The Development of the Juvenile Court, Essay Example

Given the growing belief in freedom for all, children in the American colonies began being treated better than in the past when they’d largely been considered the property of their parents. With the increased freedom following the War of Independence, with fighting behind them, there was more acting out among colonists who know felt they had no one to answer to.This tendency was not only seen in the adults of the colonies but in the youth as well.With the growth of delinquent behaviors in the youth juveniles began being caught and sentenced for their actions.Due to this, and the foundation on British jurisprudence, colonists began realizing that it was not a good practice to put juvenile offenders in the same facilities as adult offenders and the juvenile court system was born.New ways of viewing legal issues based on developmental issues and overall differences in the level of maturity in growing children lead to a separate legal system for young offenders.Facilities for youth were established in New York in 1825, in Boston in 1826, and in Philadelphia in 1828. There were two main characteristics upon which the juvenile court system was based.First, juvenile offenses were considered less than crimes so the age at which a juvenile could be tried was set at 16. Second, the concept of guardianship which had been used to protect abused and neglected children was applied to juvenile offenders such that they came under the protection of the state (Fox, 1996)).

Some of the main characteristics on which the original juvenile court system was based and which still should be used today include informal and separate procedures for juveniles, automatic and regular probation systems, special records with extra protection against discovery, availability of physical and mental exams for all child offenders and separate detention facilities for youth.

While much of this is still in place today, the authors of the articles cited below all have difficulty in how juvenile offenders are viewed today.Due to the belief that juvenile offenders are the same as adult offenders, only younger, children are often declared to be legal adults and tried and sentenced as adults.This ignores the special conditions of childhood that may play a role in criminal behavior (Mack, 1909). In addition, there is concern that the court system has largely lost the aspect of protecting children while also failing to deal adequately with juvenile delinquency (Caldwell, 1961).Also while the juvenile court system developed to work with cases which were appropriate for social services, today these courts handle almost any type of offense committed by children.Others argue that the present day juvenile courts fail to provide protection of children and their families (Platt, 1969).

While these issues continue to be relevant today there are other arguments as well.First, the use of the juvenile courts for all child related matters means that by the nature of appearing, juveniles will appear guilty from the start and even if acquitted, treated like delinquents from that point forward.The use of an informal hearing system, may leave children and families unprotected due to the lack of attorney involvement.The over-scheduled juvenile court system means that many juveniles without serious problems may be sentenced to a long term correctional facility due to lack of adequate prevention and the inability of the court system to focus on this aspect of juvenile offenses.All of these factors are important and matter a great deal for the practice of juvenile justice today.The initial focus on seeing children as different from adults with different needs and reasons behind the behavior that has gotten them in trouble is an important emphasis which has been lost.

References

Caldwell, R.G. (1961) p. 493. The Juvenile court: its development and some major problems. The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology 51: 493-511.

Fox, S. (1996). The early history of the court.The Future of Children 6: 29-39.

Mack, J. (1909). The juvenile court.Harvard Law Review 23: 104-122.

Platt, A. (1969).The rise of the child-saving movement: a study in social policy and correctional reform. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 381:21-38.