Future of Juvenile Justice, Essay Example

Critic’s state juveniles should be punished for their crimes in the same manner as adults. Defenders believe exposing juveniles to the adult punishment system only provokes them to commit serious crimes in the future. “Funding would rather be spent on rehabilitating the young offender than punishing and imprisoning them as adults.” (“Juvenile Justice-The Future of Juvenile Justice”). Since males youth offenders tend to commit crimes at a rate of 68% versus female youths of 32% the rise of the male population tends to make us believe statistically the crime rate may rise somewhat. However the birth rate of males is not the only determining factor on the juvenile crime rate. To say that would simply mean every male is prone to commit crimes as a juvenile which would not be a valid and fair assessment, prima facie. Other determining factors are lack of technology and education to young people, lack of employment, decreased educational budgets and a downsizing economy. When young people are unable to be educated and sent to work they find themselves with idle time on their hands and ‘idle time is the work of the devils mind’.

Children from lower economic backgrounds tend to commit crime at a higher rate that children from middle class to privileged backgrounds because there is not a lack of income in the family thus there is no pressure to commit crime for money, there is less chance the children will hang around with the wrong crowds and there is more motivation to stay in school and find suitable jobs. Education and jobs set the mindset for productive adults in our society in America and this mindset starts as a young child. It starts even earlier as the child focuses on the happenings inside the family. For example if the father is without a job then the child may have difficulty finding a job hence resorting to crime to find the necessities such as food, water and other wants. A youngsters values, morals and ethical system seems to become distorted depending on how they are raised.

In conclusion, not every child will attend and graduate college; some will attend technical school and learn a trade. Technology programs are important for a young adult to learn basic skills to become a productive member in society. Everyone cannot be a doctor or lawyer for the world would be without electricians, plumbers and gardeners. We need all these crafts to make a wholesome world. One situation is common though in all youths that they need a skill, education and a job to feel a sense of self-esteem and worth. It is that self-esteem and worth that gives the youth discipline and self-respect and keeps them from committing crime. That is why we cannot simply say as the birth rate of males rise, so will the crime rate. Other factors obviously influence the crime rate in young offenders.

References

Juvenile Justice-The Future of Juvenile Justice Retrieved July 7, 2010 from, http://law.jrank.org/pages/12078/Juvenile-Justice-future-juvenile-justice.html

Bartollas, C. & Miller, S. (2008). Juvenile justice in America (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education.

Wallace, H. & Roberson, C. (2008). Principles of criminal law (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education