Juvenile Justice Essay

Submitted By sheryltlr00
Words: 536
Pages: 3
Open Document
Centuries ago, there were no separate court system to distinguish crime and punishment between juvenile and adult offenders. Juveniles who were charged (and) or convicted of an illegal act were confined and punished in the same facilities as adult offenders, but were not awarded some of the due process laws under the United States Constitution as the adult offenders were. “Early jails housed men, women, adults, juveniles, mentally healthy, and mentally unhealthy people, all together in the same facility” (www.cjcj.org). There were reports that juveniles who were imprisoned with adults were more likely to be victims of physical and sexual abuse. They are also said to be more likely to commit suicide. “Social activists, law makers, and other officials soon realized that children institutionalized with adults were learning adult criminal behaviors and were exiting those institutions ready for life careers in criminality” (www.criminal.findlaw.com).
“The juvenile court system was established in the United States about two hundred years ago, with the first court appearing in Illinois in 1899”(www.criminal.findlaw.com). The Child Saving activist and movement was concerned with intending government control over youthful activities that had been previously left to private or family control” (Siegel & Welsh, 2012 pg.475). The main focus was “to reform U.S. policies regarding youth offenders” (www.lawyershop.com), and to rehabilitate and reform the juvenile offender, and not punish them as the adult system does.
The New York House of Refuge was created in 1825, by the Child saving Movement. This was a facility that would house only children. It did not just house children who had committed crimes, but poor kids, ones who misbehaved, and orphans. “The goal was intended to protect potential youths by taking them off the street and providing a family-life environment” (Siegel & Welsh, 2011 pg375). The child savers expanded their house of refuge, and within years to come they were all over the world

By the early 1900’s, “The Houses of Refuge were being replace by reform schools. These were institutions that would house delinquent youths that would have otherwise been sent to adult prison” (Siegel & Welsh, 2011
Show More

Related Documents: Juvenile Justice Essay

Juvenile Justice

Study of Juvenile Justice in China and US Introduction In the 1899, the first juvenile court was established in US, delinquency, status offender, criminal, civil, and administrative cases committed by juveniles are all under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. The juvenile justice in US contains the main ideas of the state acting as the legal guardian for the juveniles who are in need of protection, proper education, and emphasizes the individualized correction and rehabilitative justice. For the…

Words 1435 - Pages 6

Juvenile Justice Terminology

Juvenile Justice Terminology and Juvenile Justice Data. TOPIC # 1: According to your text, what is the main goal of the Juvenile Justice system with respect to juvenile offenders? The main focus of the Juvenile Justice system is to rehabilitate juveniles so that they are unlikely to commit the same crime twice or to prevent them from going down a negative path in life. In order for the Juvenile Justice system to separate itself from the adult justice system, they use different terminologies and…

Words 218 - Pages 1

Juvenile Justice System

The difference between the criminal justice system and the juvenile justice system. Firstly, the criminal justice system is designed to deal with adults who have been accused of committing crimes, while the juvenile justice system is focused on minors who have been accused of criminal activity. Secondly, the two systems differ in their approach to rehabilitation and punishment. The criminal justice system is primarily focused on punishment, with the aim of deterring individuals from committing crimes…

Words 220 - Pages 1

Juvenile Justice System

This review addresses the shift towards treatment and rehabilitation within the juvenile justice system. This article discusses evidence-based programs and practices, data-based tools, and the importance of understanding the effects of trauma. Reform efforts have focused on reducing the number of youth committed to facilities. The focus on trauma-informed treatment and research has allowed youth to be diverted from long-term facilities. However, this means that the strengths, needs, and challenges…

Words 750 - Pages 3

The Purpose Of Juvenile Justice

In my opinion, Juvenile Justice is a separate set of criminal laws for youth who are not old enough to serve their sentence in a prison facility. The purpose of the Juvenile Justice is to rehabilitate rather than punishing them. In addition, it is their mission to keep the child's best interest in mind. In doing so the law focus on protecting, caring, seeking custody, and maintenance of the child or children within its jurisdiction(Staff, L, 2007). The juvenile justice courts used the probation…

Words 222 - Pages 1

Juvenile Justice Crime

With youth justice crime as it is now, and how it was before, there has been a lot of enforcements that have been brought in, to specifically deal with it (see: Goldson, 2010). It was said that young people shouldn’t mix with adults, this idea was brought in the latter half of the nineteenth century. It was obvious that a juvenile justice system had to exist, but how it was going to exist was the issue (Crawford and Newburn, 2003). The home office took control of the individual schools in the 1860’s…

Words 1030 - Pages 5

Juvenile Justice Challenges

Since the creation of the juvenile justice system, which was in response to an increasing crime rate amongst juveniles, there has been many challenges. The challenges that the juvenile justice system faces are ever changing and will always be a constant where juvenile justice is concerned. The fact is that while the people change, so will their needs and the reasons they do things, so the justice system must also change and adapt to these new challenges. The hard thing about this is adapting while…

Words 1376 - Pages 6

Juvenile Justice Issues

Introduction Over the past two years, most of the 50 American states have reformed their juvenile justice laws; therefore, allowing more young adults to be tried as adults (ACLU, 2018). The ACLU, American Civil Liberties Union, is the nation's leading civil liberties in the Supreme Court to help empower communities across the U.S and encourage the public's voice. The research done by the ACLU has created a controversy on whether or not minors being tried as an adult is ethically acceptable. Adolescent…

Words 1155 - Pages 5

Juvenile Justice Essays

Nicholas Bagnaschi Mrs. Davies ERWC-Period 3 3 March 13, 2014 Juvenile Justice Recently there has been much contention regarding the issue of the punishment of juvenile offenders. In the late 1980’s a series of criminologists anticipated a sharp rise in juvenile crime so politicians began to legislate out of fear by lowering the age that minors could be remanded to the adult justice system. Their primary worry was that juveniles would be released at the ages of 18 to 21. In conjunction with adult…

Words 683 - Pages 3

The Juvenile Justice Process Essays

The Juvenile Justice Process: A Breakdown of the System Dana R Kirkland Strayer University Abstract Although based on the adult criminal justice system, the juvenile justice process works differently. Juveniles can end up in court by way of arrest, truancy or for curfew violations or running away. A youth may also be referred to the juvenile court system by school officials or a parent or guardian for being continuously disobedient. The juvenile justice process involves several different steps…

Words 1274 - Pages 6