Juvenile delinquency prevention and treatment
Introduction
Juvenile delinquency is a topic mainly interested in underage crimes. It is often associated with crimes committed by people or offenders under a certain age set by legal terms making the offender to be termed a minor or juvenile. In most societies, it is believed that teen crime which is juvenile delinquency is a normative behavior due to the changes occurring in the person though critically examining the issue, it is not very true (Abbot, 2005).
In the contemporary society, juvenile crime has risen to alarming levels making the justice systems around the world to critically analyze the situation and come up with procedures of dealing with such crimes. This has led to establishment of juvenile schools which are popularly known as approved schools and juvenile courts where the minor criminals are taken for legal proceedings and appropriate justice accorded to the offenders and the victims. The sentence of the juvenile courts depends on the intensity and nature of the crime committed or even the age of the offender (Abbot, 2005).
Juvenile delinquency is mostly associated with adolescence since most of the offenders are children in the adolescence stage. Though this stage is ignored in many institutions and social organizations, it is a very important stage which requires enough concentration and monitoring since teens usually have excess energy in them due to the changes (emotional and physical) that take place during that age bracket (Abbot, 2005).
Juvenile delinquency is mostly rooted in age and sex. From research in America, it has been revealed that most of the juvenile offenders are boys than girls. This can be attributed to the changes in boys which make them feel like expressing their masculinity through aggressive acts. Girls are less aggressive but some react almost at the same levels of aggression as boys do (Abbot, 2005).
Basically, juvenile crimes can be divided into three. One category is known as delinquency where the crimes are committed by a minor are exclusively dealt with by the juvenile courts or justice systems. The second group is criminal behavior. As the name suggests, this category deals with crimes of higher gravity thus the courts handling these crimes are the normal criminal courts and are addressed in a similar manner as if dealing with an adult. The last category is known as status offenses. Under this docket, the crimes committed are not wholly by the minors meaning there might be adult involvement. The offender who this docket deals with is the minor thus the legal proceedings are done mostly by the juvenile courts (Abbot, 2005).
Under juvenile delinquency, two types of offenders are mostly encountered. One type of offender is the repeat offender who continually and relentlessly commits the crime even after the juvenile age. This type of offender may start this deviant behavior at childhood and may persist throughout his life. The second type of offender is the juvenile limited offender. This offender commits the crime only for a limited duration of time after which the behavior ceases and the offender becomes a converted and law abiding person.
So as to avoid such inconveniences, juvenile crimes should be prevented at the most possible and probable means. This would call for several modes of prevention and recollection modes in case the minor had already got much used to crime.
Juvenile delinquency prevention
The justice system virtually all over the world has underage justice system as a means of taking care of juvenile offenders. Thus, a juvenile justice system comprises of juvenile courts and juvenile centers which ranges from approved schools to juvenile jails. Depending on several factors, juvenile offenders are taken to different justice institutions for correction.
So as to prevent juvenile crimes, several factors must be considered. One of the main factors to consider is the risks associated with juvenile crime. For the minors to learn of the juvenile crime risks, the very first thing to consider is the awareness of existence of juvenile crimes. Parents and other older people in the society must be in a point to explicitly explain the risks associated with underage crime. Some of these risks include:
1. Dropping out of school. It is a common phenomenon that criminals are inacceptable in learning institutions. As a result, the institutions may react to juvenile delinquency by expelling the offender from the school. This directly leaves the offender at a risk of lacking literacy thus in the end, the offender may end up illiterate or semi-illiterate. For example, a juvenile who get used to crime may become intolerable to a school and expelled. The offender may end up terminating his/her education at the low level making him/her end up illiterate or semi-illiterate.
2. Drug abuse and other social crimes. Being deviant makes a person prone to vices associated with anti- socialism. These vices include drug and substance abuse and social crimes. By engaging in crime, the young people develop this attitude of addiction to crime making the person to become a life-long criminal. The offender becomes used to the crime making them develop a feeling that the offence is part of life thus when committing it, they think they are not doing anything wrong. For example, if a teenage gets used to stealing from others, he/she will do it to a point that it is in his/her blood and no longer will it appear a crime. (Abbot, 2005).
Having known the risks associated with juvenile delinquency, it is possible to prevent these crimes. As a response to the mechanisms, several strategies have been put into place and effectively implemented to ensure that the levels of minor crimes have drastically reduced. Some of the preventive mechanisms have been discussed below.
1. Education. In the recent past, most education systems have been revised to incorporate self awareness programs. These programs have come in to enlighten the minors on the do’s and don’ts. By equipping the juniors with this knowledge, they stand a better chance to know and separate a crime from a normal action. When the minor learns of the punishments attached to several crimes, he/she will stand a better chance of avoiding to commit the crime. The education system has also urged the whole society to actively enlighten the minors on all topics without fear or prejudice. This has helped raise children who are all rounded and well enlightened on all matters including sex, drug abuse and social crimes like prostitution. Though some topics like sex may appear obscene to explain to the minors, it is better to tell them the truth instead of letting them carry out experiments while treating themselves as specimens. Aspects like prostitution usually crop up due to poverty which is usually associated with illiteracy. Therefore, passing knowledge to learners or minors on the dangers associated with such behavior may act as a positive determent to the minors on the crime (www.lawyershop.com/practice-areas/criminal-law/juvenile-law/prevention).
2. Recreation. From research, it has been found that most of juvenile crimes are committed between 2 pm and 8 pm. The peak hour of the crime is mostly between 3 and 4 pm. This can be attributed to the fact that teen brains usually get worked up in the morning hours calling for a break in the afternoon. Most of the education systems dictate that the learners have to remain in class until 4 pm after which they break for recreation. The hours allocated for recreation are not enough thus the learners opt to have other modes of relaxing even if it is dangerous. As a result they turn to deviant behaviors which eventually lead to delinquency. So as to counter this cause of juvenile delinquency, the education system has to allocate enough time to recreation and actively involve the minors in activities which will make them relax. The recreation activities should be possibly undertaken in the afternoon and the minors allowed to interact with the adults freely and converse so as to get the information which they might be missing. The interaction may also help the minors sort out the right role models from the spectra of adults they come across (www.lawyershop.com/practice-areas/criminal-law/juvenile-law/prevention).
3. Parent- child interaction program. Under this docket, the training is undertaken by parents of children in the ages of below ten years yet they exhibit major crime characteristics. This would help the parent to know which steps to undertake so as to shape back the deviant child. The program also addresses the issue of how to peacefully and most effectively guide the child (www.lawyershop.com/practice-areas/criminal-law/juvenile-law/prevention).
4. Bullying prevention program. Most of teens get into crime as a hit back mostly for some form of molestation they faced in the past. The molestation may have severely affected the minor making him/her burn with urge to revenge. When a favorable revenge situation arises, the minor may not think twice of the aftermath thus executes the revenge strategy. The aftermath may lead the minor into serious trouble and maybe crash on the law. So as to avert this, a bullying prevention strategy may work best for the molested minors and constantly reminding them that revenge is not the only way to get even. The program also encourages forgiveness and illustrates how it is one of the best ways to resolve a conflict peacefully and avoiding tough and bitter consequences (www.lawyershop.com/practice-areas/criminal-law/juvenile-law/prevention).
5. Rehabilitation centers. Most of the juvenile crimes are committed under influence of a drug. Therefore, taking the minor through a justice system without providing a way out of drug use is doing the work half- way. Thus, many juvenile justice systems have come up with rehabilitation programs which help the minors quit drug abuse and in the long run become drug free people. The moment that person becomes drug free, he/she can easily make good decisions and avoid crash with the law (www.lawyershop.com/practice-areas/criminal-law/juvenile-law/prevention).
6. Ending repeat offenses. When the juvenile offenders or adult offenders get out of prison, they find it rather tasking and difficult to adjust to free life again. They often find themselves back in line of crime but so as to stop this, a strategic plan has been put into place by both juvenile and other justice systems. These plans help the former inmates to adjust to free life and mainly come in form of job placements and psychological counseling. This has helped the former inmates adjust to free life and after some time, the levels of crime have generally dropped for both the juvenile and adult cases (www.lawyershop.com/practice-areas/criminal-law/juvenile-law/prevention).
7. Functional family therapy. In this case, a therapist assists a family in general to positively transform its attitude and nurture positive attitude towards itself. This increases the level of esteem in the family helping to fight inferiority complex which might also facilitate juvenile crime (www.lawyershop.com/practice-areas/criminal-law/juvenile-law/prevention).
Ineffective prevention measures
Though these preventive measures have been effective, some measures used in some institutions and countries have proven to be much ineffective. Some of these ineffective measures taken are discussed below.
1. Instilling fear. This measure has been used by dictatorial systems but since democracy has overtaken dictatorship, communication has become the most efficient mode of encouraging or discouraging any act. By instilling fear, people hide while doing the act against which fear has been instilled. Thus, the act condemned is committed but only under covers. Also, considering the human nature of curiosity and human behavior of doing what is condemned and fear instilled, human beings would tend to do what has been condemned without any further explanation given.
2. Harsher penalties. In the recent past, the American government has examined the rationale brought about by the sentence harshness and found it to be a rather primitive way of discouraging crime. Instead, it hardens the criminals who in turn have a very hard time adjusting to the outside environment after their release. The harsh penalties issue has proven ineffective to reduction of crime rates and juvenile delinquency making justice systems to turn to alternative measures of reducing crime at both minor and adult justice systems.
3. Get tough on crime policies. In some countries, these policies have been enacted and implemented. The results are frustrating since instead of crime reduction, crime appears to increase due to the inquisitive nature of man. So as to counter the increase, such policies have been termed out of place and order making it possible for the government to use alternative control protocols to crime control. (www.lawyershop.com/practice-areas/criminal-law/juvenile-law/prevention).
Juvenile delinquency treatment
Looking at the topic sentence of the paper, there is delinquency treatment. This part exclusively deals with crime how to heal this disease of crime once a person has been infected. This topic comes right after prevention since if prevention does not work, then treatment must be administered (ezinearticles.com/?Treating-Juvenile-Delinquency&id=1017181).
Basically, treatment has been incorporated in most preventive measures but only scantly. For a deeper analysis, let us focus on some treatment protocols which can be claimed to be the most common and effective. In most cases, juvenile crimes have been caused by various factors ranging from biological to social problems thus requires a broader understanding and approach.
1. Psychological counseling. In this treatment forum, the offender undertakes several counseling sessions in which he/she is enlightened on the benefits of quitting crime. The offender is made to accept that he /she was made for better things than crime and has the ability to make in life away from crime. This treatment procedure is one of the most effective methods since it give the offender time to evaluate him/herself and thus helps the offender make a very good and morally upright decision on how to move on with life (ezinearticles.com/?Treating-Juvenile-Delinquency&id=1017181).
2. Biological problems. From research, it has been found that most of the violent juvenile offenders suffer from biological abnormalities. These abnormalities affect mostly the nervous system making the juveniles to react in the violent manner. To correct or alter these biological problems, some drugs can be administered to reduce the violent nature of the juvenile (ezinearticles.com/?Treating-Juvenile-Delinquency&id=1017181).
3. Multi-systematic intervention. In this method, a number of problems affecting the juvenile are solved as one unit. These problems are mostly rooted in anti-socialism which makes the offender always a person out of place when around others. By resolving these problems, the minor develops the ability to express his/her problems through speech reducing the use of violent expression modes (ezinearticles.com/?Treating-Juvenile-Delinquency&id=1017181).
Looking at the prevention and treatment procedures used in curbing juvenile delinquency, there exist a lot of similarities and differences. These facts make the two processes rather similar since they employ virtually the same tools of operation and use making it tasking to differentiate the two (David, 2009).
One of the similarities is the government procedures followed. To most legal systems, prevention and treatment are carried out in the same institutions and by the same officers making it possible to get the two services simultaneously. For example, justice systems provide both prevention and treatment to inmates. This is done mostly by the regular counseling seminars done on the offenders as a way of enlightening them on the risks and aftermath of crime. This combination serves the offenders good enough to change their behavior almost instantly.
Another similarity is the target group of the procedures. Though one may claim that treatment is necessary only for the mentally of psychologically affected, it is absolutely correct to claim that all the offenders need treatment as well as prevention. This makes the target for both programs to the same (David, 2009).
However, some radical differences exist between the two juvenile delinquency programs. Prevention is mainly concerned with the minors who have not yet indulged in serious crime. The aim of prevention is to stop teen crime involvement by mostly discouraging the behavior via exposing the vices of crime. On the other side, treatment aims at serious juvenile delinquents who are struggling to stop this behavior. This makes treatment more complicated and sensitive compared to prevention.
Looking at both programs from a general perspective and analyzing their importance, prevention appears to help in crime reduction (David, 2009). As an example, it is in preventive programs that the minors are enlightened on how to avoid crime and risks associated with crime. With this information, the juveniles have more opposition to crime hence the rates of crime drastically reduces.
The other importance of prevention is the reduced repeat offences. This is mainly because this type of offenders are continuously counseled making them shun crime and instead seek alternative modes of survival. This has resulted in reduced number of perennial jailbirds and offenders.
Lastly, prevention programs help reduces the illiteracy levels which are claimed to be one of the root causes of juvenile delinquency. This has been possible since prevention programs deal exclusively with informing the minors and communication. This makes the whole prevention program to revolve around communication between the minors and their seniors which in most cases is barred by some aspects and barriers like age (David, 2009).
Prevention programs also advocates for democratic approach to problems affecting the minors and determent from crime instead of instilling fear. The programs expose what happens when fear is instilled in a person who in turn reacts by instinct not reason.
Turning to the importance of treatment, it helps mainstream the already digressed minors and adults. This helps reduce the amount of crime and increase the income since the criminals who were originally liabilities to the society become people of substance who engage in acceptable income generating projects.
In conclusion, due to the increased juvenile delinquency rates in the world, justice systems have to modify and incorporate means of reducing juvenile crimes. Though the approved schools have tried to play this role effectively, several factors which are also related to justice systems deter the whole process. Some policies enacted by the governments are only there to be seen and read but not implemented making the process of juvenile crime reduction to be inefficient. All in all, there has been positive progress though at negligible paces. The positive progress has motivated people who have worked towards a juvenile delinquency free region. If the preventive and treatment procedures outlined in this paper are adhered to, then I believe a better pace of progress can be recorded.
Abbot H. 2005. US Department of Labor: Facts about Juvenile delinquency, its Prevention and Treatment. US Government printing office.
David C. 2009. Violent Juvenile Delinquents: Treatment effectiveness and implications for future action. University of Virginia.
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