In San Diego County (California), there are several juvenile diversion programs available to assist at-risk juveniles. Though not perfect, these programs have provided substantial benefits to society (San Diego County Grand Jury, 2003). It is important for these programs to remain open so that at-risk juveniles will get the assistance they need so that they will avoid becoming offenders or repeat offenders. Purpose of Juvenile Diversion The purpose of the juvenile diversion is “to help juveniles understand that criminal behavior will not be tolerated, to encourage them to behave in a socially acceptable manner, to teach parents how to cope with juveniles who deal with difficult situations, to encourage victims that something is being done to prevent any further crimes by the juvenile and to prevent the youth from testing the system with further criminal behavior” (San Diego County Grand Jury, 2003). There are several juvenile diversions programs within San Diego County created by several police agencies.
The Juvenile Justice System and Rehabilitation Jackie Wolfe April 24, 2011 The juvenile justice system needs to focus on a program that will help reduce juvenile delinquency. The statistics show that rehabilitating a juvenile is far less expensive than to have them rehabilitated instead of incarcerating them. Rehabilitation should be the primary focus of the juvenile justice system; however, punishment should not be abolished altogether. In this paper the subject will be to discuss why it is better for the juvenile justice system to focus on rehabilitation for these juveniles. It will also discuss how focusing on rehabilitation instead of punishment will affect different aspects of society and the criminal justice system.
The reports that are used are collected from the NIBRS (National Incident-Based Reporting System) and NCVS (National Crime Victimization Survey) and published by FBI in their yearly UCR ( Uniform Crime Report.) In some forms of deviance self-report studies have been proven better than police reports (ex: minor offenses among adolescents.) In a variety of social-psychological studies these reports have been proven very useful (ex: monitoring of subjective feelings or states is at issue) Dishonesty in these reports will not have a good affect on the statistics. Often asking subjects about their behaviors in the past can reveal more serious crimes, but may miss the minor acts of crime. People have a tendency of remembering the major crimes (ex: murder, theft, kidnapping, robbery), but often times forget the minor crimes (ex: speeding, minor assaults, public intoxication.)
This would help resolve the increased conflicts without resorting to violence or crime. Other programs that teach juveniles about drug myths from facts, utilizing critical thinking skills and decision-making can significantly reduce alcohol, tobacco, and drug use are also beneficial. These programs can be great preventative steps in controlling some of the variables that correlate with juvenile crime
However, the language and form of punishment used to rehabilitate and punish children differs greatly from that used in adult courts (Siegel, 2009). The juvenile court system serves two major functions; keeping juvenile offenders away from the society and rehabilitating or correcting them. Correction helps to hold juveniles accountable to their action by helping them to realize the wrong they have done. In addition, correction facilities help to educating, and imparting social skills among juvenile offenders. Through the correction function of juvenile court system, young offenders are influenced to realize their potential by helping them to build acceptable vocational and interpersonal skills.
| Should Juveniles Be Tried As Adults | | | Michelle Rogers | 10/5/2014 | | The whole purpose of the juvenile court system is to guide and rehabilitate adolescents/children by providing direction to those convicted of crime. The courts should be focusing on rehabilitation, while the state should act as a parental figure rather than a prosecutor or judge. Taking a parental approach would help channel youth in appropriate directions instead of simply punishing them for their mistakes. States deliberately give harsher sentences to teach adolescents/children a lesson. President Mark Soler of the Washington, D.C., Youth Law Center points out that adolescents/children are required by law to be incarcerated separately from adults.
YCJA Essay By Sophia Kim 9V In February 2002, the House of Commons passed the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) and proclaimed law in April 2003. The law governs youths ages 12-17 although an adult sentence may be tried starting from the age of 14 if the crime is serious. The objectives of the YCJA are to encourage young persons to acknowledge and repair the harm caused to the victim/community and to respect the freedoms of young persons while ensuring meaningful consequences are given. Some citizens believe that the Act is not harsh enough on youths who commit crimes saying that they should be held responsible for their actions. Others believe that the Act is appropriate saying that youths do not fully understand the concepts of their
Corrections programs aim to treat and restore delinquent youths rather than punish them for their actions. Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania offers the Community Service Work Program which focuses on balanced and restorative justice. This focus addresses the needs of the victim, the offender, and the community by utilizing victim restoration, youth redemption, and community protection. Community service has proven to be an effective method of mending victim and community harm while building positive life skills in juveniles. The activities in the program are aimed to assist the juvenile in building empathy and recognition for the
Each program is slightly different at their prevention methods; however, no matter the program they have the same goal in mind, which is to keep juveniles off the streets. Some juveniles did not include themselves in a preventative program or they did and still choose the hard life of criminal activities. Programs that step in and try to gear the trouble juvenile to change his or her ways are known as intervention programs. Programs as such allow the juvenile to know that he or she has support and that help is available for them. Certain law enforcement agencies help and participate in intervention programs.
The government has taken notice and legislation has commenced that requires the use of government prevention programs to help assist the states in reducing crimes. The Government places a strong emphasis on preventing juvenile crime and rehabilitating young offenders using diversionary and restorative justice programs rather than the traditional criminal justice system (NSW, 2012). The idea is to stop juveniles from committing crime before they actually do. They want to put a stop to juveniles who commit crime by creating special programs that teach them that committing acts of violence are normally a sign of future criminal behavior. Educating communities and children about the dangers of substance abuse and violence, the behavior will decline.