Future Juvenile Justice Policy and Practice, Essay Example

This excerpt argues that the juvenile justice system should be abolished, or should be transformed to reduce its thoroughness when delegating sentences to minor crimes (Scott & Steinberg, 2008). Lack of procedural protection of the victims lead to biased sentences. Law enactors should understand that young are driven by developmental models into criminal activities. As a result, their actions are controlled by immature decisions.

This approach is beneficial since it eliminates biasness in the juvenile judicial system. Additionally, it increases responsibility among young offenders who grow up in crime-prone areas (Scott & Steinberg, 2008). Conversely, this argument is problematic to a society since high-risk juveniles may threaten the security of the public when not prosecuted.

This juvenile justice system eliminates fair justice in the judiciary system since young offenders are treated as an “independent population.” In addition, it works antagonistically with cost effective crime reduction since young offenders are far from being incriminated (Scott & Steinberg, 2008). It also deviated from the traditional justice system that considers all offenders equal in the eyes of the law.

The excerpt concludes by stating that political leaders, practitioner, and the open public will be involved in crime reduction through supporting juvenile correction programs (Scott & Steinberg, 2008). The States juvenile system has enacted policies that will allow the public to support juvenile inmates in custody. Money is invested in correctional programs in order to reduce crime and its severity.

There are concrete examples that improve the credibility of Scott and Steinberg argument. For instance, a research by WTP showed that about 67% of the respondents were ready to pay $75 to support juvenile correction system (Scott & Steinberg, 2008). Additionally, 55% were ready to pay %150 to promote juvenile crimes prevention programs.

Reference

Scott, E., & Steinberg, L. (2008). Rethinking Juvenile Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.