Since the beginning, the juvenile justice system has advanced from witnessing children being sentenced in adult courts to a system that struggles to protect the welfare of juvenile delinquents, but to also be firm on the acts of crime to protect the public from harm. With the development of times reforms made to the juvenile justice system changed from the initial goal of changing the system to a less severe one to a system that has a unique resemblance to the adult criminal justice system.
The sources for change started with the opening of the House of Refuge in 1825. Before this time juvenile delinquents who were over the age of seven were sentenced as adults in the criminal justice system. Other states began to open reform schools to increase …show more content…
The rise in crime had hit high in 1994 and then slowly decreased. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 were revised to contain conditions that would permit states to try juveniles as adults for violent crimes and some weapon charges. This paper will continue to explore the importance of juvenile justice reform today. After many years of disciplinary, tough on crime reactions to the crime and disobedience, there has been a noticeable swing in the latest years surrounding juvenile justice issues. Officials are gradually returning to the initial principles of juvenile justice by acknowledging that juveniles are still growing and should be given chances for treatment, rehabilitation and positive reinforcement. By means of advocacy, legislations many states have effectively increased community substitutions to jail and prison and drastically decrease the number of juveniles that are in …show more content…
Looking back at the way the first detention type centers for youths were built on the basis that children who were out of control would be better off if they were disconnected from their families and put into the states care. Back then most of the juveniles were immigrants, very poor and had very little hope. Regardless, numerous reforms over the years there have always been strain between the notion of state domination of disruptive youth and the more compassionate idea of rehabilitation. Incarceration for juveniles was never meant to actually be a prison; it is basically a blanket for youths who come from abusive and neglected homes. Even though youths are not handled like adults under the law, youth facilities identify with their adult complements that entail all of the same type of dangers of being overcrowded and violent. As we know, children do not have the same rights as adults (no smoking or
The sources for change started with the opening of the House of Refuge in 1825. Before this time juvenile delinquents who were over the age of seven were sentenced as adults in the criminal justice system. Other states began to open reform schools to increase …show more content…
The rise in crime had hit high in 1994 and then slowly decreased. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 were revised to contain conditions that would permit states to try juveniles as adults for violent crimes and some weapon charges. This paper will continue to explore the importance of juvenile justice reform today. After many years of disciplinary, tough on crime reactions to the crime and disobedience, there has been a noticeable swing in the latest years surrounding juvenile justice issues. Officials are gradually returning to the initial principles of juvenile justice by acknowledging that juveniles are still growing and should be given chances for treatment, rehabilitation and positive reinforcement. By means of advocacy, legislations many states have effectively increased community substitutions to jail and prison and drastically decrease the number of juveniles that are in …show more content…
Looking back at the way the first detention type centers for youths were built on the basis that children who were out of control would be better off if they were disconnected from their families and put into the states care. Back then most of the juveniles were immigrants, very poor and had very little hope. Regardless, numerous reforms over the years there have always been strain between the notion of state domination of disruptive youth and the more compassionate idea of rehabilitation. Incarceration for juveniles was never meant to actually be a prison; it is basically a blanket for youths who come from abusive and neglected homes. Even though youths are not handled like adults under the law, youth facilities identify with their adult complements that entail all of the same type of dangers of being overcrowded and violent. As we know, children do not have the same rights as adults (no smoking or