" Reform efforts must be [in action to have] … a meaningful action plan to reduce racial disproportionality"(1).She also asserts that for reform to be put into action, society has to access all the feasible possibilities such as the community the adolescent subside in and their up bring. " [children who live in an area]...which school system fail, families are fractured and stressed, appropriate and meaningful services are few" (1). Steckler insist that society need to take a broader look into the insidious issue that result into disproportionality in the juvenile detention centers. It is obvious that Steckler wants to address the root issues but, in order to do so reform has to be in place so the issues could be address. Those who are unfamiliar with the issues about the juvenile justice system, would quickly disagree with Steckler's claim that the majority of the juveniles behind bars are minorities, which result from racial disproportionality.
The article is discussing how public schools are forcing students of color and who are economically disadvantaged out of schools and placed into juvenile justice systems. The author explains there is a high number of students who do not graduate from high school; with numbers steadily increasing each year. Therefore, the author finds it necessary to discuss school discipline policies in the article and present how different students find themselves being
There are indication that most criminals have a juvenile records in the US, indicating that crime manifests from a tender age. Therefore, to reverse the incidence of crime, it follows that the best strategy is to reduce the criminal orientation in the juvenile offenders as opposed to hardening them and preparing them for criminal careers. The case of the Crossroads Juvenile Center demonstrates the willingness of the juvenile justice systems to make these changes on the children. References Day, S. (2014). Runaway Man: A Journey Back to Hope.
Today, in society the double standards of juvenile justice system is when the “double bind’ that are created to deny girls and women the opportunity to gain power. Even though the juvenile justice system is suppose to be set up where it promotes racial equality, it does not for women. It is set up where gender is set with certain roles and behavior for men/boys and women/girls. In society, gender forms the roles of what girls and boys can and can’t do. It also sets up how certain crimes are seen depending on gender.
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).
These youth live in poverty, have endured homelessness and hunger, witnessed death and murder, and survived sexual, emotional, and physical abuse. It could be argued that because the youth do not know any other way of life that they should not be held accountable for their actions. However, when poor often black youths commit a crime, they do not have the financial resources available to afford the best attorneys or expert witnesses. As a result, these youths are more often found guilty and given harsher sentences relative to the crimes that they commit. The inability to afford proper legal representation has allowed many black youths to serve time in prison for crimes they didn’t commit.
The author based his investigation on criminologists, ethnographers and anthropologists criteria to argument his outcomes which add a solid framework to the entire project. I think the book suggests that there is a lot to do and it’s time to change unsuccessful methods. Despite of some critics, I think “Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys” is an obligatory reading to all people who really want to understand the whys and hows of most of young men who are labeled as criminals and live in marginal neighborhoods. This material also has the merit of describing the way these youths have to coexist with a lot of disadvantages to make a change and get a positive progress in their
Youth of color specifically are at an increased risk of being suspended at an extended time out of schools. Consequently, they are casted into the streets, which ultimately sends them into juvenile detentions or into prison. The problem of racial and ethnic disproportionality in the discipline of schools is not new issue. In 1974, in one of the earliest investigations of disciplinary policies and practices, “the Children’s Defense Fund revealed that suspension rates for African American students were between two and three times higher than those for white students”( Thomas Rudd February 05, 2015) Ongoing research are still showing that in many places, this problem have worsened significantly.
United States: Greenhaven Publishing. 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.
Juveniles in prison face increased violence and sexual abuse, and are at much higher risks of committing suicide than juveniles in juvenile prisons. In addition, the number of released prisoners that turn back to crime is much higher for those that were juveniles in adult prisons. Juveniles will face the consequences of their actions in juvenile prisons, but will also be given a second chance to change their lives through rehabilitation. It is time to stop failing this nation’s juveniles and build a system that benefits not only these children, but society as a whole through the end of a vicious criminal
In 1998, statutory exclusion was the most common method (42%) used to charge juveniles defendants compared to the more traditional use of juvenile waiver (24%). In the 40 counties in 1998, 62% of the juvenile felony defendants were black, 20% were white, 16% were Hispanic, and almost 2% were of another race” (“Bureau of Justice Statistics”).As time goes on, crime rates of youths
The juvenile justice system has made numerous of ethical issues when managing juvenile offenders. The issue with the juvenile justice system is the laws and rules that govern it. It has led to years of controversial debate over the ethical dilemmas of the juvenile corrections system, and how they work with youth offenders. The number of minors entering the juvenile justice system is increasing every month. The reasons why the juvenile justice system faces ethical dilemmas is important and needs to be addressed: (1) a vast proportion of juveniles are being tried and prosecuted as adults; (2) the psychological maturation of the juvenile to fully comprehend the justice system; and (3) the factors that contribute to minorities being adjudicated in the juvenile justice system are more likely than White offenders.
Within the urban communities, negative perceptions are magnified. Adolescents are more prone to be a product of their environment, especially those whose parents are incarcerated. Because of this trend adolescents are being incarcerated at an alarming rate and sentenced to adult facilities. Lambie & Randall (2013) states, the United States have imposed harsher penalties on serious young offenders, and have consequently increased rates of incarcerated youth and made it easier for youth to be treated and incarcerated as adults within the justice
There are many indicators of the huge impact in disparities in sentencing women as compared to men and more so when it revolves around minorities ( race and class). Though there are lower crime rates among women as compared to men, there are significant disparities which tend to show favouritism to women. Research has shown that men get 63 per cent longer custodial sentences than women. In addition, it is twice more likely to have women get non custodial sentences even after conviction. However, as mentioned the disparities are more profound when issues of race and class are intertwined in the sentencing.
Introduction Juvenile delinquency due to gang relation has increased drastically. Many people fail to realize that gangs have a considerable influence on the decisions juveniles are making. Adolescents are easily influenced by the members of the gangs and manipulated to commit certain crimes. As juveniles they are not mentally and emotionally mature to make such critical decisions, which in turn allow gang members to manipulate and control the youth they recruit. Juveniles become a part of gangs for several reasons, including, gaining protection, governmental, and social issues.
