Juvenile Corrections Project Final Project Submission

Juvenile Corrections

A juvenile justice system is a court system that was created to try those children who commit crimes in a different from that of adults (Martin, 2005). Those states that have this type of courts recognized the fact that children are less blameworthy and that they have greater opportunity to reform. For this reason, many countries have introduced a separate court system for those 18 or sometimes 21 years and below.

Since it was first introduced in the United States in 1899, the juvenile justice system has undergone numerous changes. Initially, the justice process was usually informal and simply involved a just a discussion between the judge and the juvenile (Whitehead & Lab, 2012). The culprit youth was not usually legally represented. The early juvenile systems had what was referred to as probation centers equivalent to courts in adults, which provided supervision and guidance to the juvenile offenders. The current juvenile system came into being in 1967 after the American high court ruled that the young offenders had the rights to have trials that required prove beyond reasonable doubt. The court also ruled that the juveniles should be given the right against double threat or jeopardy.

Currently, the juvenile justice system’s basic goal is rehabilitation and is very distinct from the criminal justice system. Delinquency is the commission of a crime by a child who is or was below the age of 18 years by the time the crime was committed (Champion, Merlo, & Benekos, 2013). Many countries extend this definition to the youths who are below 21 years old when the crime is committed. The process of hearing of the cases of young offenders is usually not open to the public. The criminal proceedings are usually confidential and the juveniles are protected from bearing the burdens of their actions into adulthood.

The protections and the special nature in which juvenile criminals were handled led to an increase in the juvenile crime rate. The perception was that the system was too lenient for the offenders. Although this was largely a misperception, most states responded by making laws that were more penal. These laws classified the juvenile offenders into classes and handled some of the cases in criminal courts that were for adults (Panel on Juvenile Crime, 2001). Other laws made the juvenile justice system look like the criminal justice systems where the trial processes were mostly the same. This led to the young offenders being excepted from the juvenile court jurisdiction and others face automatic waivers to adult criminal courts. Some synchronized jurisdictions had provisions that allowed prosecutors to file given juvenile cases directly rather than doing the same in a juvenile court.

In the last decade of the 20th century, there have been extraordinary changes since as the state embarked on a crackdown on the juvenile crime. The changes involved expanded eligibility for criminal court proceedings of juvenile offenders to be tried at the adult criminal court level. The changes have taken place in five main areas (Miller, 2010).

· Transfer provisions where it was made easier by the law to move young offenders from the juvenile justice to the adult criminal justice system.

· Sentencing authority that in form of laws that allowed juvenile and adult courts more sentencing options.

· Confidentiality laws that changed traditional juvenile courts to be more open with proceedings.

· The victim rights laws that increased the role of juvenile offender victims in the process of juvenile justice.

· Correctional programs which resulted from transfer and sentencing laws.

Annotated Bibliography Champion, D. J., Merlo, A. V., & Benekos, P. J. (2013). The Juvenile Justice System: Delinquency, Processing, and the Law. Pearson Education, 2013. The authors of this book takes us through an introduction to the procedures that are followed when trying a juvenile in a juvenile court. This book is a link between the law school case texts and the introductory juvenile criminal books. The book has clear illustrations of on the internal actions of the juvenile justice system with substantial case law, research and social sciences. The book also explores the fact that each state has its own juvenile justice system and provides a detailed description of the differences and observes that the system is highly decentralized system, especially so in the United States. Martin, G. (2005). Juvenile Justice: Process and Systems. SAGE Publications, 2005. This text book provides a good theory and practice illustrating how justice is provided to the young offenders. Gus Martin gives an introduction of juvenile justice in the current world and at the same time provides a contextual basis in the history of the system. The book provides a review of institutions the theories and the processes that are directed towards looking at the problems of victimization of the young offenders. The book is arranged into four parts. The first part deals with introduction to the juvenile justice process while the second part deals with different players in the juvenile justice system. The third part deals with the special community-based developments within the system and finally the last part explores the future challenges of the system. Miller, G. (2010). Reforming the Juvenile Justice System to Improve Children's Lives and Public Safety: Congressional Testimony. DIANE Publishing, 2010. This book is based on the hearing on the reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974. This Act has the objective of supporting the actions by the states to control juvenile crime and to make available core protections for children. The fact that there are clear biological differences between those who are in their teens and the adults means that the teenagers and the grown-ups should not be treated in the same way. This book seeks to explain the grounds on which the act stated above was passed and its operation boundaries. Panel on Juvenile Crime. (2001). Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice. National Academies Press, 2001. This book addresses the idea that the rates of youth crimes have reduced since the 1990s, although there is general public fear and that political rhetoric has been heightened over the issue. The book mentions the columbine shootings as an example of an incident that contributes to the increased public fear. The authors opines that child poverty is an underlying issue that is often overlooked. Other issues that are mentioned in the text are the social disadvantage and other problems that are related to youth decision making. In summary, this book tries to analyze what causes increased crime rates. Whitehead, J. T., & Lab, S. P. (2012). Juvenile Justice: An Introduction. Routledge, 2012. This book tries to cover the development of juvenile justice system and also the specific problems that the young offenders are going through. The issues discussed in the book include their interaction with police, the processes in the juvenile courts, the due processes, the movements towards de-institutionalization, diversion and the intervention by the community. The book also explores specific issues like female delinquency, gang delinquency and the application of death and life sentences. The book provides a good and engaging introduction to all the aspects of juvenile justice correction in the United States and a reflection of the whole world.