Juvenile punishment and the political sociology: Treating juvenile offenders as adults

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

DECLARATION

I, [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background1

Research aims and objectives1

Research question1

Significance2

Method2

Triangulation4

Validity6

Ethical Considerations7

CHAPTER 2: INTRODUCTION TO JUVENILES8

Defining Juveniles8

Defining Juvenile Delinquents8

Factors Related to Adolescent Involvement in the Juvenile System10

Age10

Gender11

Racial or Ethnic Group12

Gender and race/ethnicity13

Juvenile Offenders and Juvenile Delinquency Juvenile Justice System Process14

Formal or informal processing15

Adjudication15

Disposition15

Disposition review16

CHAPTER 3: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM17

Current Structure and Function of Juvenile Courts18

Individual Factors in the Development of Juvenile Delinquency20

Biological Development21

Age21

Physical Development22

Genetic and Neurological Factors24

Cognitive Development28

Intelligence28

Reasoning30

Emotional Regulation32

CHAPTER 4: TREATING JUVENILE OFFENDERS AS ADULTS35

Status offenses36

Delinquency offenses36

Recent trends in juvenile crime37

Juvenile crimes and legislative responses38

Racial disparities39

Problems faced by juveniles in adult prisons39

Consequences of being tried as adults40

Prosecuting juveniles as adults is injustice40

CHAPTER 5: REFLECTIONS42

REFERENCES44

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Background

Nowadays the number of children involved in heinous crime. This research focus on the aspect whether the juveniles should be treated as adult criminals or not. This research will focus on whether children should be treated as adult and the factors which should be considered while imposing sanctions on children. A child mind is innocent and not well developed. If the children live in adult jails, it would affect the development of the child. Spending even days or months affect the child mind in the long term. The researcher will focus on the pros and cons associated with treating juveniles as adult criminals.

Research aims and objectives

The researcher aims to address the following objectives in this research

Brief introduction about the juveniles

The factors responsible for juvenile crimes

The effect of treating juveniles as adults

The impact of adult prison on children

Research question

The researcher will address the following research questions

Who are juveniles and what are factors responsible for juvenile crime?

What is the current system of juvenile justice system?

Whether the juveniles should be treated as adults or not?

Significance

This research is of huge importance. This research will fill out the gaps in the existing literature and contribute to the existing studies.

Method

Secondary research has been used as research technique for this research. The internet publications, studies on similar subjects and article have all been considered for this research. This research began with existing literature detailed analysis. The final conclusions were drawn from the analysis of secondary data available on the internet and other secondary sources. Since this research is based on a broad subject, secondary research methodology is the best methodology available which can be used for such research subject. The literature review and the conclusion of the research are deduced from the secondary sources and the data has been extracted from the sources written in the reference ...