Americas Juvenile Justice System Essay - 3756 Words

The Juvenile Justice system, since its conception over a century ago, has been one at conflict with itself. Originally conceived as a fatherly entity intervening into the lives of the troubled urban youths, it has since been transformed into a rigid and adversarial arena restrained by the demands of personal liberty and due process. The nature of a juveniles experience within the juvenile justice system has come almost full circle from being treated as an adult, then as an unaccountable child, now almost as an adult once more. Studies and anecdotes have shown that our modern approach, however, is ill-equipped to reduce crime or deal with chronic delinquents while at the same time protecting their due liberties. We now stand on the†¦show more content†¦Colonists placed their children either in the homes of others or, as technology enabled the industrial revolution, in factories and other locations of modern industry near the home. Writes Feld, ?The coterminous location of home and workplace and the limited range of occupations enabled young people to learn most of their required economic skills either from their parents or from surrounding adults and quickly to achieve adult productivity,? (21). More importantly, children from a relatively young age were expected to assume adult culpability for crimes they committed. Punishments for children rivaled those for adults. As time marched on, childhood became a socially constructed stage of life. Coupled with a rise in the traditional family view of domesticity (men at work, women isolated as homemakers), new concepts of child rearing took hold in the middle and upper classes. Instead of exposing children to the world, ?Deferral of adult responsibilities rather than assumption of adult roles became the child-rearing norm,? writes Feld (30). The ?child saving? movement worked to segregate children from society both directly and indirectly. These protective measures were based chiefly on middle class, protestant, white, rural idealists who viewed childhood as a stage of moral immaturity and impressionability. ?Progressive reformers implemented a variety of child-saving strategiesShow MoreRelatedBook Review for: No Matter How Loud I Shout, by Edward Humes Essay879 Words   |  4 Pageslife of juvenile court. New York, NY: Simon amp; Schuster Paperbacks. Edward Humes is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, non-fiction, and true crime writer. Of his twelve books, five involve the criminal justice system. In this work, Humes takes on the sizeable task of examining the complicated juvenile justice system, chronicling the stories of several juvenile offenders and juvenile justice officials, and how they navigate the confusing and often arbitrary laws of the California juvenile justiceRead More Juvenile Justice Essay881 Words   |  4 Pages Juvenile Justice nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The Juvenile Justice System as it typically functions in Americas thousands of jurisdictions is the subject that will be covered. 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While these landmark cases made great strides for the rights of minors passing through the criminal justice system, they are just the first steps in creating a juvenile justice system that takes into consideration the vastRead MoreAmerica s Juvenile Justice System Essay1678 Words   |  7 PagesAmerica’s juvenile justice system has been around for ages and has had problems since its creation. The courts have failed to devise a way to help juveniles and keep them from even entering the justice system. More often than not, juveniles are forgotten and never dealt with until they reach the point where they are either going to be placed within the system or receive some sort of diversion or alternative. This is where the problem exists. There needs to be more communication between the differentRead MoreBurning Down The House By Neil Bernstein761 Words   |  4 Pages Burning Down the House Review America’s answer for dealing with crime prevention is locking up adult offenders in correctional facilities with little rehabilitation for reentry into society. American response for crime prevention for juvenile’s offenders is the same strategy used against adult offenders taken juvenile offenders miles away from their environment and placed in adult like prisons. However the way juvenile our house and treated while in the care of state corrections officer isRead MoreJuvenile Rehabilitation: Adult Prison vs. Juvenile Incarceration1703 Words   |  7 PagesJuvenile Rehabilitation: Adult Prisons vs. Juvenile Incarceration Maureen Fries-Labra English 122 Anna Hopson December 14, 2009 Juvenile Rehabilitation: Adult Prisons vs. Juvenile Incarceration The criminal justice system has a branch for juvenile offenders. Established in the early twentieth century; it is the responsibility of this division to decide the fates of youthful offenders. This is administered by family court with support of social workers and family. With the increased numberRead MoreEssay on The History and Evolution of the Juvenile Justice System1368 Words   |  6 PagesThe history of the juvenile justice system is a mixture of the criminal justice system, family court, child protective services, social services, orphanages, adoption and humanitarian growth. (Schmalleger, 2007) Where a child fit into the system would depend on the crime, family pedigree, financial standing, color and social status. Children of color would be treated harsher than whites, Indian children were treated worse than African American Children, and status was determined by the color ofRead MoreCriminal Law Foundations Essay examples1543 Words   |  7 PagesCriminal Law Foundati ons Megan Ray CJA/484 April 7, 2012 Terri Madison Criminal Law Foundations Every system has a foundation that it builds off of even the criminal justice system. America finds governmental and legal foundations within the Constitution and the Bill of Rights; as time has gone by there have been amendments added to these important documents. These amendments help to support the constitution as well as the Bill of Rights. The Amendments make articles withinRead MoreJuvenile Justice System Essay1694 Words   |  7 PagesThe juvenile justice system is a foundation in society that is granted certain powers and responsibilities. It faces several different tasks, among the most important is maintaining order and preserving constitutional rights. When a juvenile is arrested and charged with committing a crime there are many different factors that will come in to play during the course of his arrest, trial, conviction, sentencing, and rehabilitation process. This paper examines the Juvenile Justice System’s court process