Juvenile Recidivism

The research gathered through professional interviews reflected that the act of incarcerating youth facilitates increased rates of recidivism. The six professional subjects interviewed for the purpose of this research commonly agreed on the notion that the youth more likely to be charged and incarcerated belong to underprivileged backgrounds, or have some sort of on going mental illness that has not been addressed. Most don’t have a proper support structure that ensures proper brain development and growth. Whilst living in economically poor neighborhoods, where the perception of criminal activity is already presumed high, many of these children build criminal affiliations. As Public Defenders serve the indigent communities, I was able …show more content…
The research attained also highlighted the reasons why recidivism rates are so high within juvenile delinquents. Curfew violations bring juveniles back into the court very frequently, as well as new charges that relate to the family such as Domestic Assault on a family member. Minor offenses such as technical violations, failure to fulfill probation requirements or domestic abuse within a family member often result in incarceration for the youth. The interview subjects suggested that for such offenses, requiring delinquents to perform community service or putting them away from an unstable family would be the more rational solution rather than putting them behind bars. Such minor offenses often get combined with previous charges and prolong the sentencing period. As suggested in the research gathered, alternatives could include a shorter sentence, community servicing and addressing mental illnesses and providing medical help to those needed rather than incarcerating. Setting an age limit on allowing the certification of juveniles into adult courts would be another useful alternative to target juvenile …show more content…
Although the academic and original data provided great information, there were a few limitations. Firstly, the original data included all the subjects who work for the same organization- i.e. that Public Defenders Office. There might have been a bias when collecting data as the experiences may be the same for the all subjects. They also might have the same perspectives regarding juvenile clients since as Public Defenders they only serve the indigent communities. Also, the subjects all worked for the Fairfax County, and that might have generated differing answers than those working at a different county. Having interviewed other professionals that play a key role in juvenile criminal cases such as the Prosecutor or a Judge may have improved the scope of information gathered, and reduced limitations due to a limited subject size. Thus, the research was constrained on the similar views held by those working at the Fairfax County Public Defender’s office, and was regionally