Before the Supreme Court decision in 2005 to the ban the death penalty of juvenile offenders, 22 criminals were executed while under the age of eighteen. So, when given the topic of crime and punishment I was unsure of what I wanted to do with it, but after research on things similar to the first sentence I knew I wanted to do something with adolescence. After more in-depth research I decided on focusing on altering the severity of punishment. Consequently, the United States court system should consider altering the current punishments for adolescents because of juvenile’s slower development, how the child’s past effects them, and the economically effects on America. Juvenile’s slower development is because their brain’s are underdeveloped
…show more content…
They are ineffective because putting juveniles in prison trains them to think that when you break the law you go to prison and then it becomes a never ending cycle. They are also at an extremely impressionable age so being completely surrounded by other criminals is going to make them believe their behavior is appropriate. It also interrupts human and social accumulation at a very critical moment when the body and brain are maturing. Imprisoning juveniles not only hurts the child, but also hurts our economic state. It increases the likelihood of getting arrested again and lowers the likelihood to graduate high school. With less education, they will make less income, which then leads to more poverty. The US incarcerates more juveniles than other nations. On an average day there are approximately 70,000 juveniles in custody and we spend approximately 6 billion dollars on juvenile corrections every year. The social costs of juvenile incarceration are also major; “In addition to increased medical expenses and lost years of productivity for both offenders and victims, there are tremendous costs related to providing juvenile justice services... Incarceration of a juvenile offender for 1 year costs, on average, about $36,500” (Consequences of Juvenile 1). Other crimes cause both economic and psychological issues for the youth; “Youth disproportionately commit arson, vandalism, motor vehicle thefts, burglaries, and larceny/thefts with resultant financial ramifications for victims. Medical and other treatment expenses for victims of robberies, rapes, and assaults also are significant. Families, particularly, may face distress and added expenses when youth use alcohol or other drugs or run away from home” (Consequences of Juvenile
They are ineffective because putting juveniles in prison trains them to think that when you break the law you go to prison and then it becomes a never ending cycle. They are also at an extremely impressionable age so being completely surrounded by other criminals is going to make them believe their behavior is appropriate. It also interrupts human and social accumulation at a very critical moment when the body and brain are maturing. Imprisoning juveniles not only hurts the child, but also hurts our economic state. It increases the likelihood of getting arrested again and lowers the likelihood to graduate high school. With less education, they will make less income, which then leads to more poverty. The US incarcerates more juveniles than other nations. On an average day there are approximately 70,000 juveniles in custody and we spend approximately 6 billion dollars on juvenile corrections every year. The social costs of juvenile incarceration are also major; “In addition to increased medical expenses and lost years of productivity for both offenders and victims, there are tremendous costs related to providing juvenile justice services... Incarceration of a juvenile offender for 1 year costs, on average, about $36,500” (Consequences of Juvenile 1). Other crimes cause both economic and psychological issues for the youth; “Youth disproportionately commit arson, vandalism, motor vehicle thefts, burglaries, and larceny/thefts with resultant financial ramifications for victims. Medical and other treatment expenses for victims of robberies, rapes, and assaults also are significant. Families, particularly, may face distress and added expenses when youth use alcohol or other drugs or run away from home” (Consequences of Juvenile