Juvenile Justice
The American juvenile justice system was designed over 100 years ago to reform kids who were found guilty of minor crimes such as petty theft and truancy. Today, the system is becoming overwhelmed by crimes of violence. Stealing and skipping school have been replaced by violent crimes, such as rape and murder. The juvenile justice system was never meant to deal with these kinds of problems. In the past the juvenile justice system sought to rehabilitate youthful offenders by taking a protective stance over juvenile delinquents. However, the "protect instead of punish" ideology of yesterday, better dealt with yesterday's crimes. Today as juvenile crime has become more common and violent and our system will be forced to make changes. The justice system will become a ground of harsher punishment, and will limit it's rehabilitative efforts only to those who deem themselves worthy of re-entry into today's society. The biggest problem facing law enforcement today may be the very structure of the juvenile justice system. A system that neither punishes nor rehabilitates is useless. Examples of juvenile justice system failures are found everywhere throughout the United States. In Richard Lacayo's article, "SuperPredators Arrive," he disc
Along with education the juvenile justice system will begin to take a more disciplinary approach to rehabilitation. Many judges and elected officials are now sending juvenile offender to military-like boot camps. The boot camps are very similar to Marine Corps basic training, where there is a strict code of discipline. Boot camps provide a modern alternative to previous juvenile detention centers because they aim to instill structure, pride, and respect, as well as education and rehabilitation in juveniles. The Boot-Camp concept has a definite place in the future of the juvenile justice system, "During the early years the majority of the juvenile justice community did not accept this idea with only four institutions existing by 1987. That trend did not last long. With the rise in juvenile violence and increased media coverage of juvenile violence that number exploded to 46 institutions operating in thirty states just five years after the idea was introduced. " (Hayslip, 33.) During an offender's stay at boot camp, various forms of rehabilitation occur. For instance, a variety of uncomfortable duties would be assigned and the attention to detail and completion of these duties would be rewarded. "Cleaning and scrubbing the bathroom with a toothbrush was one of these common duties" (Hayslip, 30.) Yelling is also a tactic utilized in boot camps to get an offender to respect authority. Educational and instructional drug and alcohol awareness as well as counseling is conducted on a daily basis. Physical labor, strict obedience and an emphasis on one's importance in life are also a vital part in the boot camp system. In addition to adult prison sentences, when transferred into the adult system, juveniles become eligible to receive the death penalty for their crimes. While the death penalty remains a controversial issue in the sentencing of adults, the mindset of the American public seems drastically opposed to its administration when dealing with juven
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Approximate Word count = 1327
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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