Burning Down The House Summary

Humes has constructed an account of LA, California’s juvenile justice system and the children who pass through it in the mid-1990s (XIV). This carefully researched book chronicles the arrests of seven teenagers and their experiences both in juvenile court and while serving time. He describes the legal processes and interactions between prosecutors, public, private

In the early 1800s the punishment of juveniles altered to the notion to rehabilitate juvenile offenders among with separate juveniles from adults in the system, and to keep the juvenile recidivism rate low, therefore the creation of the New York House of Refuge began (ABA Dialogue Program, n.d., p.5). The House of Refuge was the first prison to separate juveniles from adults and “were supposed to provide a home for unruly and troubled children, where they would be reformed, educated, and disciplined (Roberts, 1998, p. 96).” The program did not concentrate on punishment or pain, but on life skills that the juveniles could utilized once released. According to Roberts (1998), “Order, discipline, and moral teachings were emphasized (p.97).” The

Essentially, it is obvious St. Louis City juvenile justice has taken great strides in ensuring their clients partake in juvenile justice reform. Certainly, over the years this has been the center piece of the institution in providing a plethora of services, which compassionately meets many of the needs of its youth. However, despite the history and longevity associated with the St. Louis City’s juvenile system, including the uniqueness of the services they provide within the institution today. The need to further develop facility resources, which provides adequate programming and additional tools for its detainees and staff is continual. Clearly, the institution has undoubtedly exceeded many of its own expectations over the years, impressively

The federal government’s “War on Crime” by the Johnson administration in the 60s made way for tougher law enforcement and surveillance (Hinton, 2015). However, with this came the separation of children and adults in the criminal justice system; then the separation of juvenile delinquents from status offenders. As mentioned, status offenders are different from juvenile delinquents because they had broken rules which apply to only children. Meanwhile, juvenile delinquents are youths under the age of 18, who committed offenses that would be punishable to adults as well. By the late 1960s, there became a growing concern that juveniles involved in the court-based status-offense system, were not getting their best interests met (Shubik & Kendall, 2007). This can be seen in the growing number of court-involved status offenders who were being detained and placed outside of their homes for noncriminal behavior (Shubik & Kendall, 2007). Following multiple studies and research, the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice recommended that the juvenile court be the agency of last resort and that community-based organizations, not penal institutions, should be responsible for these youths (Shubik & Kendall, 2007; Farrington,

Have you ever thought a about what actually goes on in Juvenile Detention Centers? How the young teens are treated by the guards and other cell mates? If you really think about it, most people in this generation don’t understand how bad it is getting. Being a teen doesn’t mean you are an adult and every teen makes mistakes. From the point of view of the young prisoners in those detention centers, when you get in trouble or you make a mistake in the “outside world” people get over it. At the age they are at, it is just like getting grounded for a week and that’s it. However, in the world of the Juvenile Detention Centers, if you make a mistake, you will may get beaten up by other cell mates.

There are differences between a juvenile court and criminal court in the United States. The focus of the juvenile justice system is on rehabilitation, in hope of deterring the minor away from a life of crime so they will not commit a crime again as an adult. In contrast, the criminal justice system focuses on the punishment and often bases the sentencing outcome on the criminal history of the youth. In a study conducted, Butler (2011) showed that the participants’ experience with adult jails and prisons show that those facilities may instill fear but are otherwise emotionally—and often physically—dangerous for youth. Many of the adult prisoners, who were minors when they enter the adult institution, felt they were forced to “grow

She uses emotional appeal rather than concrete facts, such as “they are less mature, more vulnerable to peer pressure, cannot escape from the dangerous environments, and their characters are still in formation. And because they remain unformed, it is impossible to assure that they will always present an unacceptable risk to public safety.”(6) She uses loaded language to create an emotional response to her readers, creating sympathy for the juveniles. She also claims that, “as a former juvenile court judge, I have seen firsthand the enormous capacity of children to change and turn themselves around. The same malleability that makes them vulnerable to peer pressure also makes them promising candidates for rehabilitation.”(8) This makes the reader believe that, despite the heinous crimes the juveniles committed, they are still able to change. Gail Garinger’s claim of minors not receiving life sentences for the fact that they have the ability to change by using emotional responses in the reader makes her article the least credible.

There are many children in the world who are being put behind bars and detained for alleged wrongdoing without protections they are entitled to. Throughout the world, children are charged and sentenced for actions that should not be considered as adult crimes. Here in the United States, the minimum age of criminal responsibility is age 12. Law enforcement officials and those in the juvenile justice system nationwide tend to mistreat underage individuals by trying cases while working through the lens of an adult. Unfair punishments are still handed down domestically, which is in violation of Supreme Court law. The following articles specifically address the idea that juvenile justice is unethical. In the article, “Juvenile Justice & Adolescent

The book provides various opposing viewpoints regarding the cause of juvenile crime and how the criminal justice system should treat juvenile offenders. Each argument highlights the main risk factors for juvenile crime. For example, gang plays a large part of juvenile violence. Some teens become gang members because they feel a sense of belonging and protection. Therefore, the community should focus on building strong relationship and positive role-models. Other critics claim adult prison is not appropriate for juvenile offenders and should find better alternatives.

The United States has a larger percent of its population incarcerated than any other country. America is responsible for a quarter of the world’s inmates, and its incarceration rate is growing exponentially. The expense generated by these overcrowded prisons cost the country a substantial amount of money every year. While people are incarcerated for several reasons, the country’s prisons are focused on punishment rather than reform, and the result is a misguided system that fails to rehabilitate criminals or discourage crime. This literature review will discuss the ineffectiveness of the United States’ criminal justice system and how mass incarceration of non-violent offenders, racial profiling, and a high rate of recidivism has become a problem.

In contemporary times, there is an increasing tendency for juvenile involvement in crime. The frequency and the severity of the crimes has increased so much that there are call for trial of delinquents as adults in extreme cases. The juvenile justice system however has a stronger emphasis on correctional activities and giving the under-age offenders a chance to change and make something useful of their lives. The Crossroads Juvenile Center is a detention facility in New York, it development and operations demonstrate the desire of the juvenile justice system to effects changes in the children admitted to these systems.

In today’s world there are countless crimes committed every single day. “In 2015, there were 1.42 million total arrests, at a rate of 3,641 arrests per 100,000 residents” (State of California, Department of Justice). Grown adults are not the only people being arrested every year, there are also juveniles, children, being arrested every day. One topic of controversy today is whether or not juveniles who commit these crimes should be tried as adults in criminal court. There are many differences between the justice system for adults and the justice system for juveniles. If a juvenile is defined as a person under the age of eighteen can we justify trying them in as an adult? Is convicting juveniles as adults a better solution?

The privatization of youth confinement facilities is now widespread in the United States; almost half of the youth facilities in the country are privately operated. While many of these private facilities are owned or operated by non-profits, we focus this policy platform on for-profit facilities, which pose a unique and significant risk to youth (http://www.njjn.org/our-work/confining-youth-for-profit--policy-platform). Robert May’s documentary sheds a little light on the problem with the justice system and shows that it might be something that the United States wants to fix before it becomes a problem. He claims that minors need a justice system that protects their rights as well as they protect adult’s rights. Ciavarella was convicted in 2011 of racketeering and other charges, sentenced to 28 years in prison; of the 39 charges against him, Ciavarella was guilty for 12. Conahan, the one who oversaw the scam, pleaded guilty to racketeering and was sentenced to more than 17 years behind bars. Hilary graduated college and wants to become an English teacher for at-risk kids. The victims and their families have also won millions in judgements from Mericle and Powell’s

My findings focused on the points that mass incarceration substantially affects families and jobs, which then become factors in the issue of recidivism. Moreover, these problems especially target minorities at high rates. To strengthen these points, I could have done more interviews, especially with past convicts or convicts who have returned to jail in order to get more first-hand experiences. As well as interviews with different ages of children exposed to incarceration to see if or how the effects differed. In the future, I hope to expand on the other ways incarceration affects lives, such as through health, especially mental health, or college opportunities. Maybe even focusing specifically on the effects of incarceration on younger people,

In this documentary kids behind bars the goals that are being achieved by institutions designed for youth juveniles are discipline, responsibilities, able to function in society, anger management, correct character deficiencies, drug and alcohol counseling. In Texas Paul was not able to function in society. Paul was use drugs and missing curfew. He was sent to a county boot camp for six months. Another Paul from England who is just 12 years old, got caught with the police for stealing golf clubs and a pack of Pokemon cards. Paul is also dyslexic, struggles in school and gets bullied. Sam who is 15 years old also from England, and she is very unruly. Sam been in and out of foster care, she runs away from home, gets drunk, gets into fights