Juvenile Justice Should juveniles get treated as adults that’s one of the biggest controversy in our nation now days, with many juveniles committing crimes that are inconceivable according to their age. Judges have the last word on how to treat this young people. Many people argue that “the teens that are under eighteen are only kids, they won’t count them as young adults, not until they commit crimes. And the bigger the crime, the more eager this people are to call them adults” (Lundstrom 87). This is why people can’t come to a decision as how these young people should be treated like.
Juvenile Justice Should juveniles get treated as adults that’s one of the biggest controversy in our nation now days, with many juveniles committing crimes that are inconceivable according to their age. Judges have the last word on how to treat this young people. Many people argue that “the teens that are under eighteen are only kids, they won’t count them as young adults, not until they commit crimes. And the bigger the crime, the more eager this people are to call them adults” (Lundstrom 87). This is why people can’t come to a decision as how these young people should be treated like.
In the article, “Greg Ousley Is Sorry for Killing Parents. Is That Enough?” Scott Anderson exemplifies that juveniles may be living in a toxic home environment, which leads to potential murder. In “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentence,” Garinger speaks about juveniles that are mistreated and were subject to life without parole sentences. Lastly, the article that also justifies that juvenile justice is solidified would be, “Report: Juvenile justice system schools “do more harm than good,” Frey argues that the juvenile system may be harmful, in that some juveniles suffer from disabilities and behavioral issues.
Many people think kids that commit massive crimes deserve to be put in a adult jail house but don’t realize that they are young immature human beings. There has been many cases of kids being tried as adults and being sentence to life in prison. We can’t continue to put these young kids in adult prison, they should be put in juvenile hails where they belong. Kids are being shown no mercy when it comes to being put in jails. Kids aren’t allowed to do certain things because you need to be an adult, so the same rules should be applied we it comes to give children jail time.
Thomson’s article “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” allows readers to understand that unlike adults, juveniles undergo biological changes which increases the likelihood of them committing crimes. Compounding this evidence with society’s infatuation with violence as depicted in Jenkin’s article “On the Punishment of Teen Killers”, readers can begin to acknowledge that contrary to adults, juveniles who commit heinous crimes are not in complete control of their actions. Furthermore, as a society we should no longer stand to sentence juveniles to life without parole because juveniles are still “malleable”, able to be reformed which is made evident in Garinger article “ Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences”. As informed members of society we have to be bridge builders, who are capable of crossing between the adult and adolescent world. It is only through these bridges that we are able to rescue kids from themselves.
Those still aren’t good enough reasons to murder someone, but another reason young people commit such crimes is that of the psychology of their brains. People under the age of 18 aren’t fully developed and don’t think or function as properly as adults do. Their brains don’t think about the logic of situations, just feelings, which is why most juvenile offenders don’t really realize what they are doing or think about the consequences of their actions. In order to understand what is going on in their brains and to get juveniles to change the way they think, they need child rehabilitation, but instead, receive adult rehabilitation. These juvenile offenders are treated like adults because they made adult decisions when instead they should be given attention and support to turn them into better people.
Let me explain why. For Starters, the Juvenile Justice center doesn’t help some of the troubled teens. According to “Report: Juvenile justice system schools “do more harm than good”, it states, “Overall, 30 percent reported they had been physically or sexually abused, 37 percent had problems with hearing, sight or teeth, and 20 percent “wished they were dead,” according to the report.” So not only are the teens not being helped out, but they are getting abused physically and sexually.
Juveniles should be tried as adults due to being aware of their crimes and having an intention to kill, however, brain development and maturity can play a role into the reason why teens kill. With being tried as an adult juveniles should be granted the opportunity of freedom pending on their rehabilitation status and if requirements are not met, convicts will have to complete the remainder of their sentence. People have long argued that juveniles who commit a murder should not be tried as an adult due the juvenile not being aware of their crime. Awareness, as defined by the Webster Dictionary, is “the knowledge and understanding that something is happening or exists”. Having the perception to comprehend the occurrence of an event is not a dumbfounded characteristic.
What would the world even think about the government's decision of treating juveniles as adults only when they commit crimes? As the article
Teenagers are not perfect, and their irrational behavior can lead to poor decisions that could potentially be dangerous and unlawful. A debate has now occurred for many years that deals with the issue of sentencing teens that have committed serious crimes such as murder and robbery. Many people argue that if juveniles commit these crimes that their punishment should be equal to an adults punishment for serious crimes, but juveniles shouldn’t have to worry about their lives getting ruined. Most juveniles and teenagers do not have enough maturity to survive in the adult prison system, and recent brain development research shows us that teenagers brains are not even close to being finished developing. Therefore, teenagers and youth under the age of eighteen should
There are many victims of unfortunate circumstances in the world today, yet some of these results could have been easily avoided. In the novel, Just Mercy, the author Bryan Stevenson addresses many cases in which children under the age of 18 are incarcerated within the adult criminal justice system. By treating children as adults in the criminal justice system their innocence and undeveloped person, become criminalized. These children become dehumanized and only viewed as full-fledged criminals and as a result society offers no chance sympathy towards them. Stevenson argues that children tried as adults have become damaged and traumatized by this system of injustice.
If the adult brain and Juvenile brain are different than it only seems fair to treat them one another in a peculiar way when relating to crime. It is completely absurd to believe that a 12 year old can be held to the same standards as a 30 year old. Yes some do deserve to be in juvenile hall but not in prison with older inmates who have fully comprehended that what they did was most of the time inexcusable
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,
So, teenagers will make stupid mistakes at that young age. Instead of giving the teenager life in prision they should be sentence to centain years in prison like 40-50 years maximum years that way they served their time in jail and still can enjoy the rest of their life. Also, children that are sent to adult prison are at great risk for being abused. If adolescdents suffer horric abused when sent to adult prison, then children are five times more likely to be assaulted as well. A child will not be able to protect his or her self
[CITE] Therefore, incarcerating young offenders is an ineffective way in preventing the juvenile rate. Instead, it increases their chance of recidivism. Although there is structure in correctional facilites, there is a lack of positive reinforcement