When an adult breaks the law and is sentenced not much is thought about the matter other than what did they do, why did they do it, and is the punishment fair. When juveniles are convicted and brought to trial however it becomes a very different matter. Why this is seen as so different is largely due to the fact that adults are considered mature enough to make their own decisions and therefore accept the consequences, while juveniles, though still in control of their actions, are less able to control their impulses due to lack of proper education and life experience. Though no less severe, the criminal acts that some juveniles commit are at times considered to make them less of a menace than a victim of forces that are beyond their control. This is why rehabilitation is widely considered as a viable option for juveniles, so that they might learn from their mistakes rather than be doomed to repeat them again and again.
As it is defined within the juvenile justice system the age limit under which a child is considered is a juvenile varies from state to state. While the upper age limit usually doesn’t exceed 17 the lower age limit has yet to be given any real definition. After a child turns 18 the juvenile justice system has no further jurisdiction over them, as they are legal adults. At that point rehabilitation is still very much a possibility, but as they are considered adults they are then treated differently according to the legal system. (US Department of Justice, 2014)
Rehabilitation for a minor is a far more involved process than can be found in an adult setting, as it is believed that there is a greater chance at turning around the life of a child so that they find a different, better path. So far as the juvenile court system is concerned the limits for what can be done for a child far exceed that of adults, as there are community services, classes, various programs through school, church, and other sources that aren’t readily available to adults who find themselves on the wrong side of the law. (Frontline, 2014)
Police, judges, and other law enforcement officials don’t seem too eager to condemn juveniles despite the fact that the juvenile justice system has become increasingly more like the adult system, adopting the type of treatment that officials were originally seeking to keep juveniles apart from. The rise in juvenile crime has had much to do with this, and despite the leniency and attempts at rehabilitation there has been a dramatic increase in juvenile crimes within the past. While police officers have at times allowed juveniles committing criminal acts to walk off with a warning, other crimes, perhaps similar or worse, have been enforced as would be expected. Why this is so has not yet been fully understood or explained, but there is a discrepancy within the practices that law enforcement and the meting out of justice show towards juveniles. (Myers, 2004)
Rehabilitation isn’t so much a last chance to reform a youth’s behavior, but instead an opportunity to show offenders still under the legal age of adulthood that their behaviors are not only unacceptable, but will have consequences both now and later. Those who think that jail is only for adults and not for children are often proven wrong as juvenile detention is anything but a picnic.
Within the legal system for youthful offenders there are just as many rules, regulations, and consequences for misbehavior as exist for adults. The only true difference is that with adolescents there is a difference in how they are treated. Many want to believe there is still a chance for such youthful offenders, that they can be shown a different path than the one they’ve decided to take. For those who are experiencing the system for the first time it is a likelihood that they will never see a courtroom again, but for those who are already hardened offenders it is still likely that their lives can be turned around.
It’s a bit more difficult to deal with a minor than it is an adult. With an adult one can simply condemn them for the crime, if they are found guilty, and eventually begin the process of incarceration. With minors the process meets a great many hitches along the way, as dealing with kids results in dealing with the why more than the how. At such a young age it is natural for police, judges, prosecutors, and the community in general to wonder just why the child has decided to act out in such an anti-social manner, and where the problem comes from. There is more effort to rehabilitate a child while they are still young than there is during adulthood, where it is considered virtually too late to do much of anything.
One method of turning kids’ lives around is a popular show now airing on the A&E network, a live-action television show titled “Beyond Scared Straight”. Based on the 1978 documentary “Scared Straight” produced by Arnold Shapiro, the show makes a case for intervention in the lives of at-risk teens to show them what it is like in prison, what they have to look forward to, and what their actions might soon enough lead them towards. While it is an entertaining and very forward-thinking series, the show has a few inaccuracies and has been accused more than once of being fake. (Dehnart, 2011)
Arnold Shapiro however denies this, stating that his show strikes to the truth of what is happening in the youth community in this age, as the youths that are selected are picked by counselors that work alongside the show’s director and producer. Some law enforcement officers believe that the risk presented by this show can do more harm than good, and in fact can even promote crime within the youth population rather than prevent it, but to date results have been largely inconclusive. Whether or not the show is truly harmful in the manner of promoting crimes among the adolescent population is unsure, but the idea is sound enough in theory.
Kids aren’t hard to scare, though the lessons imparted in this fashion don’t tend to last, as lack of enforcement can often lead towards repeat offenses and a sense that those in control are not serious enough to follow through on any spoken threats of punishment. This is a ruling that is handed down from the first time a child begins to understand the concept of consequence to the moment when they are forced to realize that their choices do in fact affect what will happen to them. Rehabilitation is not a last resort, though it is only a step or two removed from what can be construed as a last chance before more drastic measures are taken.
The juvenile justice system, while lenient on minors, is also too often overburdened with cases against minors and therefore relegated to an uncaring, unthinking system that allows many children to “slip through the cracks”, thereby assuring that they will be far more likely to become repeat offenders. Through steps that can be taken to rehabilitate their social understanding and sense of right and wrong, it is very possible that they can in a sense turn the corner and be led back to the right course. The effect upon the community at large, not just law enforcement, would be profound if more children were shown the correct manner in which to behave in a society rather than allowed to continue on as they are and eventually become another number in the penal system.
There are of course arguments against the juvenile justice system adopting the rehabilitation process, and they include valid as well as rather ruthless reasons that for adults seem reasonable but for children seem rather harsh. Some would argue that such rash actions are the only method left in which to reach select groups of children, while others would argue that if a child commits a crime that an adult would be penalized for, then the child should at the very least be made to understand just what they did and why they are being punished as they are. There are precedents for trying a child as an adult, as such serious offenses as premeditated murder and other such violent crimes are beyond reproach and can sway the legal system into serving out the maximum consequence to a minor, but those are rare.
The general attitude, mentality, and understanding of the law exhibited by most children is one that is seen too often lacking in any real scope of what they are set against. Without the proper education, life experience, and overall knowledge of what is to come from their actions, too many children are apt to find themselves repeating their mistakes again and again, entering a cycle that comes from an unfortunate lack of time and resources to deal with them properly. This is why rehabilitation is so important, and why it is so difficult to attain.
The arguments against rehabilitation are that it is a waste of resources, time, and facilities to accommodate them, and nothing to assure that youthful offenders would in fact attend programs, perform community service, or even take seriously the charges levied against them. (Lemmer, Johnston, 2014) That being said it is safe to say however that any lost opportunity to corner said offenders into paying for their actions is a loss of any intervention tactics that might eliminate the need for rehabilitation, or might actually increase its effectiveness. If an adolescent is shown that what they do matters in the community the outlook might very well be far more positive than they’ve been led to believe.
Another argument is that it might very well be too late for rehabilitation, as with the rise in youthful offenses the possibility for such programs and community service is declining more and more. (Frontline, 2014) Early intervention is the key to keeping kids out of trouble and even facilitating the need for rehabilitation. Unfortunately it does depend upon a great deal of community outreach, a push for bringing a halt to and provide counseling for victims of gang violence, drug abuse, sexual abuse, and a variety of other reasons why kids begin to gravitate towards anti-social tendencies in the first place. The possibility of intervention and rehabilitation are very real, but they are ultimately dependent upon people, and given the wide variety of location, education, values, and other variables that kids must learn to grow up with, it is difficult to pin down any one thing that might work when it comes to intervention.
Rehabilitation on the other hand focuses on working to right the wrongs by showing the adolescent what they’ve done, work with the damage it’s caused, and begin the trip back towards what they were before they made one wrong choice, then another, and so on. There’s no one right way to facilitate the greater understanding of the legal system to a child, but there are many ways that an adolescent can be made to understand that what they’ve done is wrong and how they can make amends for the decisions they’ve made.
The hardships faced by instituting rehabilitation into the juvenile justice system are many, including but not limited to the time, resources, and facilities that would be required. However, given support by communities, law enforcement agencies, and even programs offered by local churches and schools, it is entirely possible to provide a safe and welcoming atmosphere that would allow youthful offenders to understand that there is a better alternative to the life they’ve chosen.
References
Kumli, Kurt. (2014) What Works? Frontline. Retrieved from
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile/bench/whatittakes.html
Related FAQS. (2014) Juvenile Justice System Structure and Process. Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention. Retrieved from
http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/structure_process/
Myers, S. M. (2004) Police Encounters with Juvenile Suspects. National Criminal Justice
Reference Service. Retrieved from
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/205125.pdf
Lemmer, Thomas M, Johnston, Rachel M. Reducing Crime through Juvenile Delinquency
Intervention. The Police Chief, 71(5). Retrieved from
http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=291&issue_id=52004
Dehnart, Andy. (2011) Beyond Scared Straight's Real-Life Controversy. The Daily Beast.
Retrieved from
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/02/23/beyond-scared-straights-real-life-controversy.html
