Juvenile and adult systems differ in many ways. For instance, juveniles are tried for delinquent acts, while it is only very serious cases that lead to a case being referred to as the adult justice system. Secondly, they do not have a jury in their trials. In contrast, they have a judge hearing the evidence and ruling if the child is errant (Clarke, 2015). What’s more, when they are deemed to be juveniles, the goal is to rehabilitate, rather than punish as it is in the adult justice system. This is proof that juveniles are not adults, thus should not be treated as such as they have not reached a mature stage in their lives. So why are they incarcerated?
Alternatives to incarceration are the approaches taken to avoid delinquents from being confined when other forms of punishments or placements would rehabilitate the child more efficiently. These alternatives were put up as a result research showing that incarceration does not positively affect the juveniles as earlier expected, especially the vulnerable and nonviolent contingent. Alternatives are beneficial not only to the juveniles, but also the community and the government. Benefits of using alternatives are that it cuts costs of the detention centers, protects the children from stigma of institutionalization, helps offenders avoid getting influenced by the more serious hardy ones, and maintain a positive relation with the society and the family as well.
It is estimated that about 5.7 billion dollars a year is spent on imprisoning the juveniles and this is a cost that can be avoided by the use of the alternatives (Justice Policy Institute, 2009). Moreover, research shows that seventy percent of juveniles detained are rearrested in a span of two years, thus the need for community settings that provide rehabilitative services that provide safety in the community better than confinement.
Another disadvantage of the confinement of children is that it affects them mentally. The juveniles going into the confinements are cut off from the society and this prevents them from developing socially and mentally, causing depression, which raises the risk of self-harm. They lose any positive ties they have with the community when the confinement hinders their chances for conventional growth. Also, research shows that nearly half of delinquents confined have a lot of difficulty learning (Development Services Group, 2014). Though the detention may have educational services, the programs do not provide a stepping stone academically, making their entrance into the real education system to be a very hard transition. It is for this reason that they later suffer minimum wage and have it very rough getting employed in contrast to their peers.
In 1992, there was the formation of Juveniles Detention Alternatives Initiative to show that secure confinements are not the only option in correcting delinquency in the society (Bonnie et al. 2013). JDAI’s main aim was to reduce cases of nonviolent youth in the detention facilities, minimize rearrests, enhance suitable conditions for the facilities and also control budget in a manner that enables successful reforms. An added bonus is that the children remain with their families and maintain development mentally and socially in order to grow into respectable people in the society.
Examples of alternatives to confinement that exist are house arrests, group homes and day treatment. Firstly, house arrest is a program that is community based, whose main function is to restrict the activities of the juveniles. This is an alternative that can be pre and post adjudicated. With this, the juveniles stay at home, go to school and also fulfil their required duties with close monitoring both electronically and/or by staff. They must follow a strict schedule; only leave their residencies for specific activities for varying time intervals as stated in the conditions. There is the application of this in Florida where there is an electronic monitoring program. The juvenile must wear a bracelet that is tamper resistant and have a tracking device that calculates his or her position and sends the information to the monitoring Centre.
The second day treatment is an alternative that involves intensive supervision of the offender. Also referred to as the day and evening report centre, it is applicable both pre-adjudicated and post adjudicated. The juveniles have the obligation to report every day to the treatment facilities for a given number of days, mostly five and allowed to go back home in the evening.
An application of this treatment is the AMIkids Community-Based Day Treatment Services (Development Services Group). The services are comprised of society based experiential treatment intervention for the errant youths with the aim of reducing cases of the youth going back to their evil ways and save on costs. The program works such that during the day, the juveniles get education at the treatment placement. During the night, the children go back home and this is beneficial as it involves the family in the rehabilitative process. They are designed to serve delinquents in non-residential settings and promote academic achievement and school attendance, while reducing problematic habits. Research has seen that the children who received this treatment had much less tendencies to commit crimes a year after being set free. What’s more, they were less likely to be rearrested or grow up to be convicted as an adult in contrast to youth who served juvenile confinement.
Group homes are society based alternative facilities that provides the youth with the permission to be in contact with the community. The delinquents in the homes are able to go to school and/or get a job. A group home holds between five to fifteen juveniles who are put in a home as per the decisions by the court in their hearing or through public welfare agencies. As compared to the confinements, they are less restrictive and better staff secured with no risk of overcrowding.
Applications of this alternative are seen in the Methodist Home for Children’s Value-Based Therapeutic Environment (Development Services Group). The latter puts more concern on educating the youth in social skills enabling them to avoid antisocial habits. Methodist Home for Children uses this model. This institution is situated in North Carolina. It enables access to residential services to the juveniles who are referred to the home by California’s Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. It is composed of a skills curriculum, learning theory, and also interactions therapeutically focused. The model has made great strides into moulding the children into productive youth. It has also made significant effects on new convictions for crimes, but has not fully made an impact on convictions of property damage, and also drug misuse. However, the youth who followed the model have spent much lesser days in the juvenile confinements as opposed to those who did not.
References
Bonnie, Richard J., Robert L. Johnson, Betty M. Chemers, and Julie A. Schuck. 2013. Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Development Approach. Washington, D.C.: National Research Council, National Academics Press
Clarke, P. (2015, 2 20). How Does the Juvenile System Differ from the Adult System. Retrieved 5 16, 2016, from http://www.legalmatch.com: http://www.legalmatch.com/law- library/article/juvenile-vs-adult-criminal-system.html
Development Services Group. (2014, August). Alternatives to Detention and Confinement. Retrieved 5 16, 2014, from http://www.ojjdp.gov: http://www.ojjdp.gov/mpg/litreviews/AlternativesToDetentionandConfinement.pdf
Justice Policy Institute. (2009, 5 19). New Reports Highlight Economic Benefits of Alternatives to Incarceration. Retrieved 5 16, 2016, from http://www.justicepolicy.org: http://www.justicepolicy.org/news/1929
