The Role of Restorative Justice in Juvenile Justice System

Abstract

Juvenile justice system was established on the notion that it will deal with juvenile issues related to justice on priority basis. It was argued that a youth committing a crime is not the same as when any adult commits it. Youth have different life experiences, maturity level, thought process and wisdom. The idea of separate justice system was immediately acknowledged by masses which resulted in the formation of juvenile courts all over the world. However, the system was unable to reduce crime rate among younger generation. After gaining negative attention during 1990s, the notion of restorative justice was integrated in this system. This paper will introduce the juvenile system and describe how restorative justice can be employed to reduce recidivism by adopting range of approaches.

The Role of Restorative Justice in Juvenile Justice System

Juvenile Justice System

The juvenile justice system and juvenile court are comparatively latest legal institutions which have recently acquired the age of 100 years. In 1890, the first juvenile court was established in the state of Illinois; the notion received wide level acknowledges and it was implemented in all other states as well (Rosenheim et al, 2002). The impact of the first juvenile court in US was undeniably so immense that it did not confined to just this country's boundaries and in modern times, juvenile court are present in all developed countries. (Fagan & Zimring, 2000). Before the foundation stone of juvenile court was laid down, juveniles having age 14 or older who are found guilty in any crime had to go through same process as that of adults and received the same penalty as that of adults (Tanenhaus, 2000). While juveniles younger than 14 were believed to be unable of forming criminal intent; however, this belief was rebuttable on certain grounds. In case, any juvenile were found equipped with such capacity, he/she used to be adjudicated in one common criminal court without any further consideration of minor or other special reasons. Children aged below 7 years were regarded merely lacking the capacity to form any criminal intend therefore, they could not be charged with any criminal sanctions.

Need for a Separate Juvenile Justice System

There are many arguments on which a separate justice system for juvenile is justifiable. Each individual went through different life experiences. Obviously, a 14 year old and 24 year old may have lived entirely different lives; therefore, even though, they have committed identical crimes, they have distinctive maturity levels, differentiate thought process, distinguished decision making capacity, and ultimately, varied level of wisdom. Apart from other reasons, Poverty is found to be one common cause of juvenile crime. Noticeably, adults have more capacity and opportunities to earn money than any youth. Additionally, poor youngsters are more liable to wind up in jail than wealthy youngsters coming from influential backgrounds who were engaging in identical crimes. To assist underprivileged young people, counting those who are charged for committing offenses, social reformers worked together to fashion a system of juvenile ...