Annotated Bibliography

Running head: JUVENILE JUSTICE 1

JUVENILE JUSTICE 4

Juvenile Justice

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Juvenile Justice

Juvenile justice is a part of criminal law which applies to people who haven’t reached the appropriate age to be held responsible for criminal behavior. This age is generally set at 18. The primary purpose of a juvenile law is rehabilitation and is dictated by state law.

The system of minors has major disparities as relates to the involvement of minority youth compared to white youth. Black youth especially are the most affected. Disproportionate racial representation in the system brings about thoughts on lack of fairness and inequality of treatment by police, courts and the system as a whole. The contact these youth have with the juvenile system has a significant impact on their development and prospects. The uneven numbers of minority confinement has been widely recognized as a problem. The situation has prompted research efforts on the consistent overrepresentation of minority groups in the juvenile system (McCord et al, 2007, Rovner, 2014). However, the issue still needs more attention.

Challenges/Problems

The juvenile justice system has been faced with challenges and problems for quite some time. More than two-thirds of youth in the juvenile system have had experiences of mental health issues. 65-70% of children and youth that come into contact with juvenile system each year have a diagnosable mental health problem, with 20-25% having serious mental problems. Most of these cases can be dealt with effectively within community settings (Smith, 2013).

The issue of crossover youth is a major point of concern. These have traditionally been composed of youth from minority groups and girls in particular. These youth have undergone abuse, neglect and are at risk of mental health problems. Their situation additionally exposes them to public health and safety issues on top of educational and occupational difficulties.

Public defenders or lawyers mostly don’t have the experience or practice in representing children in juvenile courts. They may lack backgrounds in adolescent development and community-based programs which mean the youth are often bound to get insufficient representation that results in them facing juvenile time (Smith, 2013).

Another problem associated with the system is the criminalization of youth for status offenses, which tends to raise questions among the adults involved in their lives. Statistics from 2009 show that about 60% of approximately 140, 000 status offense cases were sentenced. This resulted in 8% of those young people being put out of their residential places (Smith, 2013). A further problem is observed in the juvenile detention facilities where harsh conditions and the over-crowded state of those centers led to rising in cases of attempted suicides, psychological challenges and illnesses related to stress (Ramirez, 2013).

Analysis

The racial disparity in the juvenile justice system has been very evident over the years. Black youth in America made up about 15% of the population of people between ages 10-17 in 1997. The same year they represented 26% of juvenile convicts, 30% delinquency referrals to juvenile courts, 46% of cases transferred to adult criminal courts and 40% of juveniles under long-term public institutions. The main causes of juvenile delinquency are poverty, drugs, abuse, neglect gangs and truancy (McCord et al, 2007).

It has been estimated that every year around 600,000 youth cycle through juvenile detention centers after an arrest. These facilities saw the population of young people of color grow to every 4 out of 5. In specific cases, for instance, robbery and aggravated assault, black juveniles were overrepresented compared to their overall population. An analysis on the issue by Ramirez (2008) showed that black and white juveniles who commit robbery had an almost same likelihood of being arrested and punished. On the contrary, cases of aggravated assault presented blacks with a third higher probability of being reported to police and 50% increased rate of referral to juvenile courts and institutionalization in juvenile system (Ramirez, 2008).

School discipline and law enforcement have played a significant role in the rise of disparity in the system of minors. Police presence in public schools has led to the criminalization of youth, whose behavior could have been deemed ordinary. Black students represent 16% of public schools, but they make up 31% of all arrests. It can be observed that this discrepancy is similar to that in the juvenile system. The criminalization of the students increases their likelihood of ending up in juvenile system (Rovner, 2014).

The overrepresentation of minority can be partly explained by the exposure to risk factors which impacts the probability of partaking in criminal behavior. This argument asserts that minority children are subjected to factors related to a crime which leads to disparity. Minority children are more likely to grow up in poverty, inadequate health care, and segregated neighborhoods. These factors have a strong correlation with certain crimes like assault and burglary which translates to the youth getting involved with the juvenile system in their minor state (McCord et al, 2007).

Intended Outcome

The outcome of this research will help in understanding the working of juvenile justice system and the high rate of minority presence in the system over the last few decades. The research will be able to show the relation between the juvenile system, race, and crime. The issues discussed in the study will help understand the difference in the disparity of minors in different regions and the measures employed to help with the problem. The research will also shade light on a change that is necessary for that sector. Suggestions will be made on possible solutions.

Research Approaches and Actions

Data collection for the research entails multiple credible sources on the state of juvenile justice system in the country, the statistics recorded over the years, the history of the system, challenges and remedies that have been put in place. Data will be collected on the different juvenile centers that are functional. Comparisons will be made on race and type of crime factors. The research will also involve a collection of information from youth, juvenile facilities staff and other people relevant to the case through interviews.

References

McCord, J., Widom, C. S., & Crowell, N. A. (2007). Race, crime, and juvenile justice: The issue

of racial disparity. Juvenile Justice, Juvenile Crime: Panel on Juvenile Crime: Prevention, Treatment and Control.

Rovner, J. (2014). Disproportionate minority contact in the juvenile justice system. The

Sentencing Project.

Ramirez, F. (2008). Juvenile delinquency: current issues, best practices, and promising

approaches. GPSolo, 25(3), 10-15.

Smith, H. (2013). Problems and Solutions in Juvenile Justice. Resource Center Partnership.

Retrieved from: http://juvjustice.org/sites/default/files/resource-files/FINAL%20RCP%20Problems%20%20Solutions_08%2013%2013.pdf