Juvenile Justice
Introduction
Juvenile justice is a set area in the criminal law that deals with criminals who are considered as not old enough to be held responsible for the crimes they commit. In most countries, this is set for those below the age of eighteen. The aim of this law is to rehabilitate rather than punish the offenders. It is mainly given a code and governed by the state law (Abramovitch et al, 1995). This law is considered as one that ensures the welfare and the safety of children while maintaining law and order. The federal has played a great role in ensuring the success of this law by setting the standards and funding rehabilitative projects.
Juvenile violence has been on the rise, a factor that has resulted to many states and local governments stiffening the law on dealing with such cases. Homicides in particular have been on the rise since the 1980s. Juvenile crime has been a major problem in the nation and requires urgent attention despite decrease in such crime rates since the mid 1990s (Acoca and Dedel, 1998). As local governments and states try to solve the problem of juvenile crime, they stiffen the set laws blurring the difference that existed between juvenile court and criminal or adult court. The system has adapted more punishments rather than the initial acts of rehabilitation. Federal law has supported governments and local governments to transfer children and adolescent to the adult court due to the change in crime.
Recent researches indicate that more serious crimes are committed by adolescent and young children than they were in the past. According to child development theories, social, community and individual conditions determine a person’s behavior including punishments. An interplay of individuals genetic, biological and environmental; factors determines juvenile delinquency. Most adult criminals were involved in juvenile crime at their teenage. However, not every child or adolescent involved in juvenile crime becomes a criminal at adulthood. This indicates that the situation can be diverted if there is an early relevant intervention. The most risk factors are a child’s early experiences.
The juvenile justice system established in the United States was aimed at eliminating destructive punishments in dealing with the children and adolescents. This stem viewed those below the age of 18 as being in need of assistance. The judgments made were to be at the best interest of the child. This was to safeguard the child since the adults had a right to an attorney, trial by jury, right to understand the charges and to confront the accuser. In regard to this system, a juvenile cannot be guilty of an act but rather is adjudicated delinquent. In some countries, children have reported abusive acts by police officers after they have been held in cell. In other cases, they have been held in the cell before appearing before a court. Some organizations have come up with different strategies of dealing with the current problem. One of the strategies has been sheltering these children and a home and giving them attention.
Single parenting, poverty, physical punishment and young maternal age are major contributors to juvenile delinquency. Addressing the issue of juvenile delinquency requires that these problems be tackled. So long as poverty levels remain high, juvenile delinquency will also remain high. Previous strategies to offer rehabilitation have been frustrated by poverty levels. However, rehabilitative programs such as approved schools and training centers for the young offenders offer them skills that can enable them earn a living thus improving their economic status. Those trained can earn a living from the acquired skills. Sometimes children from poor families are disadvantaged due to lack of capital to begin businesses. Those with single parents lack a good socialization ground to adapt community values and norms. In most cases, the single parent has n time with the children due to pressures and financial responsibility.
Thesis statement
Poverty is the major cause of juvenile delinquency.
Stake holders
Family
The family is the initial socialization unit and determines a child behavior to a great extent. As a result, policies set to protect children are aimed at retaining and protecting the integrity of the family unit including extended families (Abramovitch et al, 1995). Children that have been brought up in unstable families have had higher chances of being involved in juvenile crimes. This has been evident in increased crime rates among orphaned and single parented children. The children mainly found in the streets are mainly from poor families and go to the streets to search for means of survival. Since they cannot be employed by any person, they result to stealing and sometimes robbery with violence. If these children had a family or guardians providing for them, they would not be in the streets and would not commit such crimes. The family unit is thus the most important stakeholder in dealing with juvenile crimes.
Government
The government is involved in setting policies and laws that govern a country. In regard to juvenile delinquency, the policies set must be set in such away that they protect the interest of the child and the family unit. This should include offering assistance to needy families. Alternative means of assisting the child where the family is unstable despite efforts to bring back stability (Agnew, 1999). These include adoption of children and foster care. Incase of uneven and rapid economic, cultural or social change, special attention should be given since they affect the cultural socialization environment and may result to culture shock. The government should also seek to protect the cohesions of a family unless the situation is in such a way that there is no an alternative solution. Every child has a right to basic education and the government should ensure that this happens. Attaining education offers a chance to improved lifestyle
Teachers/ education institutions
The institutions have the role of developing talents and personality in a child while socializing him/her into a useful citizen of that particular country. As the child learns, the teacher or the institution is obligated to respect a child’s culture and teach him/ her basic values of the society. Since these are institutions where the child spends most of his/her time, he/she should be protected from maltreatment and be informed of open opportunities for development such as career opportunities. Children are also given emotional support and harsh disciplinary measures are avoided (Agnew, 1999). The schools should offer other services such as counseling to the vulnerable children especially those that have been abused, exploited, neglected or from a poor social background. If these services are not offered, the learning ability of the child is affected hence he/she might not achieve much in the education. The curriculum determines the future of a child. As a result, modifications should be done to existing curriculum to ensure that the child is socialized to a productive and responsible citizen. The schools are very important since the child spends more time there than in the homes.
Community
The community has a role to play in developing the young children and the youths into responsible citizen. If the community neglects its role, it will suffer the consequence of its failure. The major role of the community is ensuring that the family unit is maintained in unity. This is achieved by offering counseling services both to the young stars and their parents. Provision of recreation facilities and community development centers prevents children from engaging in destructive behaviors such as drug abuse and premarital sex (Altschuler and Armstrong, 1991). This in turn lowers crime levels such as theft and rape cases by the under eighteens. Creation of youth organization ensures their involvement in running the community.
Mass media
Mass media has been a major contributor to shaping a persons behavior. Currently, the adverts in televisions and the internet have to a greater extent encouraged drug abuse and sex. This is though the adverts that portray drugs such as alcohol as ‘good’. United Nations guidelines have indicated that programs that prevent delinquency should be developed. The mass media should also ensure dissemination of scientific information about situations or behaviors that may result into psychological or physical victimization to professionals and the public. Magazines and the newspapers have also played a major role in informing children and the parents of their rights. However, there should be a control in how much information is released to children and the adolescents.
Peers
Sociological theories identify the peers as a major socialization agent. A group of individuals with almost a similar age are likely to behave in a similar manner. This means that peer counseling groups play a major role in shaping a person’s behavior. In this regard, counseling groups are formed to offer counseling to their fellow age mates as they are likely to open up to each other. Most children involved in juvenile crime have been found to associate with others who have been found with similar cases (Acoca and Dedel, 1998). Separating violent children from each other has also proved an effective means of reducing juvenile crimes among the adolescents.
Alternative Solutions to Juvenile Delinquency
The establishment of Tribal Youth Programs
The tribal programs are aimed at socializing children into the cultural norms that reduce juvenile delinquency. These programs have in mind the culture values and seek to transfer this to the young children and the adolescents. Within these programs, there are other programs aimed at prevention of drug abuse and rehabilitation services. Having a community’s interest and showing respect for their culture draws a majority in the process. This results to a reduction of juvenile crimes and rehabilitation of more children rather than the court system.
Policies and Guidelines in Dealing with Juvenile Delinquency
There has been evident racial discrimination in dealing with juvenile delinquency. This could have been the cause of increased cases of juvenile crimes among the whites than the blacks. In a research carried out by Greenfield in 1994, the likelihood of offences being reported to the police among the black children was a third higher that of the whites. 52% of the black offenders were reported while only 39% of the whites were reported (Aday, 1986). Equality is vital to solving the problem of juvenile delinquency. Racial discrimination must be eliminated and all cases be reported to be dealt with equally. If this is not achieved, then the problem will persist even in the next decade. However, this process may not be easy due to political interferences.
Trainings and Seminars
Seminars and trainings should be held with the teenagers to equip them with life skills and training them on the law, their rights and the repercussions of juvenile crime. Those that are engaged in destructive behaviors such as drug abuse should be rehabilitated through counseling. Adolescents and young children seek for attention from the adults and protection from any form of harassment. Offering them a chance to ask any form of question and giving them correct answers builds their confidence on the people training them thus lowering chances of being involved in crimes. The challenge with this form of intervention is failure of attendance by some teenagers especially the vulnerable.
Conclusion
Since poverty is the major cause of juvenile delinquency, its eradication is paramount to solving the problem of juvenile crime. Other factors interconnected to poverty must be addressed such as single parenting and drug abuse. Single parenting results the parent being burdened with the role of providing for the family without any other assistance. This increases the dependency level hence increasing the dependency level. Drug abuse also leads to misuse of finances and lowered productivity n the part of the involved individual. As a result, the financial needs are more than the monthly income resulting to increased poverty levels. Children from poor families are likely to be involved in criminal acts as they seek to earn a living. In the next two decades, the situation is likely to worsen due to increasing poverty levels resulting from the economic down turn being experienced globally. The increased use of media is also affecting juvenile rehabilitation efforts. Peer education clubs and control of information accessed by the children will go along way in preventing juvenile delinquency and eradicating poverty levels.
References
Abramovitch, R., Peterson-Badali, M. and Rohan, M. (1995). Young people’s understanding and assertion of their rights to silence and legal counsel. Canadian Journal of Criminology.
Acoca, L., and Dedel, K. (1998). No Place to Hide: Understanding and Meeting the Needs of Girls in the California Juvenile Justice System. San Francisco: National Council on Crime and Delinquency.
Aday, D. (1986). Court structure, defense attorney use, and juvenile court decisions: Sociological Quarterly.
Agnew, R. (1999). A general strain theory of community differences in crime rates: Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency.
Ahlstrom, W. and Havighurst, J. (1982). The Kansas City work/study experiment. In School Programs for Disruptive Adolescents, D.J. Safer, ed. Baltimore, MD: University Park Press.
Altschuler, D., and Armstrong, L. (1991). Intensive aftercare for the high-risk juvenile parolee: Issues and approaches in reintegration and community supervision. In Intensive Interventions with High Risk Youths: Promising Approaches in Juvenile Probation and Parole, T.L. Armstrong, ed. Monsey, NY: Criminal Justice Press.
