Abstract
This is an essay that investigates juvenile delinquency in the United States. It shows that juveniles who commit adult crimes should be tried as adults. It also shows that committing crimes is not a product of environment or poverty but a matter of choice.
The twenty-first century is the era of technical advancement is phenomenal; unfortunately, technology is not the only thing that has exceeded expectation; crimes among juvenile has gotten to an all-time high.
Juvenile delinquency is not a present day problem, as long as there were crimes committed juvenile crimes has always taken its slot. Even though the word juvenile refers to anyone between the age of seven and seventeen, some of the crimes they commit are what one would expect from seasoned adult criminals. Crimes among young people in the United States have no boundaries; it has filtered every strata of society. True, in some communities juvenile crimes are not the norm and it is less prevalent in upper and middle class communities than in the inner cities or improvised communities; nonetheless it is everywhere. In the summer of 1999, girls: “Malissa "Lisa" Warzeka, 17, a popular volleyball star who was hoping for a college athletic scholarship; Katie Dunn, 17, a member of the school drill team—who reportedly missed one robbery because she was grounded; and the artistically talented Michelle Morneau, 18, who graduated in May. The one who didn't talk was Krystal Maddox, 16.” All four girls are from middle class families, more importantly, they were armed and used the money to buy drugs and other frivolous thing (Jerome, 1999). We can pretend all we want but we know that crimes like these happen in upper and middle class societies all the time. One cannot deny the fact that this is not an isolated incident; the difference between this case and juvenile crimes in the inner cities is this is an everyday occurrence in the inner cities.
Youth who commit crimes and are under the age of seventeen are usually treated as minors. However, it is the judge and district attorney who make the final decision where a juvenile should be tried. The minor difference between adult and juvenile court is the terminology used; for example, adults have bail hearing and juvenile have detention hearing; adults have trial and juvenile have fact-finding hearing. The major differences are the trial, and sentencing, while adults get to decide if they should have a jury trial or a bench trial (judge only) juvenile do not have such choice, they are heard by the judge alone and their trial is close to the media. The judge can also impose curfew, completion of high school, it is the judge’s discretion whether or not harsher punishment may be metered out to juvenile, Furthermore, a judge can sentence a juvenile to an adult prison, after his or her twenty-first birthday and he or she sentence is completed in a juvenile facility. According to Richard E. Redding,
Most States will transfer youth ages 14 and older who have committed a serious violent offense. Typically, there are four categories of offenses for which juveniles of a cer
tain age may be transferred: (a) any crime, (b) capital crimes and murder, (c) certain violent felonies, and (d) certain crimes committed by juveniles with prior (2010).
Many people have argued that minors and adults should not be tried in the same fashion, unfortunately, I cannot agree with them. If juveniles who are of a sound mind commit a crime, they should suffer the consequences. These people can debate this point because they have not been the victims of any of these crimes; should any of them walked into their homes and see their son or daughter lying in a pool of blood only to find out that it was done by the nice teenage boy next door I guarantee that they would on the other side of the fence. Donna Bishop, who conducted a study authorized Northeastern University found that juveniles being tried as adults are not deterred from committing crimes. As a matter of fact she found that the juveniles who are sent to adult prison are more often than not return to a life of crime (Juvenile Justice 2000). The Juvenile Justice system also reports that “the 2008 data reports a 3% drop decline in the arrest of minors and a 2% drop in reported juvenile violent crimes between 2007 and 2008, along with a 5% reduction of crimes that were reported in 2006. These statistics are a pleasant surprise because they bear testimony to the fact that juvenile crimes are on the decline. (Puzzanchera n. d.).
Like the child who tells his mother, “the devil made me do it.” Juvenile defenders try to blame several variables that cause the delinquency among juvenile offenders. Some say that the environment is one of the key factors that influence juvenile delinquency, others say poverty; I beg to differ. When I was growing up, the whole community was a community of poor people, yes, there was the odd time when homes were broken into, but it was not because the violators were poor, it was in their genes. The truth is, it was the same siblings who did all the stealing; and their parents were the most affluent among our poor community. If environment and poverty are the cause of crimes then more than half of America would be in prison. Juveniles can make up their own minds and they know right from wrong but they make the decision to succumb to peer pressure, therefore they should suffer the consequences of their own bad judgment. The thing that drives juvenile to commit crimes is their lack of self-esteem.
Juvenile delinquent is a disease that plagues America, the wealthiest country in the world; and what society needs to do is to form more civic groups for these youth and teach them that they can be something better than criminals; that blaming their environment and or poverty is an excuse to commit crimes.
Reference
Bishop, Donna, (2000) "Juvenile Offenders in the Adult Criminal System." Crime and Justice. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/220595.pdf
Jerome, Richard. (1999). “Lost Girls.” People. 1999, Sept. 13. 52, 10. Retrieved from
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20129198,00.html.
Puzzanchera, Charles. “Juvenile Arrests 2008,” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile/stats/kidslikeadults.html
