. J. 2013). Sentencing juveniles to life without parole take away the opportunity to be able to reinstate a young individual. I guess that even if a juvenile continues to make a mistake it doesn’t indicate they should be sentenced to life without parole, they are just kids.
I suppose it’s possible for juveniles who are incarcerated to learn from their mistakes and reconstruct themselves rather than adults, once they become older without any kind of treatment being granted it is already too late. According to Tsui, J. C. (2014), “In Roper v. Simmons, the Supreme Court held capital punishment of minors unconstitutional. Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion cited to an earlier Supreme Court case, in which the plurality opinion explained that “[t]he reasons why juveniles are not trusted with the privileges and responsibilities of an adult also explain why their irresponsible conduct is not as morally reprehensible as that of an adult.” Relying on this argument, the Roper Court found that because juveniles have “diminished culpability” for their crimes as compared to their adult counterparts, “it is evident that the pomological justifications for the death penalty apply to them with lesser force than to adults.” (Tsui, J. C. 2014). I believe a juvenile rehabilitation program can be a resolution instead of just confinement and punishment for them. Through individual and group therapeutics, work programs, education, and actual reinforcement there would be a beneficial change in attitudes and personalities but, also a willingness to want to meet goals and accomplish success. I think a positive perspective on serving juveniles in prison would help them but, a negative perspective would only damage them and arise in long-term life sentences.
I decided to review the crime statistics between three cities in the state of Florida, only because of the massive shooting that just recently happened as well as other crimes that have been done Florida recently but they are; (Orlando, Tampa, and Miami) for increased criminal activity associated with violent crimes and property damage the demographics of male, African American and Hispanic, low education, and low socioeconomic status with standardized data of 1:1000. Information obtained from Neighborhood Scout online database. Looking at each graph I can see violent crime rates are highest in Miami while property crime rates are highest in Orlando. Tampa falls in between at 30.88% compared to Miami at 53.97% and Orlando at 70.11%. Orlando clearly has the largest amount of crimes with 1:1000 ratio. Regarding recidivism rates, it can be immediately related to the economy such as areas of low-income housing and the type of cultural norms such as family upbringing, education, and mental illness related to the extreme use and distribution of drugs. In communities, it’s necessary for everyone to work together in the attempt with reducing crimes. This means community support for local law enforcement and participating in neighborhood watches as an example. When there is a lack of effort then there’s an increase in crimes. Looking at the graphs, it shows that the violent crime is much higher this does not know the race, sex or type of lifestyle they are being raised in. In this case I do not think recidivism is not the best indicator, I think that they need help and try to find out where the problem is and what is causing them to commit crimes, they will not learn while being incarcerated.
It is said that they tend to learn more crimes from other prisoners while in prison. Looking back at treatment and punishment I want to compare why treatment is a more efficient method than punishment for juveniles. I think the philosophy of the juvenile court system should be rehabilitative instead of punitive. Positive feedback and correctional programs which rehabilitate adolescents by using work programs and therapeutical programs would make a difference in changing behavior and thinking to direct to rewarding outcomes for youths. Punishment is a form of hate that is expressed through causing an individual to feel burdened, sad, and resentment which is not good because there would be a rebellion formed in lacking revenge or repeating delinquency out of anger from the feeling of mistreatment and again not receiving the help that is needed (Listwan, 2013). On the continued punishment can lead to depression and suicide inside prisons or correctional institutions, in which is common for youths to commit such a horrible offense to themselves especially when they are bullied. I think all lives matter and this is why I think punitive actions would not have a successful outcome and if anything a punitive action is more likely to cause repetitive behaviors in criminal activities. There is a rehabilitative program which can be used for youths in a detention center, correctional facilities, and prisons called school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (SW-PBIS). This strategy and program improves behavioral problems and has successful outcomes for youths. This is a common program which targets behavioral problems and helps youth learn to use positive thinking and ways to overcome the factors contributing to the behaviors in schools.
IN 2009 Texas began implementing the same program in juvenile detention facilities for all youths age 10-17 years of age. Data was taken from 264 male youths of different races and within that age group along with the nature of the crime and educational background. A statistic-analysis performed revealed that 51% of detained juveniles were between the age of 15-17 while 15% aged between 18-20 and 1% 10-12. All 264 males had learning disabilities (LD) and (ED) emotional disturbance. According to Johnson, L. E., Wang, E. W., Gilinsky, N., He, Z., Carpenter, C., Nelson, C. M., & Scheuermann, B. K. (2013), “The impact of SW-PBIS on youth behavior was not unexpected, but a positive effect on academic achievement was found when prior study results did not. We believe this may be due to the differences between secure juvenile facility environments and general education settings and how achievement was measured.” (Johnson, L. E., Wang, E. W., Gilinsky, N., He, Z., Carpenter, C., Nelson, C. M., & Scheuermann, B. K. 2013). Teen courts and diverting youth from participating in a criminal activity is effective and I think it would send a message to their friends and the community about not getting involved in criminal activity and seeing how their friend or relative came in that situation. Regarding states and transfer laws, the rate of transfers to adult court has remained stable because it is not widely used since there’s a lot of criticism surrounding transfer laws.
According to Listwan, S. J. (2013), “Finally, one of the most damaging criticisms lodged against transfer laws is regarding their effectiveness. The logic behind transferring juveniles to adult court rests with deterrence theory. If juveniles are transferred to the adult court, it sends a message to both the juvenile in question as well as other juveniles. In theory, we would expect that the juvenile who is given a more severe sanction would be less likely to commit a crime in the future. In the U. S. Supreme Court and the case Roper v. Simmons a youth under the age of 18 was sentenced to death and their Eighth Amendment Rights were violated while the case Miller v. Alabama a youth received a life sentence instead of the death penalty because the death penalty was ruled as a violation of Eighth Amendment Rights. In comparing both there is a clear violation of the case Roper v. Simmons and the judge in question is held responsible for this violation of the U. S. Constitution. I do not think the death penalty was right and it also violated human rights in the process of violation of the youths Eighth Amendment Rights (Tsui, J. C. 2014). Looking at biological, psychological, and sociological variables contributing to juvenile criminal behaviors, delinquency, and criminal activities take in all variables of mental illness which is hereditary, exposure to drugs during prenatal or afterward as a young child or adolescent interfering with cognitive abilities and psychosocial developmental skills. I think that psychological would best to support my thesis statement. A lot of the times these juveniles have been through things that most have not and do not know how to deal with certain things. For example if a women is pregnant there are chances that they could come out with some kind disability that is why when they commit crimes they should go to therapy to see why and how all this came about it is more of a background history on them and they should determine what consequence they should face.
According to Youth Outcomes, researches have shown that SW-PBIS (School-wide positive behavior interventions and supports) can improve behavioral outcomes; they provide evidence in reductions in behavioral reports as well as show improvements in school attendance. “As of 2002 over 500 schools in the United States had implemented school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (SWPBIS;Sugai & Horner, 2002) with now more than 18,000 schools adopting SW-PBIS by 2012 (R. Horner, personal communication, September, 2012). As these numbers indicate, SW-PBIS is receiving endorsements as a framework for creating safe and effective environments for learning” (Johnson, L. E., Wang, E. W., Gilinsky, N., He, Z., Carpenter, C., Nelson, C. M., & Scheuermann, B. K. 2013). The community and the family household factors play a big role in the development of children and the youth. It signifies family upbringing were they loved or if were they neglected or abused, culture such as family values developed from another country which differ from the current country living in, moral and ethical values based on cultural norms of the family upbringing, religious or non-religious background if it affects development in a positive or negative way. Family households are a big deal, children come out to be a certain way if they a single parent or a step-parent rather those who are raised by both of their parents, having a single parent is difficult because they have to fill both shoes of mom and dad. Another thing is the type of friends a youth surrounds them with would contribute to motivational factors in the society or sub-culture, if you have friends who make wrong choices it is very easy for another child to give in and do the same thing; a child’s brain does not fully develop to understand things until a certain age.
Influences within the society such as social media can contribute to motivational factors or power of persuasiveness in a negative way which affects youths more than adults with participating in anarchy, rebellion, juvenile delinquent behaviors, defacing properties in the name of political purpose or anti-government purpose (Lucero, J. L., Barrett, C., & Jensen, H., 2015). If I could write a proposal to the state of Florida administrator it would be regarding special populations which have been a challenge for juvenile justice are new rehabilitative programs outside the normal juvenile delinquency system which treat specific special groups of juveniles with mental, emotional, and behavioral problems attributing to their offenses related to their participation or lifestyle of early starters, juvenile gangs, and juveniles sex offenders. Special populations of juvenile justice are viewed from a policy and rehabilitative standpoint. The three most common special populations of juveniles are early starters, juvenile gangs, and juvenile sex offenders. Juveniles within the special population’s category must be treated outside the normal juvenile delinquency programs since they do not look or act alike and can be unpredictable. This program will be effective countering the problem of special juveniles posing a significant imbalance to the juvenile justice system by research associated with treatment programs which prove to be effective with the special population’s juvenile sex offenders. According to this article I have read Trauma, Drama and Chaos appropriately defining the problems and experiences of these adolescents is a crucial first step in understanding how to treat them. Juveniles have been incorrectly perceived as “small adults” in the world of research and it has been assumed that knowledge of adults would be relevant to adolescents (Werry, 2000). This step comes back to what I believe should with these juveniles and that is therapy because they are not born to commit crime this is something they learn over time from family, friends etc who show them that it is okay to commit these crimes (Saulter, k(2010).
In conclusion, I support the juvenile justice prevention strategy of treatment programs opposed to punishment in efforts for rehabilitating youth to have a second chance at improving their lives and achieving success. The concept of social justice should be supporting societal needs for improvement such as maintaining peace and justice. If punishment is the only answer for juveniles then crime continues with a cycle of repetitive crimes and criminal behaviors. Given a second chance, a youth could become a future positive influence on other juveniles and may even be a role model or become a law enforcement officers themselves. Youths just need support in the right direction and that can start with our communities such as in the educational programs and with families at home.
