There has been a question plaguing the minds of today’s
society for a while now. What does the future have in store for the Juvenile
Justice System? Some say that more responsibility needs to be placed on the
parents, while others say it is society's responsibility to help control youth
from entering the justice system. The fact is, the Juvenile Justice System in the United States is
over 100 years old. This age is old for a person and maybe also for a
social-legal institution. There are signs it may be time to begin thinking
about ways to amend the system, to fix what doesn’t seem to be working to the
best of its ability, to reform the system to be more effective.
Juvenile justice is transforming throughout America. Though there is
a long road ahead to reform these systems into effective, rehabilitative
programs that no longer make children worse, there is great promise in
jurisdictions across the country, that are changing how they work with youth. According
to David Muhammad;
“California, Texas, Washington, DC, New York, and many other
jurisdictions have seen significant juvenile justice reform efforts take root.
These reform efforts seek to protect the public safety by providing effective,
rehabilitative services and supports to young people who have engaged in
delinquent behavior” (Muhammad, 2012).
Investing in successful delinquency-prevention programs can
save taxpayers seven to ten dollars for every dollar invested, primarily in the
form of reduced spending on prisons. This is a highly beneficial option
compared to the billions of dollars that the states spend per year to arrest,
prosecute, incarcerate, and treat offenders. As stated in Reform Juvenile Justice
Programs Today, “Researchers have identified a dozen "proven"
delinquency-prevention programs. Another twenty to thirty "promising"
programs are still being tested” (Donahue, 2009). The
most effective programs are those that stop youth from engaging in delinquent
behaviors in the first place, redirect first-time offenders from future
encounters with the justice system, and stress family connections.
Prevention programs are imperative in decreasing juvenile crime.
Children need to know how their actions and behaviors can affect the harshness
of their punishment even ages as young as seven years old. Dean Champion states
that, “The more a child is educated and provided alternatives to crime, the
less likely s/he is to commit criminal or deviant acts” (Champion, 2004). Some
programs that have proven to be successful in this area include:
- Boys’
and Girls' Clubs of America
- Family
support services
- Youth
Community Centers
- D.A.R.E.
- Mentoring
programs
- Youth
Leadership programs
- After-school
programs (Issues, 2012).
According to Coalition for Juvenile Justice: Issues and Facts, all these programs offer a positive
alternative to crime for children, particularly those who are considered
underprivileged and who do not have sufficient parental supervision. Part of
taxpayers’ money should be spent on preventing crime rather than incarceration
(Issues, 2012).
When it comes to detention and reform programs we have to identify
what works and what does not work. According to the article written by Kristina Jones, “Effective detention
programs need to be tailored to the type of deviant act being committed. There
must be several different programs made readily available that will contribute
to the rehabilitation efforts of each juvenile” (Jones, 2006). Some programs
that need to be implemented are:
- Drug
and alcohol treatment
- Family
support services
- Mental
Health services (Princeton, 2012).
Jones continues to state that, these programs, mentioned above,
should be the primary step in rehabilitating delinquent youth. “When a juvenile
fails to respond to these types of intervention, s/he should then be placed
under the care of the juvenile courts” (Jones, 2006). Within the juvenile
courts, we as a society should see the occurrence of incarceration levels
decrease dramatically and focus efforts on community-based rehabilitation
programs.
The
bottom line remains that not only do the courts, but all of society and youth’s families as
well, need to aid in the intervention and rehabilitation of today’s youth in
order for the juvenile justice system to produce positive changes. We need to identify
areas of opportunity and provide treatment and other supportive services to
youth and families in family‐ and community‐based settings. Youth are different from adults. They have
different needs, and different capacities for transformation and development. Where
necessary, youth need to be held accountable in developmentally and age appropriate ways, in keeping with findings of adolescent
brain science that not only seek to correct their present conduct, but also to
provide stepping stones for their future.
Reform
of the juvenile justice system makes sense no matter what way a person looks at
it. Many states are ready to begin this work today, if for no other reason than
to save taxpayer money that is being spent on building prisons, when it can go
to better use. We need to build a system that lowers the amount of juveniles
from becoming delinquent in the first place and prevents those youth who do
drift from becoming adult criminals.
Works
Cited
Champion, Dean J. The Juvenile Justice System:
Delinquency, Processing, and the Law. Upper Saddle River: Pearson
Prentice-Hall, 2004. Print.
"Coalition for Juvenile Justice: Issues and
Facts." Issues. N.p., n.d. Web. Dec. 2012.
<http://www.juvjustice.org/media/issues.html#three>.
"A Comprehensive Juvenile Justice System: The
Community Role of the Juvenile." Princeton University. N.p., n.d.
Web. Dec. 2012. <http://www.futureofchildren.org/information2827/information_show.htm?doc_id=77853>.
Donahue, Elizebeth H. "Reform Juvenile
Justice Programs Today." The Future of Children. N.p., 6 Mar. 2009.
Web. Dec. 2012.
<http://blogs.princeton.edu/futureofchildren/2009/03/reform-juvenile-justice-programs-today.html>.
Jones, Kristina. "The Future of the Juvenile
Justice System." Yahoo! Contributor Network. N.p., 30 Dec. 2006.
Web. Dec. 2012.
Muhammad, David. "A Roadmap to the Future of
Juvenile Justice." New America Media. N.p., 28 Aug. 2012. Web. Dec.
2012.
<http://newamericamedia.org/2012/08/a-roadmap-to-the-future-of-juvenile-justice.php>.