In today’s society there are an increasing number of juvenile delinquents, with that, so is the rate of mental health disorders. More than 2 million youth are arrested every year in the United Sates; more than 600,000 are processed through juvenile detention centers; and more than 93,000 are placed in secure juvenile correctional facilities ( Snyder & Sickmund, 2006). With one and every five kids in the system having a treatable mental disorder, the juvenile justice system should have an increasing need to care for juveniles with mental health disorders. Whenever it is possible the system should take children with mental health disorders, and direct them away from the juvenile system and toward community based systems. The juvenile justice
…show more content…
All youth in contact with the system should be screened and, when necessary, assessed for mental health and substance abuse disorders. For youth assessed as being seriously disordered, it is reasonable to expect that a mental health treatment plan will be developed and implemented by qualified, trained staff ( “Juvenile Justice Journal, Volume VII, Number 1”). Investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, as has been noted, indicated that this is not always the case. Part of the difficulty in providing mental health services to incarcerated youth centers around larger issues concerning the relative responsibilities of the juvenile justice system and treatment systems for these youths. Also, no one child is alike. A specific treatment plan must be made for each child, therefore multiple treatment centers must be …show more content…
By the time the juvenile is ready to enter after care, the damage has already increased into dangerous levels. Juveniles in the system are likely to become victims from being abused by older juveniles in the system or the staff. These already unstable children get worse, which pushes them to commit suicide. For this reason we need to push change in the juvenile justice system. The system needs to have programs readily available to kids in the currently in the system! This system was designed to help children, when it is in fact making them worse. Moving away from the retributive justice system would be a huge benefit to society. The family court that handles the juvenile cases doesn’t just deal with delinquents, it is also where the family goes to solve problems, for example divorce and child support, foster care etc. For this reason we should move away from punishment. It is proven that punishing a child will only push them towards more delinquent behavior. We should focus more on the offender and change their future behavior. Having the offender work with the victim, will bring the reality of the situation to the delinquent. This is why the rehabilitative system is what we should move towards. On the opposite end, people believe that we should keep our juvenile justice system the same. The retribution and punishment method works just fine. Retribution justice focuses on the offense and blame
All youth in contact with the system should be screened and, when necessary, assessed for mental health and substance abuse disorders. For youth assessed as being seriously disordered, it is reasonable to expect that a mental health treatment plan will be developed and implemented by qualified, trained staff ( “Juvenile Justice Journal, Volume VII, Number 1”). Investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, as has been noted, indicated that this is not always the case. Part of the difficulty in providing mental health services to incarcerated youth centers around larger issues concerning the relative responsibilities of the juvenile justice system and treatment systems for these youths. Also, no one child is alike. A specific treatment plan must be made for each child, therefore multiple treatment centers must be …show more content…
By the time the juvenile is ready to enter after care, the damage has already increased into dangerous levels. Juveniles in the system are likely to become victims from being abused by older juveniles in the system or the staff. These already unstable children get worse, which pushes them to commit suicide. For this reason we need to push change in the juvenile justice system. The system needs to have programs readily available to kids in the currently in the system! This system was designed to help children, when it is in fact making them worse. Moving away from the retributive justice system would be a huge benefit to society. The family court that handles the juvenile cases doesn’t just deal with delinquents, it is also where the family goes to solve problems, for example divorce and child support, foster care etc. For this reason we should move away from punishment. It is proven that punishing a child will only push them towards more delinquent behavior. We should focus more on the offender and change their future behavior. Having the offender work with the victim, will bring the reality of the situation to the delinquent. This is why the rehabilitative system is what we should move towards. On the opposite end, people believe that we should keep our juvenile justice system the same. The retribution and punishment method works just fine. Retribution justice focuses on the offense and blame