Juvenile Justice System Essay

Overview of the Juvenile Justice System

As part of the criminal justice system, the juvenile justice system is in charge of handling crimes done by people between the ages of ten and eighteen, who are referred to as minors. Each state’s juvenile law, which generally varies, usually determines who is eligible for the upper age limit. Any crime that a minor commits but which an adult could also conduct is considered a juvenile offense. In addition, there are crimes known as status offenses that only a child can conduct, such as curfew violations, truancy, drinking alcohol while underage, and running away. The juvenile justice system does not try youth offenders as adults, and also their cases are usually heard in a different court that is designed for juveniles. It operates on the premise that minors are fundamentally different than adults in terms of the level of responsibility and potential of rehabilitation. The primary goals of the juvenile justice system are to ensure overall public safety and the successful treatment and reintegration of those found guilty into the society (Peter, 2017).

Determining Juvenile Status

When considering the federal law, all individuals who are under the age of eighteen are viewed as juveniles. However, each state makes the decision basing it on the age, whether an individual is to be tried in the juvenile court. A case can be moved from the criminal court to the juvenile court or even the other way round, but it will be under different circumstances which are established by the state law. The juvenile justice system offers minors similar safeguards that are provided in adult criminal trials such as the right to trial, the right against self-incrimination, and the right to call witnesses (Peter, 2017). Most of the states, however, do not allow juveniles to be tried in the presence of a jury. Also, the minors in the juvenile justice system may not be able to skip detention by posting bail. Privacy is of very high importance in this system and as such the court proceedings are usually closed to the public and the records of juveniles are highly confidential. When a youth is found guilty, they may face a variety of consequences such as community service, alternative schooling, probation, and youth incarceration.

Probation and Aftercare in the Juvenile Justice System

Probation is an alternative sentence to incarceration, it is also referred to as the workhorse of the juvenile justice system. The role of probation is to monitor youth who have not been sent to correctional facilities as well as those that have been released after being incarcerated in a correctional facility for a certain amount of time (Abadinsky, 2017). During the probation period, some of the youth can also be subjected to special day treatment programs like anger management classes, substance abuse education, and social skill building. It is also a sanction by the court most especially to youth adjudicated delinquent of lower-level offenses who they believe should be monitored. The role of aftercare is to ensure the smooth reintegration of a minor who has been released from a juvenile facility into the community which may involve a combination of transitional housing, school advocacy, employment training, crisis counseling, mentoring, drug and alcohol testing, and behavioral monitoring (Abadinsky, 2017). Aftercare also entails surveillance and control during this transition.

Differences between the Juvenile and Adult Justice Systems

There are various ways in which the juvenile justice system and the adult justice system differ from each other. The first difference is that parole in the juvenile system involves surveillance combined with activities to integrate the juvenile into the community. Probation in the adult system is primarily based on surveillance and monitoring of illicit behavior. Both the youths and adults have the community service program in common, whereby they perform socially useful unpaid labor like cleanup and landscaping in public places without being paid (Alarid, 2016). Adult offenders are at times subjected to house arrest wear a non-removable ankle bracelet and are not allowed to leave their house. Juveniles have home detention programs whereby they always leave home under a curfew and can at times incorporate electronic monitoring. For dangerous youth offenders when on parole they are subjected to Multisystem Therapy (MST) with the aid of a therapist this program is focused on helping families improve communication, increase positive peers and recreational activities for the juvenile, and also improve vocational and school performance (Alarid, 2016).

Conclusion

The juvenile justice system is mainly based on rehabilitating and ensuring that recidivism does not occur. They ensure that the minors’ privacy is of high priority and when they are released they establish measures to ensure they get accepted into the community. Though both the parole and probation of juveniles and adults focus on surveillance, for the juvenile justice system takes extra care for the minors by enrolling them programs that build them up and make their reentry into the community smooth.

References

Abadinsky, H. (2017). Probation and parole. Place of publication not identified: Pearson.

Alarid, l. F. (2016). Community-based corrections. S.l.: wadsworth.

Peter J. Champion, (2017). Juvenile justice system: delinquency, processing, and the law. S.l.: pearson.