Urgent

Research Proposal, Part 1

Sometimes there are cases where some minors who have committed violence or crime are tried in the same way as adults are. There are 3 strikes of the law that state that if a juvenile has committed a serious act of felony it will be counted as a strike against the offender that could occur in the future. This can even take place of the records of a previous incident have been sealed. “Some examples that explain this point of view in a better light are as follows, a juvenile who has committed murder, robbed a bank, tried to rape, kidnapped someone, found with drug scams, with weapons or even caught in the act of escaping from a detention center can be sent to prison”(Morrison, 1896).

The number of children who are commixing crimes at a very young age is going up day by day. As per records it has been found that in the past decade more than 1.6 children who have been below the age of eighteen years have committed serious crimes of felony and have been sent to prison. For instance in the year 2005, a child who was 9 years old confessed that she had stabbed her friend with a knife when they got into an argument over a ball. The girl who was 11 years at the time of trial and I certainly believe that she should be tried as an adult because she brutally stabbed another child of the same age with no guilt or remorse only over a ball.

Another fine example of such an act of violent felony took place in the city of Tampa where a 13 year old boy was accused of raping and at the same time charged with kidnapping a woman who was 43 years old, with him being only 12 years of age when he committed such a crime. The boy made use of a fake toy gun to scare the woman and lure her into the woods where he then proceeded to rape her two times and also beat her immensely. He however left his toy gun behind accidently that acted as evidence. He was tried in court as an adult and the opposition lawyer stated that the 12 year old stopped being a child the minute he raped the victim and lured her into the woods. The child was given 15 years of time in prison and was to be kept in a detention center till he became 21 years of age after which he would spend another 4 years in a sexual offenders center. “The child was certainly aware of the act that he was committing and sentencing him to a detention center till he was 25 years was a sensible decision as it gave justice to the woman who underwent immense trauma”(Monk, 1998).

These situations usually get out of hand when there is a lack of discipline in the Childs life. There are numerous programs that are available for such children and their families where they can be counseled. There are options for community services, further education and also programs to prevent drug and alcohol abuse. If there is ever a situation where a juvenile is facing problems and he or she can be stopped from committing a crime of greater magnitude he should be sent to a program so that they can get all the help that they need. “These programs for help should be made available to adults as well as children so that such instances can be avoided and juveniles can be taught how grave the consequences could be of committing such acts of felony and crime”(Greenwood, 1988).

References

1. Greenwood, P. (1988). Juvenile offenders. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Justice, National Institute of Justice.

2. Monk, R. (1998). Taking sides: crime and criminology. Guilford, Conn.: Dushkin/McGraw-Hill.

3. Morrison, W. (1896). Juvenile offenders. London: T. Fisher Unwin.