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Jusce System Posion
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Justice System Position Paper
The juvenile justice system of the United States should focus on rehabilitation
versus punishment. The quandary of how to effectively deal with juvenile
offenders has inundated the United States ever since the initiation of the criminal
justice system. Both punishment and rehabilitation of juveniles have been two
issues that are in the hands of the government. There are risks and benefits with
rehabilitation and with punishment of juveniles, however rehabilitation is the form
that seems more promising for the United States and its’ citizens, including the
offender.
The United States juvenile justice system should focus more on
rehabilitation in every case involving juvenile offenders. There is no federal
juvenile court division (U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs,
1997). The maximum age at which a juvenile is considered maximum to enter the
juvenile system varies by state. In New York, Connecticut and North Carolina the
Maximum age for a juvenile is 15. There are 32 states in America that see the age
of 18 as the maximum age a juvenile can be considered to appear in juvenile
system, while the remaining 8 states feel that age 16 is the maximum age that a
juvenile can appear in the juvenile system. While looking at the youngest age a
juvenile is entered into the justice system, it appears that the age of 7 is the
youngest being that any age before that is measured as not being mentally
developed (Champion, 1998). To sum this up, the age of juveniles found in the
juvenile justice system is in the range of 7 years to 17 years old.
In 2009 the United States Census Bureau stated the average life expectancy
of a human being to be 77.8 years old (U.S. Census Bureau,2009). To completely
understand reasoning of why rehabilitation should be considered versus
punishment, one should comprehend the meaning of punishment. The imposition
of incarceration, monetary fines, bodily suffering and in some cases, death is the
meaning of punishment (Boonin, 2008). In the case of juveniles punishment is
unrealistic. In the United States bodily suffering and the death penalty is not
allowed. Our United States Constitution protects against cruel and unusual
punishment. The United States Supreme Court upheld a law that said, the death
penalty in cases where the offender was under the age of 18 when the offense was
committed was outlawed, in 2005 (Golash, 2006).One form of punishment is taken
away for juveniles, now leaving monetary fines and imprisonment as forms of
punishment for a juvenile offender. Monetary fines generally are not feasible upon
juveniles because juveniles generally do not have a significant source of income
and the responsibility will lie upon the parents to pay the monetary fines. It is not
sensible to place juveniles in lock up for extended periods of time.

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Jusce System Posion
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Clearly, when dealing with juveniles, strictly punishment is not the answer
and rehabilitation measures should be instituted. Incarceration of juveniles will
instead not change a juveniles behavior without the implications of being taught
how to behave differently and become successful, law abiding citizens within the
community. The feelings of not belonging or fitting in unless they committed some
significant act is a few reasons that juveniles cite as for their reasons in committing
their crime (Juvenile Rehabilitation for Delinquent Children, 2009). Most juveniles
begin committing acts of misconduct to gain the attention of others or when the are
under peer pressure and trying to fit into a group. In the case of gangs, juveniles
are cited as joining gangs to fulfill the sense of belonging, an emotional need that
is often missing in the home of the juvenile. Committing criminal acts are a way
for juveniles to stand out in gangs or to fit in with others. Some of the acts that
juveniles commit include vandalism, larcenies and other minor criminal acts as a
way of showing that they are willing to do what it takes to fit in or feel a part of a
group (Siegel & Welsh, 2005). It is advisable that at this time is where intervention
is needed in the lives of these juveniles’, before the criminal acts become more
serious and frequent.
The juvenile court system and law enforcement agencies will feel the
greatest impact of change is rehabilitation is focused on more with juveniles.
Certain procedures are to be followed when a juvenile is arrested or referred to the
juvenile justice system. The procedures that must be followed are a combination of
court procedures, state laws and departmental policies when arresting and
detaining juvenile offenders. These procedures do differ among different regions
and localities and it is recommended that they be combined as a set uniform policy
in working with juveniles, in order to be more efficient and effective. Upon arrest
of a juvenile, law enforcement and the court system should settle on what
placement program a juvenile should be referred to. In order to be effective, law
enforcement agencies should be able to have access to the juveniles entire criminal
or offender record, both past and present, this will aid in making an effective
decision on the type of treatment or intervention that a juvenile may be referred or
court ordered to. By having access to a juveniles entire record it will aid the
department in determining whether or not this is the juvenile offenders first offense
or if they are a repeat offender. It is extremely crucial in determining the type of
treatment for a juvenile offender to prevent future incarceration, if at all possible.
Rehabilitation will not be successful if the governing agencies are not able to
successfully gain the past and present offense records of a juvenile.
There are some states that have assessment centers for juveniles, this is
where juveniles are brought once they are arrested and processed. The assessment
centers handle only juveniles. Generally at the assessment center is where a

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Justice System Position Paper The juvenile justice system of the United States should focus on rehabilitation versus punishment. The quandary of how to effectively deal with juvenile offenders has inundated the United States ever since the initiation of the criminal justice system. Both punishment and rehabilitation of juveniles have been two issues that are in the hands of the government. There are risks and benefits with rehabilitation and with punishment of juveniles, however rehabilitation is the form that seems more promising for the United States and its' citizens, including the offender. The United States juvenile justice system should focus more on rehabilitation in every case involving juvenile offenders. There is no federal juvenile court division (U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs, 1997). The maximum age at which a juvenile is considered maximum to enter the juvenile system varies by state. In New York, Connecticut and North Carolina the Maximum age for a juvenile is 15. There are 32 states in America that see the age of 18 as the maximum age a juvenile can be considered to appear in juvenile system, while the remaining 8 states feel that age 16 is the maximum age that a juvenile can appear in the juvenile system. While looking at the youngest age a juvenile is entered into the justice system, it appears that the age of 7 is the youngest being that any age before that is measured as not being mentally developed (Champion, 1998). To sum this ...
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