Plan to Curb Juvenile Delinquency, Essay Example

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to determine the causes of juvenile delinquency and to determine the most advantageous strategies to halt such delinquencies. There are many risk factors associated with juvenile delinquency as some are considered indicators rather than mechanisms. For example economic a certain status in the community, belonging to a certain ethnic group, being of the male sex are all associated with a higher risk of anti-social behaviors in juveniles. Studies show there is either a hormonal effect or a certain period during the adolescent transformation that is associated with a gene transformation that makes a person prone to be aggressive more so than others. Hyperactivity is also associated with teens and anti-social behavioral tendencies. Studies show this may occur during the pre-natal formation in the mother’s womb. These are only casual observations though and no concrete evidence can be drawn from these assumptions.

One must realize there are different degrees of anti-social behavior related to juvenile delinquencies. Though males are often quite more prone to be engaged in anti-social behaviors studies have shown that “there has been an increase of crime in industrialized areas with relation to juveniles. (Rutter & Smith, 1995).There is severe differences in the type of crimes committed by juveniles in the states versus in Europe. Sampson & Lauritsen states there are severe differences in crimes committed by ethnic diversities (1997). Changes in parental employment may be a risk factor in one area of a nation where abuse in the home may be a risk factor in another area of the nation. Change is certain to bring on variables with juvenile delinquency but for sure one thing we know that juvenile tendencies stems from both the genetic make-up and the learned behavior in the home. There is really no need to track why a child commits crime and continues to commit crime well into adolescent and to adulthood because the facts show during middle childhood there is a transition from “oppositional-defiant behavior that will bring out overt conduct disorder or bring about delinquency and drug taking problems in some children.” (Rutter, 2002).

What criminologists must closely examine is the propensity of a young juvenile to actually engage in the commission of such delinquent acts. “Available evidence suggests there is a multitude of factors that their ability to create or take advantage of them, consequences that would follow if they were apprehended and their conscience.” (Clarke, 1995). This is assuming we are taking into consideration the petty crimes that the majority of juveniles commit leaving out rape, murder and other heinous crimes. If a young offender thinks the committing of a crime will cause disinhibition they are likely to reconsider the committing of such a crime once or again.

History and Literature Review

During the early 1700’s contributing factors to delinquency in minors may have been due to the fact that children were not given their due respect in this world. “They were taught that life was hard and you have to be tough to survive.” (“Juvenile Delinquency: A Brief History”) Most of the marriages in those days were for the purposes of carrying on a name of legacy rather than for child-bearing and children had to know their place in society which was at the bottom of the barrel. It was not until the eighteenth century that the ‘enlightenment’ period came about and with that came ‘humanism’ and ‘reason’. “People began to see children as little delicate flowers that needed love and nurturing.” (“Juvenile Delinquency: A Brief History”). Even as far back in the times of Sumeria and Hammurabi is where the first laws concerning juveniles first existed that we can see written where children were recorded for breaking the law.

“Prior to the Progressive Era the youth offenders were imprisoned with the adult offenders but through historic reforms this has changed.” (“History of America’s Juvenile System”).  In 1824, there began a change at the New York House of Refuge when the people there cared more about rehabilitating the youth rather than imprisoning them. In 1899, the states took notice of the problem with youth incarceration and started to make proper reforms for children across America.

Strategies and Interventions Designed to Stop Delinquency

There is alternative treatment methods especially designed for juvenile offenders. This is not to say to free a juvenile who has committed a most heinous crime of murder or rape but these programs are designed for those who commit petty crimes that can be rehabilitated and steered toward a productive and non-criminal activity life.  For those juveniles that commit serious natured crimes with specific intent such as murder and rape they can either be tried as an adult and sent to prisons or kept locked up in youth centers until they reach majority age and then sent to adult prisons. For example there is the “Paint Creek Youth Center in Ohio which was assessed by Peter Greenwood and Susan Turner in 1993”. (“Alternative Treatments for Juvenile Delinquents”). This program consists of a formal three day orientation to acclimate the offenders to the program, formal counseling day in and day out instead of regular cell lock down and after care after the youth has completed the term of his/her sentencing. This program is designed to rehabilitate the youth offender rather than simply punish the young lad/lassie. Criminologists believe the young offender still has ample time to be rehabilitated at a young age depending on the severity of the crime and can be put back into society and made into a productive and functioning citizen. Prevention of future crimes is the key to this program at Paint Creek. Reports show the after-care program is successful in rehabilitating 62% of its attendees to a normal and non-repeat offender lifestyle which is 17% higher than the national average for alternative youth centers. What makes this program more successful than other programs across the nation? Researchers say the key is the dedicated counselors and the projected psychological profiling the counselors undertake in order to access every boy/girl to ensure their success. They treat every offender as a person rather than a criminal. They realize everyone makes mistakes and they go to the heart of the issues which is ‘the home’. The children want to open up and talk and receive treatment because they are placed on a behavioral reward system for their achievements. Those that do not participate in the counseling and do not fare well are not rewarded with privileges.

Group homes are another alternative to youth centers for those juveniles that commit less severe crimes. Research studies show young offenders that participate in group home counseling/in-patient programs are “62.5% less likely to re-offend particularly if they are placed on some type of probation with their group home after-care program.” (“Alternative Treatment Methods for Juvenile Delinquents”). The national average stay in a group home for a non-violent youth offender is eight months.

Surprisingly foster homes are sometimes a positive deterrent for some emotionally scarred children who can be guided away from a juvenile delinquent lifestyle. “A study comprised of 220 U.S. homes, 18 Canadian and 28 UK homes showed an improvement in children’s behavior by 41% for those who completed the program, 12% for those who were administratively discharged and 14% of which showed no progress.” (“Alternative Treatment Methods for Juvenile Delinquents”).

Prediction of How Intervention Will Be Handled Over Next Two Decades

Have you ever been privy to evidence based study in nursing or medicine? Well there is such thing as evidence based intervention in criminology for juveniles which have the same concept of prevention. Nurses try to research information to prevent chronic diseases and criminologists try to research ways to prevent young offenders from recidivism or re-offending. This is the future to preventing or intervening crime at the youth level over the next two decades. The way the system works is a very strong interview is conducted at two levels (1) to gain background and (2) foreground information. The background information level is to gain family history and the (2) foreground level is to gain insight on what potentially made the young offender commit the crime in the first place and what might prevent him/her from committing the crime again or how best to rehabilitate the young offender through proactive means. The interview will be scored automatically through psychological assessment tests in order to facilitate a plan of action for each individual youth offender. There will be a plan of action for every offender that enters the youth center and not as a group. “Risks of supervision will be assessed from the very beginning and strategy classification will be determined to ensure a proper methodology is ascertained for the individual.” (Ore, 2008). The next step is to provide recommendations for supervision and to implement the plan into action. There will be periodic assessments on each youth and each case will be uploaded into a data base for regular assessment for release. For risk assessments a person’s gender will be considered as well as their past criminal history. There will be certain programs for girls and particular programs tailored for boys. There will be periods where boys and girls interact together to facilitate a normal environment as long as each individual is working their program according to the plan without any major infractions along the way. Everything will be run from an infrastructure and through the internet hence there will be no extra set up costs associated with this program. This will be a very well-organized and independent tailored program for each child entering the juvenile system for hopes of recidivism and putting them back into society as soon as they are rehabilitated.

A typical initial risk report might look as such:

This risk will enable counselors to determine what level the youth offender will be incarcerated at and how, when and where to start the child with counseling. This will be a geared plan with an ending (anticipated) release date. These dates may change according to progress along the way.

Interviews with Agencies and Legislation

The National Council on Crime and Delinquency strives very diligently to help families in need. They are a non-profit organization that promotes reform and seeks to prevent and reduce crime and delinquency. They are strong supporters of the Evidence Based Supervision Strategies. As you may already know youths have different legal rights than do adults and legislation is designed that way to protect the children because they ‘do not possess the same mental capacity as adults do’ when in the commission of a crime. With that said, when a youth is questioned about the commission of a crime they must always be in the presence of an attorney or a parent/guardian, if they are not all evidence will be ruled inadmissible. Only in rare cases does a judge find a minor capable of being tried as an adult for heinous crimes such as murder and rape and to do so a minor must be fully aware of what crime it is that he/she committed and have the mental capacity to understand what he/she did was ‘wrong/reckless’ and it is up the district attorney to prove ‘intent’ or ‘guilty mind/mens rea’, depending on the crime. There is a very fine line when trying a minor as an adult. The laws are designed to protect the minors from the harsh adult courts of law.

A core piece of legislation for juvenile offenders is the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. There are four core protections for juveniles under this act: (1) run a ways or curfew violators cannot un-willfully be detained in adult jails (2) there can be no contact between youth offenders and adult offenders (3) there can be no placement of youth offenders in adult jails except in extreme circumstances and (4) there can be no over-representation of youths of color in the justice system.

I had a chance to interview the sponsor of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana. “Their mission is to transform the juvenile justice system into one that builds on the strengths of young people, families and communities to ensure children are given the greatest opportunities to grow and thrive.” (“JJPL”).  According to the JJPL, “children at area local schools are subject to illegal search and seizures including handcuffing and shackling-for minor violations of school rules, says Southern Poverty Lawyer and the Juvenile Justice Program speaker. This mundane incident happened to a first grade student at Sarah T. Reed Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana. The JJPL is there to protect the rights of juveniles and especially those who come from low income or other prejudiced ethnic backgrounds. Youths have rights also under our United States Constitution and its time they are treated with respect!

References

Lahey, B., Moffitt, T. and Caspi, A. Causes of Conduct Disorder and Juvenile Delinquency New York: NY: Guilford Press, 2003.

Alternative Treatments for Juvenile Delinquents Retrieved July 11, 2010 from, http://www.wiu.edu/users/mucdr5/jdalttx.htm

(1993) “Evaluation of the Paint Creek Youth Center: A Residential Program for Serious Delinquents.” Criminology 31 (May):19-27.

Ore, W. Reducing Juvenile Recidivism through Evidence-Based Supervision Strategies National Council on Crime and Delinquency, 2008.

Siegel, L. Criminology: The Core New York: NY Thompson Wadsworth Publishing, 2008.

History of America’s Juvenile System (2010) Retrieved July 11, 2010 from, http://www.lawyershop.com/practice-areas/criminal-law/juvenile-law/history/

(2010) Interview with Bridgette Butler Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana.

Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana JJPL and Southern Poverty Law Center File Lawsuit to Protect Rights of Children in New Orleans School after First Grader Handcuffed to Chair, 2008.