Crime Causation and Diversion
By: Lynda Haynes
Instructor: Shereen Askalani Clemens
August 5, 2013
The concept of having juvenile diversion programs can be ambiguous. The recommendation for example that community services should be coordinated by the state’s judicial department assures that the court has a wealth of services offered. In fact, there is a lack of agencies willing to implement programs which would make the juvenile courts work here in Virginia. The unfortunate issue we are faced with here is that when state budget cuts are put into place, the first things to go are juvenile diversion programs. Diversionary tactics in the past have been based on labeling the juvenile as a deviant in the hopes that this would deter the juvenile from falling into social groups which commit crime. This however has not worked in the past. Therefore so diversion programs were implemented to help the juvenile see the error of their ways and assist help them in developing a different set of social skills. This is done by offering programs like drug courts, probation and even community service. With these types of programs in place, the juvenile offender is able to re-enter into society with job skills and a better understanding of why they committed the crime in the first place. The commonwealth of Virginia is one of the most unforgiving states when it comes to crime. However, they want to help the juvenile offender have a chance to survive in the real world. An intake counselor is assigned to the offender by reviewing the case and interviewing the defendant to see exactly where they should be placed. Most Criminal Justice counselors will recommend community service and drug treatment programs so the juvenile will not have to spend time incarcerated. However, there are downfalls in these programs. Recidivism is a probability more often than not, and this can be a major factor when sentencing the defendant to a diversion program. Judges here in Virginia try to help juveniles by allowing them to enter into programs which help them, but sometimes these programs have other consequences. Proponents of diversion compare juveniles and the dynamics of their family life to determine why some youths commit the crimes they do. These factors determine which program works best for the young defendants. The most successful diversion programs are the ones that provide intensive services, and an experienced counselor which ensures these juveniles enter into the right program, and have a higher success rate. Detention has been shown in Virginia to be a positive deterrent keeping youths from re-entering into the court room within the next two years. This is based on non-violent offenders and drug crimes, the more violent offender has been found to have more complex issues and more often than not placed into a juvenile detention center and or incarcerated for long periods of time. The primary goal of diversion programs is to teach the young offender that there are other ways of handling their problems by giving them the tools to work through them. Group therapy is one of the most successful programs offered in the juvenile system. It helps the offender by allowing them to share their experiences and listen to others who give them a more positive understanding while not singling them out. Understanding why we do what we do at an early age is an important deterrent when it comes to the criminal mind. The Commonwealth of Virginia continues to work with juveniles by giving them every chance possible to do the right thing. However, once the line has been drawn and the judge sees that the juvenile does not seem to understand their actions, the judge will more often than not put the offender in a detention facility, or into a jail environment. The intake officer, judge and lawyer are the key participants in the diversion programs. Once the young defendant enters into the system, an intake officer is called upon to interview the youth and
