Consequences Of Juvenile Crimes

Improved Essays
Register to read the introduction… Today, more youths are involved in gangs, murders, and assaults than history has shown. So, if these children are capable of committing adult crimes, shouldn’t they face adult consequences? It seems that the severity of juvenile crime has risen so much, that it is hard to distinct it from adult crimes. On the other hand, most adult offenders we find today, who commit murder or assault are not first time offenders. The unfortunate thing is that a survey given by the Pretrial Services Resource Center found that an astonishing number of juveniles in adult facilities were charged with nonviolent crimes (ABCNews.com: Juveniles in Adult Jails. When it comes to adult trial, the defendant is usually contained in an adult prison throughout the trial. After one night in an adult jail, a child would not be as mentally stable as before, and being ready for trial would simply be out of the question. Sure, the nightly news will show a great deal of youth violence that is as severe as adult crimes, but they will not show the high number of youths that committed petty crimes, sentenced to stay in a truly dangerous …show more content…
There are programs similar to boot camp, which can work to do nothing but improve a child’s behavior. These programs teach the lesson needed to be taught, while keeping juveniles out of a hostile and dangerous environment. Instead of being confined to a jail with people twice the offenders age, juveniles put into an environment of other youths their age who want to be their no more than the next guy is. The majority of children sent to boot camps usually come out in better shape mentally and physically than they were when they went

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Every generation comes with its challenges. Linda J. Collier addresses a sympathetic and concerned audience as she uncovers an issue long swept under the rug: punishments of juveniles who commit adult crimes, such as murder, rape, etcetera. As a former university attorney and court appointed guardian for juveniles in legal trouble, she has firsthand knowledge of the ineffectiveness of the juvenile court system. While her use of thought provoking examples creates a strong argument, she fails to convince me that juveniles who commit serious crimes deserve to serve adult punishments. Collier begins her argument by recounting the incident of Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden, who had led a massacre in Jonesboro, Arkansas.…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    And their characters are still in formation” (6). Throwing a juveniles in an adult prison despite committing an “adult” crime is similar to throwing a kitten into a cage of lions. There is a difference between a child and an adult. Adults have more life experience, their brain are more developed, their emotions can easily be controlled. A child on the other hand is underdeveloped, they learn from the adults around them.…

    • 1190 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Crimes are typically committed by those who can be considered as an adult and know what they are doing at the moment. The result of the crime leads the criminals to having the death penalty or some other kind of punishment. However, once an adolescent commits a severe crime as an adult would, the ruling becomes difficult to decide upon. As a child commits a crime of any level, that child should not be tried as an adult but rather as a juvenile. Even though the juvenile commits such heinous act, others should know that children cannot function their brain properly just yet.…

    • 1972 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Consequently, they are more prone to risk taking and peer influence than adults; they think less about their future and express their emotions in more volatile ways. The juvenile system recognizes this distinct adolescent nature, and allows for recovery through developmentally appropriate programs, making young adults under eighteen better suited for the juvenile system rather than the adult system. However, when young law-breakers murder or rape someone, it is much more difficult call on whether they should be tried as adults or juveniles. The decision should be made on a case-by-case basis, depending on the severity, motive, and nature of the crimes. For example, a sixteen-year-old boy murdering his father to protect his sister warrants a different analysis than a case of a remorseless sixteen-year-old boy who murdered a mother and her two young children to steal a car.…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Children committing heinous crimes are not a rare occurrence anymore; the upsetting reality requires new tactics for dealing with young juveniles. Some Americans believe children should be tried as adults, yet others feel that they are too young to understand their wrong doings. In most conditions minors are quickly told they are too young or too old for something, however before being sent to an adult facility we need to contemplate all aspects of the case in order to decided whether or not being tried as an adult is necessary. Regardless of the crime, some people feel that an adult facility is not a suitable environment for children to serve their sentences.…

    • 1083 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As we all know juvenile cases get transferred to an adult court through a waiver. Usually, juvenile cases that are subject to waiver involves more serious crimes. However, there seems to be factors as to why juveniles with lesser offenses are being transferred to adult court. Such as, the juvenile might be older, they are a constant problem to the system and youth services has a hard time working with them and/or has to work with them for a long period of time, they may have a long criminal (non-violent) record of petty offenses, rehabilitation may have been unsuccessful and much more. I don’t agree with these rationales for a transfer.…

    • 334 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The article, “Juveniles Should Be Tried As Adults” by Mary Estudillo, brings up many strong arguments as to why juveniles should be tried as adults, but the opposing article, “Juveniles Should Not Be Tried As Adults” written by Hannah McCrea strongly claims they should not. Estudillo cites examples of cases in which juveniles committed first and second degree murder, and were thereafter tried as adults. She explains how juveniles should be tried as adults because they are criminals, and criminals need to held responsible for their actions. She also brings up how rehabilitation does little to sometimes nothing for the child, so when they are released, they commit another crime. Alternatively, McCrea authored “Juveniles Should Not Be Tried As Adults,” and states how adult prisons do more harm than good for juveniles.…

    • 1055 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Juveniles as young as 14 are being positioned in prisons with adults from minimum to maximum prisons. A minimum prison would house offenders who have committed a minor offense such as theft, while a maximum prison house felonies who have engaged in activities such as rape or murder. In 2005, the Supreme Court banned the death penalty ruling “people under 18 are immature, irresponsible, susceptible to peer-pressure and often capable of change (Scott, 2012).” Although, the court recognizes juveniles are immature, irresponsible, and susceptible to peer-pressure yet juveniles remain housed with adults. “For instance, several studies have reported a greater probability of recidivism for juveniles processed in the adult justice system compared with…

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    When all other attempts for correction have failed, then detention facilities may be an option for particularly problematic youth. The problem is, detention facilities are used to liberally in the disciplinary process. Counseling, classes, probationary periods, and alternative schools are just a handful of other measures that are often overlooked. Not only are these overlooked, but much smaller crimes often result in incarceration for youth. “Detention centers do serve a role by temporarily supervising the most at-risk youth.…

    • 1099 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    "But he did not go to jail nor was he required to register as a sex offender. Instead he was sentenced to probation and sent back to live with his parents, two doors down from the victim" (Goldmark and Newton 2). Heather Newton is highly respected because of her many accomplishments; her novel Under the Mercy Trees was the winner of the 2011 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award, SIBA Okra Pick, and the Women’s National Book Association Great Group Reads Selection. Despite the level or sophistication of the offence, many minors are charged as juveniles, and this is just because of their ages. The severity of the crime should decide this (Goldmark and Newton 5).…

    • 2683 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One main reason why boot camps are better for the adjudicated youth than the traditional systems boils down to behavior modification. This alternative focuses on building a pure sense of morals into their participants. CrimeSolutions. Gov, a government run program fabricated to analyze and recognize effective solutions to modern day crime, states…

    • 1568 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Juveniles should not be tried as adults for it is wrong to hold adolescents, under the legal age, to adult standards. If children do not even receive the same rights as adults in the first place, it makes no sense to try them in adult court. These juveniles should have the opportunity to be rehabilitated in a positive manner, for they tend to come from troubled households and violent neighborhoods. In over half of the cases these troubled kids don’t know any different way than a life of crime when surrounded by both social and environmental factors that influence their delinquent actions. One must commemorate that juveniles are mentally underdeveloped, and still have time to innovate if their issues are dealt with precisely and accurately.…

    • 1310 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The decision of juveniles being tried as adults in the world of criminal justice has usually been an object of controversy. Some agree that an adolescent who commits a serious crime like murder deserves to be penalized exactly like an adult; while others declare that a minor should not face the same punishment as an adult. However, no matter how severe or appalling a crime may be, juveniles should not be tried as adults; the reason being that everyone should be granted the chance to learn from their mistakes. Juveniles should not be punished as adults, simply because they biologically distinct from adults. Teenagers are the midsection between children and adults.…

    • 1250 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Over the past few decades from criminal mischief evolution of juvenile delinquency, vandalism and petty theft, assault, rape, murder, over the past few decades, more and more young people to participate in a murder. Therefore, the concept of "adult time adult crime", charging minors who commit serious crimes as adults, has been a controversial topic. Historically, American society has been handling most of the juvenile crime, those 18 years of age, because of default behavior, which aims to punish juvenile offenders and recover them before they reach adulthood before separate juvenile court system to handle. And I am totally agreeing with that “adult time for adult crime”. Different sections of the population should shoulder varied responsibility.…

    • 284 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Old enough to do the crime, old enough to do the time,” Not only is this a catchy phrase that is gaining popularity, but it also represents a departure from the purpose with which the juvenile justice system was originally created over one hundred years ago‒to protect and rehabilitate young offenders. In an ideal world, counseling and rehabilitation would be enough for juvenile criminals, but oftentimes for repeat or violent offenders, this is just not enough. In the majority of cases involving violent crimes juvenile offenders must face the consequences of their actions and be tried as adults. Violent crime rates among juvenile offenders are increasing. Juveniles now are more likely than ever before to be the perpetrators of serious and deadly…

    • 1073 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays