John Hubner is an investigative journalist and the author of Last Chance in Texas. Through a one way mirror, Hubner spent time observing treatment sessions in groups called “Capital Offenders Group” or COG. After the sessions, Hubner discussed the situations and ways to move forward for progress with the different therapists providing the treatment for the young offenders. Hubner begins the story discussing the purpose that Giddings State School, which is how Giddings leads the world in its success with changing youth offenders, and offering psychiatric help for the kids that have experienced abuse and neglect to lead up to the consequences from their previous criminal lifestyle. The Giddings State School resides in a small town around central Texas. Known for housing the “worst of the worst”, this detention center averages 325 boys and 65 girls ranging from different age groups. The sexes …show more content…
These youth have been convicted of dangerous crimes such as rape, murder, arson, burglary, and numerous other offenses. Commonly, the correctional system of America is more into warehousing criminals and focusing on the punishments of the crime; not focusing towards rehabilitation or treatment to attempt to fix the criminal and their behaviors that cause these actions. This particular youth facility was one of the very few to use different forms of aggressive rehabilitation to treat each juvenile. With different types of therapists working at Giddings, there are as many unique treatment sessions to be offered for each offender. During “Part One: The Boys,” Hubner begins discussing how the staff is able to identify if a student is a psychopath and unaffected by the treatment provided. Boys might begin to develop remorse in the COG; this is a sign that they have potential to accept treatment with an open mind. The youth that are more psychopathic are the ones who the staff recommends sending to adult
The Jaycee Lee Dugard case contributed to the overhaul of assessment of risks, needs, and management of offenders within California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation program. Specifically, the role, importance, and connection to risk and needs assessment of offenders in community based correction (Bayens, pg. 91). Phillip Garrido was charged with kidnapped and sexual assault of Jaycee Dugard over 18 years span (1991-2009). The aggravating details arise from the incident is that Garrido was under parole supervision as a sex offender since 1999. During those years, Garrido was hardly supervised due to improper classification as low-risk sex offender and failure of background research.
Draft Paper In the documentary film, “Kids for Cash”, Robert May shows his audience the horrors of the Luzerne County justice system. He uses imagery, appeals to logos and pathos, personal experiences and anecdotes to support his claim. Robert May made this documentary to show the world that the government needs to make sure that even minors have a fair trial and justice before being incarcerated.
Hubner’s intentions with this study and Last Chance in Texas is to allow others that read the book to recognize the meaning behind a juvenile’s criminal actions. This could be a guide book for a potential probation officer to understand unique ways for them to treat their offender with the motive to not focus on punishment. The potential probation officer and use the ideas of the criminal finding a way to put himself in the victim’s shoes and understand how being a criminal harms more than just the person that was intended to be hurt. The audience of this book varies. The book was poorly written without as much detail, so the stories written down could not have a false accusation that the stories documented from the students in this book
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.
While the crime committed may be atrocious, adolescents should not be sentenced to life in prison without parole; therefore, they should be given a chance to correct themselves through parole. The
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
Not only does Berstein call for an overall reform of this nation’s juvenile prisons, she goes as far as saying the practice of locking up youth is in need of a “more profound than incremental and partial reform” (13). The fact that Bernstein outlines the numerous failed strategies and goals of this practice with her compelling use of studies and statistics is enough to promote an audience to reject the practice of locking up youth. The statistic she shares that “four out of five juvenile parolees [will be] back behind bars within three years of release” as well as the studies she conducted on numerous instances when a guards abuse of power lead to the death of a child work to further prove her point: being that “institution[s] as intrinsically destructive as the juvenile prison” have no place in a modern society (13, 83). Bernstein refutes this false sense effectiveness further by sharing her own ideas on what she believes works as a much more humane solution to rehabilitating
Children' brain are not fully developed yet. Thus, they do not realize the risks and consequences of their action. School-to-prison pipeline is arresting children for violating school rules. Statistic show drop out students are likely in jail for many reasons. Society need to focus more on education and spend less on prison, which can save thousands of taxpayers’ money.
Imagine being a child imprisoned for committing a crime for which you did not understand the consequences. Alone and afraid, with only hardened criminals and psychopaths as adult role models, you live in fear. Through a vicious combination of physical, sexual, emotional, and mental abuse, there is no option but to turn back to crime as an adult, and continue the cycle. This is a daily reality for thousands of American juveniles. Yet, we continue to call it the juvenile justice system.
Agency is the power of an individual or group to evoke change in their situation, given impeding external factors. One assumes agency when they realize that they have a capacity to act and in a sense, control of their situation and environment. In Dennis Medina’s essay, “We Are A Part of the History of Texas That You Must Not Exclude!” he illustrates the manner in which the latino/a community in Houston, Texas was no being incorporated in to the mainstream LGBT movement, with the exclusion of Latina/o representation in leadership positions in addition to lack of consideration for Latina/o issues.
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
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.
Habilitation embroils teaching the juvenile the essential skills to getting along with others as well as be accountable for their behavior. Through habilitation, a juvenile will be prudent to admit their mistakes, take responsibility for it and come up with steps to handle and resolve the mistakes. Healing is founded on the assumption that criminal behavior is a product of some hurt experienced by the delinquent juvenile. That is, criminal conduct is a channel through which juveniles cry out for attention from the community as a result of the hurt. Healing recognizes that treating the symptoms can only accomplish so much; therefore, dealing with the root cause is the only approach that can inhibit the juvenile from recidivating.
(1994). JUVENILE OFFENDERS: WHAT WORKS? A Summary of Research
In the past, offenders of all ages have committed crimes (some as young as 8yrs. old). Many people question “how can a person at a very young age be able to commit a crime and understand their plan of action?” Many of the youthful offenders have been inspired to commit the crime through either watching the news about a criminal case, on television, or even as well as releasing the pain the offender has experienced during his/her life. Many of these youthful offenders are suffering from mental disorders, just like this tragic event that took place on February 1996 in Moses Lake, Washington, at Frontier Middle School.