In most juvenile homicide cases, they are automatically put into the adult justice system for committing the adult-like crime. Some of these children are receiving punishments such as life in prison, even life in prison without parole. Although, the kids may have committed the “adult” crime it is unethical for youths to be tried as adults. Youths should not be tried as adults because they are too young to understand the adult criminal court and could receive cruelty from the state penitentiaries. Also, instead of sending the juveniles
Studies show that a child’s brain is not fully matured which causes his/her brain to limit decision-making. Paul Thompson from The Sacramento Bee claims, “The biggest surprise in recent teen-brain research is the finding that a massive loss of brain tissue occurs in the teen years” (1). The frontal lobes that control impulses and self-control are being lost throughout the teenage years. These lobes trigger violent passions and emotions which causes kids the lack of long-term thinking. Children, including teenagers, act more irrationally and immaturely than adults.
Murders by firearm rates are 17.5 times higher than in twenty-two other populous high-income nations combined. The United States is one of the most violent nations in the world. Because of this, suicide rates are very high, and costs are very high. Nearly as many citizens are killed each month, as were killed in the first seven years of the Iraq war. The suicide rate of children between the ages of five and fourteen is eleven times higher than that of twenty-five other countries.
The article titled “Juvenile Justice” was quite intriguing as I read further and further. It astounded me to learn how young some individuals are when they enact in particular sexual offences, especially in regard to victims even younger than the offender himself. While it is clearly recognized that the brain is not fully mature until the mid-twenties, it is difficult to depict the consequences for such a serious action taken by a premature individual. As sexual offenses continue to surface among children aging from as young as ten years old up to the early twenties, it is argued that convicting them as adults is wrong and in many ways unethical. In order to be prosecuted as an adult, shouldn’t the defendant’s mind be fully mature as an
Strain theory is as sociologic theory that tries to explain why people commit crimes. It explains the likely hood of delinquency in two parts one is the addition of strain in a persons life and the second portion is the persons coping mechanisms to combat the strain that they experience. Another large part of strain theory explains how people measure the positive and negative things that will happen whenever they commit any crime or delinquent act. We know that juveniles are involved in more crime than adults and we can also use strain theory to help explain why this is happening. Being a juvenile comes with many different strains that most adults do not have to face as well as having far less consequence in many cases is they do something wrong or make a mistake.
32,500 children have been neglected in 2010, and in Ingham County 42 percent of children have been abused or neglected (milhs.org). In Ingham County, 8.5 children of every 1000 are in out of home care, referring to foster homes, etc (milhs.org). Unemployment rates and low income is affecting the youth and children in terrible ways. WLNS.COM reported in an article titled “More Michigan Children living in Poverty” that there are a lot of reasons why neglect and abuse has gone up 92%. Now there are more health professionals available to investigate issues of neglect and abuse and family court in Ingham County has become a strong source of help for
Making the effort to ensure that a higher level of education is attainable for all citizens would be considered a step in the right direction towards educating youth. Education should also be made available to prisoners. By making education available to prisoners, they could be given the opportunity towards becoming successful in society when they are released. Treating the drug crisis could help reduce the amount of repeat offenders here in North Carolina. Drug intervention programs and rehabilitation centers help to keep people from using and aid in helping addicts “kick the habit”.
80% of young adults who were abused as children have reported cases of anxiety, eating disorders, depression, and suicide attempts among others. In Idaho, there are more than 638 victims of child abuse who seek refugee from the community-based organizations (Rix 74). The data shows that almost 5-15% of boys 15-20% of girls are sexually abused in a calendar year. Rix (127) observed that in 2012, more than 2062 cases of sexual assault were reported to the relevant authorities in the state of Idaho where more than 30% of these cases involved
The program is still in the beginning stages of trying to be a successful deterrent to crime. Interviewing each minor that has been through the Y.O.U program would become difficult mainly because not all of the minors remain in juvenile probation custody. Many of the minors have moved on to the Adult system. Some of the minors do not wish to share their experience in the Y.O.U. program.
Abuse and neglect in the home is a leading cause of death for children age 4 and younger. Most physical abuse fatalities are committed by fathers and other male caretakers, although the great majority of parenting and child abuse prevention programs are targeted to women. Family violence is strongly correlated with child abuse fatalities; about 50 percent of homes with adult violence also involve child abuse and neglect. The pathology spills over class and economic condition. The cycle of abuse is difficult to interrupt; abused children often, as adults, become abusers themselves.