The Juvenile Justice System, Essay Example

Scott and Steinberg (2008) found that adolescents, while not being childlike, are also not adults. Once their reasoning capacity has matured, they don’t have the experience to make rational decisions like adults.They are risk-seeking and impulsive, less concerned with consequences and can be influenced by peers. As it is believed these factors make them less blameworthy they should receive reduced punishments. Delinquent behavior is normal in adolescent and few fail to outgrow this behavior. Teenagers are still constructing their identities and more likely to respond to rehabilitation efforts than adults (Cauffman, & Steinberg, 2012).

Viewing developmental differences between youth and adults won’t help with the subset of adolescents who become delinquent in childhood. This group does not respond to the same types of intervention that other teens do and different factors are related to their delinquency..While teenage delinquent behavior usually goes away, it does not in the young group. Nothing in the justice system that addresses this(Vitaro, Brendgen, Ladouceur, & Tremblay, 2001).

Development models should be considered in the juvenile justice system since decreased maturity and focus on consequences and increased vulnerability to peer pressure apply to all teens. As most teens outgrowthis stage so cutting off their ability to mature and make reparations seems not to be in their best interests (Center for Juvenile Justice Reform, 2014).

Important points in these readings are that juveniles are different from adults and should not have their lives cut short by life in prison. Almost all adolescents engage in delinquent behavior though most outgrow it. Only a small minority of youth begin offending while youngand they need different services and treatment.The majority could also use services to help them understand how their actions came about how to withstand impulses and resist peer pressure.

References

Cauffman, E., & Steinberg, L. (2012). Emerging findings from research on adolescent development and juvenile justice. Victims & Offenders 7: 428-449.

Center for Juvenile Justice Reform. (2014). Juvenile justice system improvement project. Georgetown University. Retrieved from http://cjjr.georgetown.edu/jjsip/jjsip.html.

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

Vitaro, F., Brendgen, M., Ladouceur, R., & Tremblay, R. E. (2001). Gambling, Delinquency, and Drug Use During Adolescence: Mutual Influences and Common Risk Factors. Journal of Gambling Studies, 17(3),171-190.