JUVENILE DETENTION SYSTEMS

Juvenile Detention Systems: Detention and Rehabilitation of Young Offenders

Juvenile Detention Systems: Detention and Rehabilitation of Young Offenders

Thesis Statement

“Poverty is one cause of juvenile crime. In addition, poor youngsters are more likely to end up in jail than well-off youngsters who commit the same crimes.”

Introduction

Juveniles in the United States are subject to incarceration in adult jails and prisons because they have been tried and sentenced in adult criminal court, or they are awaiting trial or sentencing. To help disadvantaged young people, including those who are accused of committing crimes, social reformers have worked to create a system of juvenile courts and rehabilitation facilities to help these youngsters grow up to contribute to society. Some people fear that the juvenile justice system has recently started turning away from its roots of helping to rehabilitate young people in trouble. Since 1992, forty-seven states have passed laws to make punishment more central in the juvenile justice system. These laws have allowed juveniles accused of a crime to be transferred to adult courts, and have given courts more power in sentencing juvenile offenders. In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court in effect opened the door to imposing the death penalty on youths who were sixteen at the time they committed their crime (William 1998, pp. 5).

Over the past several decades, there has been an increase in the number of juveniles incarcerated in adult facilities, but the population remains small. Supporters of juvenile waiver (the process in which a juvenile's case is transferred to adult criminal court) and the incarceration of waived juveniles in adult institutions, maintain that the adult criminal justice system is better suited to handle serious juvenile offenders than the juvenile justice system. Alternatively, opponents of juvenile waiver and the co-incarceration of juveniles and adults argue that the adult system is not designed to handle these young offenders, and the issues associated with incarcerating adults and juveniles together outweigh any benefits (Yablonsky 2000, pp. 4).

Methods for Transferring to the Adult System

There are several situations in which a minor, a person below the age of 18, can be tried in an adult court and receive a sentence of confinement in an adult facility. Juvenile justice systems in the United States define the maximum age of a juvenile differently. In most states, the juvenile court can hear cases involving individuals up to the age of 17; however, in about 15 states, the maximum age is 15 or 16. In other words, in a state with a maximum age of 16, a 17-year-old would have his or her case automatically heard in the adult criminal court, and could be sentenced to an adult jail or prison. Even children who qualify as juveniles due to their ages can have their cases heard in the adult courts. The process by which a juvenile's case is transferred to the adult system is also referred to as waiver, remand, certification, or bind-over (Glick 2001, pp. 3).

The world's first juvenile court law passed in July ...