Essay on "Light 1) Juveniles Adult"

Essay 8 pages (2678 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

While there are those that argue that murderous acts should be punished regardless of age, there are also opinions that consider that up to a certain age, the brain fails to develop to its full capacity and the centers that are responsible for reasoning are the ones that develop last, in the early 20s of a young adult (Juvenile System Reform Committee, 2011) It is rather difficult to argue on one side or another, however it must be pointed out that while other types of sentencing, such as life in prison, or maximum years spent in jail may be reversed as it has happened in numerous cases, the death sentence once completed cannot be reversed (Whitehead and Lab, 2012).

There are numerous effects detention may have on juveniles. Often they are subject to abuse and inadequate treatment. More precisely, if an underage juvenile is placed together with adults (meaning 18 years and older), there is a predisposition of negatively being influenced by adults. Statistics have pointed out that in detention type environments, under-age defendants are more vulnerable that adults. Thus, "On average from 1993 through 2003, juveniles ages 12 -- 17 were about 2.5 times more likely than adults (i.e., ages 18 and older) to be the victim of a nonfatal violent crime. That means that in a typical group of 1,000 youth ages 12 -- 17, 84 experienced nonfatal violent victimizations, compared with 32 per 1,000 persons ages 18 and older" (U.S. Dept, of Justice, 2006). Furthermore, once juveniles are broken away from their environment and subjected to adult treatments and conditions, their rehabilitation process is replaced, as per the law, by a punishment and a time served for a crime. In other words, while a reaction to a juvenile offense aims to be a positive attempt to re-educate, the legal reaction to a crime committed by an adult is a punitive one.

Studies and research has pointed out that juvenile that were treated and sentenced as adults have a higher risk of going back into a crime-related life once they have served their sentence and remain mentally and emotionally affected by the time spent in detention. Thus, "State laws that send some individuals under age 18 to trial and prison as adults have achieved the opposite of what the policy's proponents intended, a new research review concludes. Transferring young people into adult systems yields substantially higher rates of later serious crimes compared with youths handled by juvenile-justice systems" (Bower, 2007). There are several reasons for such a consideration. Firstly, unlike the rulings in juvenile courts, in cases trialed as adults, defendants are not given the change to undergo re-education programs that are aimed for that specific age group, such as continuing academic preparations. This further alienates juveniles from a formative upbringing. Secondly, being surrounded by other defendants that have been sentenced for various crimes adds to the establishment of a non-motivational setting. Thirdly, it is common knowledge that peer pressure, whether it is manifested in schools or other social environments represents an important factor which influences behavior. In prisons this peer pressure is often seen as a modus Vivendi and especially young adults that are more sensitive to social pressure tend to adjust to conditions out of a survival need. Taking these factors together, the overall result is often not positive on the development of juveniles or young adults.

These aspects have been brought to the attention of legislators and decision makers and are a rather high priority for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The aim of this body is to provide "national leadership, coordination, and resources to prevent and respond to juvenile delinquency and victimization. OJJDP supports states and communities in their efforts to develop and implement effective and coordinated prevention and intervention programs and to improve the juvenile justice system so that it protects public safety, holds offenders accountable, and provides treatment and rehabilitative services tailored to the needs of juveniles and their families" (Dept. Of Justice, 2014).

While the decisions to trial juveniles in adult courts are often based on the gravity of the offense, the type of motivation for committing the crime, the level of cruelty, as well as the attitude of the defendant confronted with the charges, there have been numerous voices that have raised awareness of abuses against juveniles while others have been pointing out the negative impact prosecution, sentencing, and detention as an adult may have for an underage defendant. In this sense, advice and free guidance is being provided by associations that stress the fact that adult trialing does not benefit the individual and further creates the background for increased violence (Prevent Delinquency Project, 2014). Such initiatives are aimed at both preventing and coping with the effects detention may have on the young adults as well as on their families. This is an important aspect to take into account because it points out that a ruling of trial as an adult for a juvenile does not affect only the defendant but also its family and close ones. In order to reduce the effects a detention period has on the emotional and psychological state of a detainee, the family needs to be advised on how to best proceed and to offer support.

Overall, it can be concluded that juvenile court systems, in their nature, aim to provide under age defendants with the possibility to rehabilitate and return in the society. At the same time though, sentences that waive this right for juveniles open the door for a new series of crimes and a negatively affected individual. As studies have shown, under age detainees are more likely to be negatively influenced in detention than to rehabilitate. This is why it is important to ponder on the level of gravity of an act committed by a juvenile before a juvenile court relinquishes its authority and allows the defendant to be tried as an adult.

Works cited:

American Bar Association (n.d.) "History of the Juvenile Justice" in ABA Section of Public Education, retrieved from http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/publiced/features/DYJpart1.authcheckdam.pdf

Bower, B. (2007) "Violent Justice: Adult system fails young offenders" in Science News, 18th April.

Dept. Of State (2006) "Juvenile Offenders and Victims" in OJJDP Report, retrieved from http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/nr2006/downloads/NR2006.pdf

Government Printing Office (2014) "U.S. Code" in Code of Federal Regulations, retrieved from http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/5601

Juvenile Justice Reform Committee (2011) "Juvenile Life Without Parole: Review of Sentences" in American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, retrieved from http://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Policy_Statements/2011/Juvenile_Life_Without_Parole_Review_of_Sentences.aspx

Law.com (2014) "Juvenile court," retrieved from http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=1090

Legal Information Institute. (2014) "Juvenile Justice: an Overview" in Cornell University law School, retrieved from http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/juvenile_justice

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. (2014) "Vision and Mission," retrieved from http://www.ojjdp.gov/about/missionstatement.html

The Prevent Delinquency Project. (2014) "G.I.M.M.I.E. - Gang Education/Prevention Program," retrieved from http://www.preventdelinquency.org/gimmie.php

US Legal. (2014) "Juvenile Court Law & Legal Definition," retrieved from http://definitions.uslegal.com/j/juvenile-court/

Whitehead, J., and Steven P. Lab (2012) Juvenile Justice: An Introduction. Anderson Publishing: New York. READ MORE

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