The youths who commit these crimes are often victims of drug/alcohol addiction, abuse, neglect or poverty. Many of these behaviors that they exhibit are considered learned behaviors. They are a gang affiliated or often become victims of the streets. When these youths commit crimes, they are considered juvenile offenders and as an alternative some juveniles are placed in diversion centers. These diversionary programs enable court workers to recognize the need of the minors.
3.) What does projecting our youths population do for our justice system? In the year 1995 is when people began too project the next centuries juvenile crime rates. James Wilson figured that the nation at the end of the decade in the 1990's that there would be roughly one million more teenagers in the delinquent ages of fourteen to seventeen than there was in 1995. This raised his eyebrows and he started too put together numbers to figure up the effect of what this many more teenagers would have on the society.
Although President Clinton passed bills to push for harsher punishment for juveniles before it could go into effect, the juvenile crime rates dropped. After the rise of juvenile crimes in 1993, the juvenile crime rate dropped and has been on a decline ever since. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) received a new lease on life. One key initiative of the OJJDP was known as Balanced and Restorative Justice. This initiative placed major value in involving the victim in the rehabilitative process (Krisberg, 2008).
There are, however, some that continue to get away without registering. By taking more drastic measures against sex offenders the first time a sexual crime against a child is committed
After School Program for Juvenile Drug Offenders: A Program Aimed At Reducing Recidivism Importance After school programs for at-risk youth have multiple advantages for the community and for the juveniles in question. According to Fox and Newman, nearly half of all juvenile crime occurs in the six hours of time between 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm (Fox & Newman 3). Juvenile crime encompasses a large variety of offenses, from robbery to weapons to drug dealing and possession. This program in particular will deal with the issues pertaining to juvenile drug offenders, and introduce a new initiative that will attempt to lower the recidivism rates among these juveniles. Between 66.7% and 67.5% of people under the age of 18 who commit a drug offense
With the influx of juvenile crimes in the past decade, the criminal justice system has had a heavy burden. Knowing that juvenile delinquency has become a problem in most states there has been much debate over how to reduce or end this trend. In Pennsylvania the numbers are just growing to unmanageable numbers. In 1978, The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency originated with the mission to improve the criminal justice system (PCCD, 2012). Working closely with the Governor’s Office, the Commission helps coordinate the work of state and local criminal justice agencies to increase communication, effectiveness, and efficiencies by providing training to deputy sheriffs and constables.
Although "17% of young offenders that are on remand are acquitted or have the charges dropped". This leaves only a remaining 20% that are actually sentenced to prison. On average it costs $543 a day to keep the sentenced young offenders in a detention centre. These astounding statistics support the controversial issue that the prime focus of the juvenile court system should be based on rehabilitating the young offenders so that they have a chance to effectively enhance their future.
According to Baer, from 1997 to 2010, the rate of youth incarceration dropped 37 percent (July 23, 2010). The United States leads the industrialized world in detaining juveniles, and said that the majority of incarcerated juvenile's are held for nonviolent offenses such as truancy and low-level property crime (Maryland Transfer
The number of youth entering the juvenile and criminal justice systems is increasing. Juvenile justice systems are breaking away from traditional rehabilitative goals of the juvenile courts. They are favoring more punitive approaches to juvenile crime. This is shown by the increase of zero tolerance policies, efforts to try juveniles as adults, mandatory minimum sentences, and efforts to get rid of juvenile court systems entirely. According to the Census of Juveniles in Residential placement, in 2006 there were approximately 92,854 adjudicated juveniles in residential placement in the United States.
Two hundred and fifty thousand juveniles are tried and sentenced for their crimes as adults every year in the United States. It would seem that courtrooms are taking these juvenile cases with the significance they deserve but with only half of the average yearly rate of juvenile arrests being tried in an adult courtroom, questions about how seriously public safety has come into consideration in the United States. Juveniles who commit violent crimes should always be tried as adults in the courtroom. These numbers have had an extensive impact in the United State’s juvenile judicial system. Semple and Woody (2011) stated that with a rise of violent crimes committed by juveniles, 49 out of the 50 states transferred their juvenile offenders