Juvenile crime in the United States of America is as old as the nation itself. However, over the years there has been deliberate reform within the criminal justice system effectively affecting juveniles. Delinquency refers to the crimes committed by juveniles. A juvenile ideally refers to a person between the ages of twelve and seventeen. In that breadth, juveniles are just developing out of childhood and about to graduate into adulthood. At this stage, the law recognizes that the person may not appreciate the law as it is and may not necessarily be capable of harboring a mental intention to commit crime. In addition, it is opined that the juveniles being under the age of majority should not be subjected into the same criminal sanctions as the adult offenders. Status offences are those behaviors considered violations of the law when and if committed juveniles. They include matters such as truancy, running away from home, underage drinking, among others.
The juvenile justice system has been embraced in the United States of America on the premise that juveniles cannot be subjected to the same burdens, procedures and criminal sanctions as their adult counterparts. This has necessitated the need for juvenile courts where the juvenile offenders otherwise known as delinquents are tried under completely different systems and practices. The approach that distinguishes the juvenile courts from the adult courts perhaps lies in the prosecutorial methods. The burden of proof on the prosecutor in the juvenile trials is much higher than that ordinarily on the prosecutor in the adult court. In addition, the judicial officers in the juvenile courts rely on the substantive Children laws and more specifically the juvenile statutes on delinquency and status offences. These statutes impose different penalties and criminal sanctions for the juveniles who commit the same offences as their adult counterparts. It is essential to appreciate the fact that for the juvenile delinquents, the focus has often been more of rehabilitation than deterrence or retribution. This is informed by the fact that for the juveniles, the mental intent usually does not necessarily inform the commission of the crime. Scholars opine that these delinquents can be easily rehabilitated and reabsorbed to the community. The juvenile courts work on that foundation. However, this is not to say that the courts approach justice from one side of the domain. Indeed, the courts also seek to protect the lives of the victims and the public at large. It is on that regard that the courts refer the delinquents to custodial institutions for purposes of rehabilitation and prevention from causing further harm.
Juvenile crime rates correlate with a number of variables. It has been observed over the years that juvenile delinquents have a tendency of engaging not only in the crime but also in a number of vices and immoral practices. In other cases, it is the circumstances that the juveniles find themselves in that occasion their engagement in the crimes. It is these vices and conditions that pass as variables that correlate with the juvenile crime rates. Some the variables include substance abuse, lack of parental care and control, depression, child abuse and maltreatment, trauma, among other causes. Generally, these variables have a hand in the juvenile crime. In that context, it is important for the judicial officers and the juvenile justice officers to consider them in mitigation of the sentences and criminal sanctions as well as designing the rehabilitation program. It would not be effective to merely correct the juvenile without looking beyond the superficial. Effective rehabilitation ought to be all-inclusive and thorough so as to address all the overriding factors.
The United States juvenile crime statistics posit a situation of reducing rates in crime. Generally, with an increase in enlightenment and information flow in the nation, lesser cases of juvenile crimes are being reported. In addition, the rate of recidivism is reducing perhaps an indication of the success of the juvenile rehabilitation programs. The reintegration of the delinquents in society has been successful albeit with a few challenges here and there. In 2002, with 16% African boys in the United States of America, 30% of the juvenile delinquency case load was attributed to them. According to the same statistics, in 2006 the juveniles accounted for 20% of arrested persons on violent crimes. Of that percentage, 83% were boys. This generally postulates some trend in juvenile crimes. That is, the juvenile offenders were and are mostly male and that the African boys generally engage in more crime as compared to their white counterparts. In addition, statistics indicates an increasing trend in the juvenile delinquency on property crimes. The same source indicates that the number of juveniles arrested for property crimes in 2006 had doubled as compared to the number of juveniles arrested in 1980. This shows an increasing divergence from the traditional violent crimes to property crimes as well. However, in general, taking into consideration the increasing population of juveniles, the rates of delinquency has been on the decline with the passage of time since the onset of the criminal reforms across states as from 2005.
On the other hand, in some states, juveniles have been denied the privilege of special treatment and subjected to the same treatment as adults. This includes trial as adults for select cases. This has been justified on a number of grounds. Arguments that some juveniles have adequate intelligence and knowledge to understand the nature, and consequences of their actions and that the law ought not to discriminate for the sake of it, have been advanced in justifying trial of juveniles as adults. The results have been mixed. However, this paper contends that trying juveniles in the same manner as the adults promotes miscarriage of justice and unfairness. It tends to place the same criminal liability on the child as is placed on the adult. This is wrong and is an example of bad law. The law must appreciate the limited capacity of children and their relative inability to decipher what is necessarily good and bad. For that reason, the law need to exercise its discretion in the trail of juveniles and reduce the criminal liability imposed on them.
A current issue in the juvenile justice system is the efficiency of the custodial methods of sentencing. It is my contention that the criminal justice system needs to promote nun-custodial measures and sanctions. This is because the custodial method has its own inherent challenges that cumulatively defeat the whole purpose. With limited resources, rehabilitation and correctional facilities have been overcrowded and become havens for the promotion of immoral practices such as homosexuality and lesbianism. In the long run, it would be cheaper and more effective if the rehabilitation system approached a non-custodial approach.
References
Fact Sheet Juvenile Delinquency. (2010). Waht Challenges are boys facing? What Opportunities Exist to Address these Challenges. Washington: U.S. Department of Health and Human Sciences. Retrieved from http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/08/boys/factsheets/jd/report.pdf
Hickert, A., Becker, H., & Moleni, C. (2011). The Impact of Juvenile Drug Courts on Drug Use and Criminal Behaviour. Journal of Juvenile Justice, 1(1), 60-77.
U.S. Department of Justice. (2004). The Causes and Correlates Studies: Findings and Policy Implications. Juvenile Justice, 9(1), 3-19. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/203555.pdf
