There are four Correctional modules in the juvenile justice system: The treatment model, the justice model, the crime control model, and the balanced and restorative justice model. The Parens patriae, or treatment model, is a more informal and flexible procedure. In this model a juvenile judge would probe the root causes of the child’s difficulties. The justice model is the concept of just deserts, in that violators are responsible and should be punished. The punishment received by juveniles however, must be proportionate to the seriousness of the crime.
In response to the concerns of having one of the highest youth incarceration rates in the world in the late 1990s, Canada introduced the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) to counteract the high incarceration rates and to put an emphasis on extra-judicial measures (EJMs) to deter youth from the criminal justice system. While the YCJA has shown success, and to have strike a balance that the Act’s predecessors were lacking, it still has underlying issues. Youth whom are most vulnerable, such as those with mental illness, homeless, abused or in poverty are most susceptible to getting involved in the youth criminal system. According to the More Less Court report by the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate, the province of New Brunswick has been
Retrieved from https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/508315/COCE_113782_01_Dec_14.pdf. Cunneen, C., White, R., & Richards, K. (2013). Juvenile justice: youth and crime in australia. Retrieved from EBook Central.
The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) is a Canadian law that was established in 2003, replacing the Young Offenders Act. The YCJA was created with the intention of promoting rehabilitation and reintegration of young offenders, as well as ensuring that they are held accountable for their actions. The act recognizes that youth are still developing and should be treated differently than adult offenders. In this essay, we will explore the key aspects of the YCJA and how it has affected the Canadian justice system.
Does mental health cause or explain why a juvenile committed a crime? There is no way to determine if criminal involvement is directly linked with mental illnesses. Mental illnesses are different for every individual. Juveniles with mental illnesses are not at an increased risk for criminal involvement; it’s just associated with some juveniles. Demographics had no deciding factor if juveniles would be re-incarcerated for crimes in their adulthood life.
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.
Social process theories focus on the troubled aspects of young offenders ' lives, they often struggle with multiple problems at home, school, and in their communities prior to their first contact with the court and that they often lack the individual, family, or neighborhood resources to improve their situations. Young offenders often show problems in poor school performance, mental health problems (e.g., substance abuse, depression), unstable and unsupportive family relationships, poverty and crime-ridden communities, delinquent peer influences, and the absence of positive role models (Hawkins et al., 1998). Social process theories presume that youth offenders commit crimes because of circumstances that have failed them (e.g., lack of parental
Rather than receiving proper rehabilitative care, young people are incarcerated in violent, unsafe facilities that compound pre existing problems, such as child abuse, mental illness, learning disabilities, and school failure ... Incarcerated youth are being abused and neglected by the very persons entrusted with the responsibility for their safety and rehabilitation Ellis Cose
It cannot be overlooked that developmental issues and life experiences play a major role as well. In the modern world, these issues and experiences are analyzed and studied by prevalent criminality and psychopathology fields within the criminal justice system. After all, trying to understand why individuals chose to commit crimes and break the law is necessary to prevent them and rehabilitate criminals. Since the nineteenth century, criminal defendants have used mental incapacity and insanity to excuse their criminal activity. This has resulted in the study of psychopathology and crime causation being of significant importance to criminal justice.
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
Youth crime in Canada has decreased overall but that does not mean crime has disappeared as there are cases where youths. Studies have shown that the “typical” method of justice, through incarceration has not made a huge impact on juvenile offenders ( S.M. Tarolla et al. 127). Which makes this topic so important because if young offenders are not given the right help and treatment they could continue onto the adult criminal justice system. Furthermore, if there is a way to identify recidivism, and provide help for young offenders then we would be adhering to the goals of the criminal justice system which is to rehabilitate and put people back into society as productive peoples.
Persons with scores of 4 or higher are at increased risk for psychosocial problems that could impact adjustment to community supervision. The following areas resulted in this youth’s score: • verbal and physical abuse by a parent or household member • parent or household member having a depression, mentally ill, or attempted suicide • a household member being incarcerated Risk Assessment Results: As part of this social history investigation a Youth Assessment & Screening Instrument (YASI) was completed and Daniel was identified as a moderate risk to re-offend, with high dynamic risk and moderate protective factors to buffer his risk. Daniel’s areas of strength were identified as family and skill. Daniel’s pattern of offending appears to be that he takes advantage of people who leave their property unattended or not secured. The priority areas of criminogenic need that are part of that pattern of offending and most predictive of reoffending were identified as attitude, community and peers and attitude.
What are juvenile delinquents? Juvenile delinquents are basically teen criminals. In other words, they are young kids that commit crimes that defers from the normal criminal justice system. These young delinquents have different punishments then adults do in the criminal justice system. the criminal justice system is different from children than adults mainly to prevent juveniles from committing more of deviance and to give them a chance to turn their life around.
Equally important, is the matters in which both the Young Offenders Act and the youth Criminal justice Act, Aid Young offenders that are trying to reintegrate into society after being released. This matter can prove to be very important to the courts due to simply to the fact that if there is a higher and the most successful rate of offender reintegration in Canada, there will be a significant decrease in the yearly youth crime statistic because of the fewer amounts of youth re-offenders. According to the Department of justice Canada( 2009), “Under the YOA, a young person can be released from custody with no required supervision and support to assist the young person in making the transition back to his or her community”( Custody and Reintegration). With these findings, we can clearly conclude that although these young people were capable re-attaining their freedoms, many of Canada’s youths would have
(1988). Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice and Law (3rd ed.). United States of America: West Publishing Company. Wright, W. &.
