The juvenile justice system needs to be strict with even minor, nonviolent offenses because the record of a juvenile may be studied to predict future violators. "The task for a successful juvenile justice system is to identify this group of chronic offenders and incapacitate them through extended periods of incarceration" (Barr p. 1). Many criminologists have recognized that the following characteristics of a repeat offender's juvenile record are similar: ". . . child abuse and family disintegration, economic and social deprivation, low neighborhood attachment, parental attitudes condoning law violating behavior, academic failure, truancy, school drop-out, lack of bonding with society, fighting with peers and antisoc

ial behaviors early on in life" (Wilber 1). If a juvenile justice system prosecutes on early offenses, the juvenile will be able to be tracked and therefore easier to spot the characteristics of a repeat offender. The tighter the courts around the nation would be, the quicker the state can study and find these repeat offenders.

The first argument for a tighter justice system usually uses a cause and consequence argument to combat the evaluation argument of the advocates for more lenient justice. These two types of argument can never solve each other due to the different levels of stasis they appear on. As the advocates for tighter justice push for the common good of a society, the advocates for more lenient justice counter by appealing to the emotions for a child's future.

The justice system of juveniles must keep the first, young offenders out of correction facilities for they are too dangerous to be able to protect them. A study by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention ". . . found that the suicide rate of juveniles in adult jails is 7.7 times higher than that of juvenile detention centers" (Ziedenburg/Scharldi 3). The juvenile system is failing if the people they are trying to rehabilitate are either getting killed or killing themselves. The reduction of jail time given to juveniles will benefit the juveniles themselves as along with society. If the justice system reduces jail time given to those on first offenses, the government spending for prison will be reduced. The cost of keeping an offender is quite expensive w

Some common words found in the essay are:
Juvenile Justice, Delinquency Prevention, Ziedenberg Close, Los Angeles, Propositions Proposition, justice system, juvenile justice, repeat offenders, juvenile justice system, Lisa Greer, future juvenile, advocates lenient justice, adult jails, future nation, tighter justice, system strict, advocates lenient, ziedenburg/scharldi 3,
Approximate Word count = 1055
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)