Essay About Juvenile Crime And Are Children Adult Enough

Juvenile Crime: Are Children Adult Enough?
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Juvenile Crime: Are Children Adult Enough?
Juveniles are responsible for about eighty percent of the murders in the United States.
“The juvenile arrest rate for violent crimes rose 62 percent between 1988 and 1994, and the
state laws have increased the transfers of jurisdiction over juvenile defendants from juvenile
court to adult court” (Steiner & Wright, 2006). There are two goals that the criminal court
accomplishes when they transfer a juvenile offender. The two goals of the criminal court are it
places juveniles who are beyond rehabilitation into the adult criminal justice system, and it
serves as a mechanism for deterring future juvenile crimes. Studies have shown that harsher
punishments for juveniles do not necessarily result in lower crime rates when they complete their
sentence, and trying children as adults is doing more harm than good. Juvenile waiver
provisions have a tremendous impact on a young persons life because they may face a life or
death sentence, incarceration in prison, and permanent criminal record. Juveniles who go
through the juvenile justice system, on the other hand, generally must be released by the age of
18, receive rehabilitative treatment in a juvenile facility, and may be permitted to have their
juvenile record expunged.
By labeling these juveniles that are waived into adult criminal court as convicts instead of
juvenile delinquents, it can seriously impair the childs future aspects, such as college and
employment. This labeling is the cause for higher recidivism rates among these youthful
offenders. Due to the lack of opportunities available to them, since they have little to no chance
of going to college or getting a job, they will continue with their crime. This labeling theory
creates a social problem. These children who are labeled convicts become repressed through
prejudice. Colleges do not want convicts attending their schools and employers do not want
convicts working for them. Also children that are trying to be delinquent to get more attention
are getting exactly what they are looking for by being waived into adult criminal court.
One of the ideas behind creating the juvenile court system was that children were unlike
adults, they can be easily helped if they were turning delinquent. Children in the juvenile court
would not be found guilty and be considered convicts like adults, they were be adjudicated
delinquent and helped to get back on to the right path. These adjudicated children would not be
branded convicts and would not be considered part of the criminal justice system, they would
have no criminal record. However, not all children would get this opportunity for help once
courts started using the juvenile justice waiver to waive serious juvenile offenses and other
juvenile offenders that were found to be seriously delinquent into adult criminal court. “In the
past, transfer determinations focused on whether juveniles could be rehabilitated; today, the
amenability to rehabilitation is mostly a secondary concern because courts primarily focus on the
potential risk of dangerousness” (Parry, 2009).
The neurological development that is most critical to make good judgments, moral and
ethical decision making, and controlling impulsive behavior is not complete during the
adolescence stage. It is a fact that substantial differences exist between adults and children.
Children as you as 13, have found themselves subject to severe penalties in the adult criminal
justice system. Juveniles are deficient in their understanding of their rights, the trial process, and
are incompetent in making sound decisions, which makes juveniles more vulnerable in the adult
court system. “As the empirical evidence indicates, deficiencies in psychosocial maturity among
juveniles are caused by their impulsivity, reliance on peer acceptance, lack of autonomy, and
poor judgment in relation to future consequences” (Sellers &Arrigo, 2009). Philosophies shared