The Scope, Causes, And Effectiveness Of The Juvenile Justice

The Juvenile Justice System

For this assignment, you will write a 1,500-2,000 word case study that analyzes the scope, causes, and effectiveness of the juvenile justice system with respect to a particular type of crime commonly committed by juveniles.

Introduction

· Identify a type of crime commonly committed by juveniles and explain why you selected this crime for the assignment. Describe the basic elements of the crime. Explain the scope of juvenile offenders for this type of crime, and identify the impact that this crime has on communities.

Larceny or stealing is a global problem with juveniles aged 12 to 17 years. This juvenile crime is commonly committed as a result of psychological problems, mal-adjustments, peer pressure, poor education, poor socio economic status, parental negligence and substance abuse among others. Juveniles engage in this type of crime because they tend to think it will not affect others or if caught, punishment will not be as severe as crimes committed by adults. Basically, juvenile larcenies consist of shoplifting, theft, alcohol consumption, smoking, damage to property, drug abuse, etc. Male juveniles delinquencies tend to outnumber female juveniles delinquencies in this type of behavioral pattern. This is observed because of the competition among young males to ‘prove something.’ The overwhelming desire to belong added to the need for acceptance outweighs good moral judgement at this stage in a young person’s life. Therefore, most juveniles are compelled to prove they can commit some type of crime to become part of a group or fraternity. At colleges and universities for example, it is common practice for some type of initiation or ritual tradition must be ‘passed’ in order for a young person to be accepted into a group, society, brotherhood or fraternity.

Since a lot of emphasis is placed on the need to belong within the community and within controlled environments such as schools, churches, sports clubs, etc. societal maladjustments and other ills results when juveniles find they do not fit in or have trouble gaining acceptance. They therefore engage in misdemeanors and misdeeds to fill in the empty and unfulfilled lives in a bid to ensure they receive the recognition they desperately seek. Juvenile larcenies impacts society negatively in various ways when property is loss and safety of residence in the community is at risk. Neighbors became increasingly concerned about the safety of family and property. Businesses tend to loss as a result of thief or shoplifting as well as families who tend to relocate due to escalating juvenile crimes and the need to protect their children from joining the gang. Most juveniles want to be identified by some type of sign, insignia or symbol therefore the community is defaced with gratify, public buildings and recreational parks are destroyed, vehicles are stolen or damaged, etc. Juvenile crimes then escalates into bigger problems as individuals become bolder and more daring and tend to graduate into seasoned criminals. Incarcerated juveniles therefore robs the community and society the skills of potential professionals such doctors, teachers, carpenters, etc.

Root Causes and Contributing Factors

· Identify and analyze five different theories, influences, and/or social forces that are common root causes or contributing factors to juveniles committing the type of crime that you’ve chosen.

The following are five theories, influences and social forces that are common root causes or contributing factors of juveniles committing larceny.

1. Peer Pressure: Peer to peer association and the need to follow the crowd contribute towards to the increase rate of juvenile delinquency. Simple explained young people tend to follow what others are doing or wha
2. Lack of Adult Interaction at Home. Studies are supporting the evidence where there is a lack of interaction between parents and children at home they will seek it elsewhere. Most maladjusted children are from single parent families or part of families where there are regular fights and or poverty.
3. Economic Problems such as lack of money or food in the home adds to the juveniles being delinquent as they tend to get involve to drug trafficking or early sexual activity in order to buy food and other things they see their more fortunate peers have.
4. School Problems such as bullying as well as the inability to cope with the demands of the school’s curriculum can lead to young person rebelling thus fights, mass shooting and other crimes may be committed in retaliation.
5. Substance abuse such as drug abuse and alcohol consumption can negatively affect the cognitive or perceptive regions of the brains of juveniles leaving them with a distorted view of life causing them to think in a manner unacceptable to the norms of society.

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Juvenile Justice System

· Evaluate the effectiveness of the juvenile justice system in deterring crime, rehabilitating offenders, and providing relief to the victims of the juvenile crime addressed in the case study. Discuss recidivism rates of juveniles and factors that contribute to re-offending.

For the purpose of this study, Juvenile Delinquency must defined in context to the Juvenile Justice System as many juveniles become involve in the Juvenile Justice System because of acts committed or accusations of committing a crime.

What is Juvenile Delinquency? Juvenile delinquency, also known as ‘juvenile offending’, is participation in illegal behaviour by minors (juveniles, i.e. individuals younger than the statutory age of majority). Most legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as juvenile detention centres, and courts. A juvenile delinquent in the United States is a person who is typically below 18 years of age and commits an act that otherwise would have been charged as a crime if they were an adult. (JSTOR, 2020).

According to Youth.gov (Youth.gov, 2020) during a single year more than 2.1 million youth under 18 are arrested in the United States of America. The report went on to state that majority of the cases are adjudicated meaning a judge rules the act as delinquency where the offended is placed on probation. Most of the detention centers lack adequate facilities and expertise to deal with problems that may arise during incarceration. At those detention centers, delinquents may face overcrowding, sexual abuse, physical abuse, trauma, neglect, violence and suicide.

Rehabilitating young offenders require certain skills from professionals such as psychologist, psychiatrist and probation officers. These experts involvement and other social programs help to successfully rehabilitate juveniles. It is expensive to keep young offenders incarcerated as governments must provided daily meals, medical care, rehabilitation programs and maintenance of detention centers at very high costs.

Recommendations for Improvement

· Based on your research and analysis, make three recommendations for improvement in the juvenile justice system. Explain the basis for your recommendations and support them with research and/or data.

Three areas that will improve the juvenile justice system are:

Family – Family outreach or support programs must be promoted within the community, churches and schools. The family is a the greatest means of support for young people as families with supportive parents tend to nature better children who adjust to the norms of society as oppose to those with single parents or abusive parents.

Peer association or Friends – Every effort should be made for positive youth involvement with the community. Programs such as after school extracurricular activities, sports, scouting, music, theater and arts helps young people develop talents they have. This type of involvement leaves less free time where youth find the need to engage in unproductive activities.

Mental and Behavioral Health – Between 60 to 70 percent of young people involve in juvenile delinquent activities tend to have a mental or cognitive disorder (Youth.gov, Mental Health and Substance Abuse, 2020). Therefore early diagnosis and intervention are necessary to monitor the activities of the child who has mental or cognitive issues. this method may not be the most accurate method of determining whether someone will become an delinquent, early intervention can prevent future atrocities and shame and distress to many families and communities.

Although larceny or theft my not be associate with mental issue it certainly has a lot associated with behavioral problem.

Works Cited

1. JSTOR. (2020). Juvenile Delinquency. JSTOR, 1.
2. Youth.gov. (2020, March 30). 1. Retrieved from https://youth.gov/youth-topics/juvenile-justice/youth-involved-juvenile-justice-system: https://youth.gov/youth-topics/juvenile-justice/youth-involved-juvenile-justice-system