Rough Draft

Juvenile Justice System

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Abstract

Juvenile justice system didn’t exist until 1899 when the first juvenile court was established in Illinois. Before then, children who had committed various crimes were charged just as adults because they were being considered as “small adults.” Concern was shown that these children who were institutionalized with adult criminals were learning advanced crimes and usually found their way back in jail (FindLaw, 2019). During revolution in America, many people were displaced and moved to major towns in search of jobs to cater for their basic needs. Children were among this population and when they were not able to find jobs, many of them became street children and started engaging in different criminal activities.

The number of children committing different crimes escalated and there was a need for the judicial system to find a solution to manage the situation. Better understanding of the development of children and compassion led to some changes in the way that they were prosecuted in courts. Juvenile institutions were being set up which dealt with teaching different life and trade skills. They acted like correctional facilities for the children (FindLaw, 2019). House of refuge was set up for reeducation of youths where intermediate sentencing was used to correct the behavior and also religious teachings were provided, offering the youths a chance to turn their lives around.

New reformatories such as foster homes were also set up in the mid-1800s where hard labor was stressed in order to punish these individuals. Separate juvenile for girls were also set up to teach them to be more responsible in the future. All these institutions were brought together to form the first juvenile court in 1899. In 1944, the first juvenile courts operated with the philosophy of parenspratiaewhere the state was expected to act as a parent and intervene where necessary if a minor was found committing any crime (CJCJ, 2020).

Since then, changes have been made in this justice system, formalizing it and making more laws to allow representation of a minor by a lawyer during trials. Stages that occur in the juvenile court include intake screening of the minors, filing of a formal petition, adjudication and lastly disposition (The National Academies Press, 2015).

References

CJCJ, (2020). Juvenile Justice History. Retrieved from http://www.cjcj.org/education1/juvenile-justice-history.html