Juvenile Criminal Justice- Short Research paper
In Practice 3.1: Ending Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System
Issues related to racial disparity in the treatment of youth processed through the juvenile justice system are still problematic, despite efforts to eliminate this problem. Evidence that this problem still warrants substantive attention exists when one considers that the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) continues to allocate funds for grant-funded projects to address disparity problems in processing youthful offenders in the juvenile justice system. The Smart on Juvenile Justice: Technical Assistance to End Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System is one such project initiated by the OJJDP to do this. The overall goal of this project is to establish, operate, and maintain OJJDP’s initiative to end racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile system, serving as a comprehensive clearinghouse on issues related to eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in juvenile justice and to strategically focusing DMC reduction efforts.
This project supports the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, which requires participating states to address the disproportionate number of minority youth who come into contact with the juvenile justice system. Disproportionate minority contact (DMC) exists if the rate at which a specific minority group comes into contact with the juvenile justice system significantly differs from the rate of contact for non-Latino Caucasians or other minority groups. Research indicates that various contributing factors cause DMC, including but not limited to implicit bias; racial stereotyping; and laws, policies, and procedures that can have a disparate impact. As a result, racial and ethnic disparities throughout the juvenile justice system can occur.
The OJJDP has found that African American youth are arrested more than twice as often as non-Latino Caucasian youth and are diverted from the juvenile justice system less often than Caucasian youth. Going further, Native American youth are diverted less often and are transferred to adult court at more than 1.5 times the rate of Caucasian youth. National estimates from state data through the OJJDP show that Latino youth are placed in secure detention more than 1.5 times as often as Caucasian youth, with similar rates of transfers to adult court as Native American youth. Data such as these provide clear evidence from valid government sources that there is still work to be done to establish consistency in the justice system’s response to our youth who run errant of the law.
Source: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2017).
In Practice 3.2: The Prevent Delinquency Project
“These days, our lives are busier than ever. It’s difficult for families to find time to be together. Yet, never before has it been more important. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University released a 2011 report stating that simply having dinner together as a family, five to seven times each week, substantially lowers your child’s risk of experimenting with drugs, including using tobacco, alcohol and marijuana.
“Studies also cite that children, including teenagers, whose parents provide little or no emotional support or involvement in their lives, and fail to monitor the child’s activities, are at far greater risk to become bullies. It’s sobering to discover that 60 percent of boys who have been classified as bullies ages 12 to 15 have at least one criminal conviction by the time they reach age 24, according to the US Dept. of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.”
The Prevent Delinquency Project is a group of dedicated volunteers who subscribe to one simple notion—that the majority of juvenile delinquency cases are preventable, through the implementation of proactive parenting techniques. Unfortunately, many parents, despite being well intentioned, don’t adequately supervise and guide their children toward leading healthy, happy, and productive lives. And those who do often lack an understanding of the threats their children face until it is too late. The goal of the Prevent Delinquency Project is to assist parents in improving their knowledge in each of these areas, so that they will be in a better position to safeguard their children from harm, and intervene at the first sign that trouble exists.
Some parents express discomfort with the idea of monitoring what their kids are up to. We ask them to consider the following: After September 11, 2001, few would argue against the merits of noninvasive intelligence programs, carefully constructed to protect civil liberties, in gathering information necessary to identify our enemies and safeguard us against outside forces. After all, we were, and continue to be, under the threat of constant attack, on our own soil and abroad. In a smaller and more personal sense, so are our families. Gangs, drugs, reckless sexual practices, and violence have taken footholds in our communities and represent increasing threats to the health and safety of our children. Is it wrong to educate ourselves, identify what may harm our kids, and take proactive measures to protect them?
The present juvenile justice system supports this level of intervention. By far the most common court-ordered disposition in delinquency matters is probation supervision. Few cases warrant the removal of children from the community and placement in more restrictive settings. The majority of wayward youth can be turned around and put back on track with supervision that monitors their adherence to curfews, mandates that they attend school, and ensures compliance with other reasonable terms and conditions, such as counseling, deemed in their best interests. If thought of in its simplest form, probation supervision is the court acting as a surrogate parent. In a lot of instances, this would not be necessary if parents knew what to do early on. Through the Prevent Delinquency Project, that is exactly what volunteers attempt to teach, by meeting with parent/teacher associations, community organizations, and individual parents who seek out our assistance.
Source: Prevent Delinquency Project (n.d.). © Carl A. Bartol.
In Practice 4.2: Behavior Modification—Child Behavior Problems—Out of Control Teens—Behavior Modification Schools
How do parents effect change in their out of control teen?
Behavior Modification is part of a behavioral tradition developed by Pavlov in the early part of the twentieth century. This therapy was adapted by John Watson in 1920 and eventually translated into behavior therapy by researchers and clinicians such as B. F. Skinner and Hans Eysenck in the 1950s. These approaches were later incorporated with cognitive behavior therapy as developed by researchers such as Donald Meichenbaum.
Today, there are many branches and schools of thought with varying terminology as regards Behavior Modification therapy. Generally however, Behavior Modification therapy as we know it today is defined as the use of rewards or punishments to reduce or eliminate problematic behavior, and can teach new responses to an individual in response to environmental stimuli. It is also defined as a “therapy that seeks to extinguish or inhibit abnormal or maladaptive behavior by reinforcing desired behavior and extinguishing undesired behavior.”
The goal of a program of behavior modification is to change and adjust behavior that is inappropriate or undesirable in some way. When embarking on a program of behavior modification with a teen or child, it is important that the undesirable behavior be isolated and observed. With this observation comes awareness of the behavior on the part of the parent and/or teacher, and also on the part of the individual whose behavior is being modified. And with this awareness also comes the greater goal of understanding the cause and effect of the behaviors, thus helping to effect change.
In many cases, some form of behavior modification along with cognitive therapy and medication therapy are the preferred methods of treatment for disorders such as ADD, ADHD and Conduct Disorders. Behavior modification and cognitive therapy are also commonly used in the treatment for disorders such as Eating Disorders and Substance Abuse, Mood, and Anxiety Disorders.
Behavior modification therapy is based on the concepts of observable antecedents (events that occur before a behavior is apparent), observable behavior, and consequences (the events that occur after the behavior occurs). A behavioral modification program to affect behavioral change consists of a series of stages. An inappropriate behavior is observed, identified, targeted, and stopped. Meanwhile, a new, appropriate behavior must be identified, developed, strengthened, and maintained.
Two types of reinforcers are used to strengthen positive behavior. The use of pleasant rewards to reinforce a positive behavior to help effect change is called positive reinforcement. Negative reinforcement strengthens a behavior because a negative condition is stopped or avoided as a consequence of the behavior. Two other reinforcers are identified as those that weaken negative behavior. One is called extinction, where a particular behavior is weakened by the consequence of not experiencing a positive condition or stopping a negative condition, and the other is called punishment, when a particular behavior is weakened by the consequence of experiencing a negative condition.
To stop an inappropriate child behavior, first the behavior must be observed. It is helpful to chart the behavior: what events precede the behavior, what time of day it is observed, etc., to understand the pattern of the behavior. It’s important to at first focus on just one or two offending behavior patterns. Once a behavior pattern is recognized and its pattern charted and understood, a system of reinforcements and consequences can then be constructed.
An example of a positive reinforcement used immediately after appropriate behavior can be as simple as offering praise immediately after the behavior occurs. Extinction can be used when the behavior can be seen and measured, and an example of this would be to ignore the child’s whining behavior. This can be particularly effective if the parent has given in to whining demands in the past. However, when inappropriate behavior is ignored, then another, more appropriate behavior, must be reinforced.
An example of negative reinforcement is when a child is allowed to skip a required chore if homework is finished by a certain time. A simple example of punishment is when a child is reprimanded or criticized for the inappropriate behavior.
In order to teach and develop new behaviors, successive steps can be reinforced until the final, appropriate behavior is achieved. Based on the observed behavioral patterns, another behavioral method for success is to teach cueing: arranging for the child to receive a cue for correct behavior prior to the expected action can reinforce the child for the appropriate behavior and for recognizing the cue even before the child has a chance to perform the inappropriate behavior.
The key to a successful program of child behavior modification is consistency. And a key piece of behavior modification that parents and teachers can perform is to present their own behavior and reactions in a positive way, so that children can learn and model successful behavior.