part 1 Trying Minors as Adults vs. The Juvenile Justice System" Over the past few decades there has ...
part 1 Trying Minors as Adults vs. The Juvenile Justice System" Over the past few decades there has been much controversy over trying minors as adults and then incarcerating them in the adult corrections system vs the juvenile justice system. After reading this week discuss the following: What benefits exist in sentencing a minor to the juvenile corrections system? What risks exist for juveniles in the adult prison system that adults in the same system do not face? Do you see any long-term negative consequences that come from incarcerating minors with adult criminals? For what crimes do you feel that a juvenile should be tried as an adult? Part2 Respond to two peers peer 1 Good evening, Class, In the juvenile corrections system, there are programs created for adolescents to prevent them from further trouble in the future as adults. These programs are beneficial because a lot of these young people come from troubled backgrounds or have some sort of mental health issue. It provides them the opportunity at a second chance to redeem themselves a promising future. “A specialized risk–needs tool could be used to help the court decide about placement but could also be used by a program once the youth is placed to help determine what interventions should be provided to that individual” (Heilbrun et al., 2024). “The first juvenile justice system was created in 1899, and it was a very separate entity from the adult system” (Fox, 1969). The juvenile justice system has adapted similar systems to the adult justice system and more youth are being tried as adults and transferred to adult prisons. This leads to many risks for youth that their adult counterparts are not at a higher risk of experiencing; from mental health rates increasing, at risk for rape, and many adolescents will commit suicide in adult prisons (Murrie et al. 2009). In the text and from the YouTube videos, we learn that the brain is not fully developed until the early twenties. Adolescents are still trying to navigate their emotions in correspondence to their experiences. Are there long-term effects that negatively will affect minors incarcerated with adults? Of course. The main effect will be their mental health, so this calls for the possibility of treatment programs while incarcerated or back with society so that they can maintain a healthy lifestyle and have the support to keep them from themselves and others. In an article, Raise the age, it suggests that youth not being exposed to peers who abide by the law can have reoccurring offenses. The juvenile system has programs for teens; therefore, they are exposed to peers who want to do better. “The criminal justice environment comes to be a place where the youth feels most accepted, worthy, and at home. A lack of access to juvenile rehabilitative programming and education further severs youth from a broader prosocial world” (Tabashneck 2018). It is so hard to determine what crimes a juvenile should be tried as an adult. I say sexual assault and murder. Yes, while their brains may still be developing, these minors still know right from wrong. This is a new generation of children who have a plethora of resources to understand what you can and cannot do as a citizen, a human being. There are communities who advocate for youth and have programs, many of which are free if they are troubled and need outreach. In the text we read about Jacob Ind, he was 15 when he murdered his mother and stepfather and, in his story, we learn that his reason was due to the lack of love he received from his mother and the sexual assault he and his brother endured from the stepfather (Heilbrun et al., 2024). I personally felt sympathetic for Ind, because of the mental toll that it had to have put him through and one day he just snapped. He was a kid who was betrayed in the worst way. It is cases like this one that make it difficult to determine. -Danni WORD COUNT: 555 Fox, S. J. (1969). Juvenile justice reform: An historical perspective. Stan. L. Rev., 22, 1187. Peer 2 When sentencing a minor to the juvenile corrections system, these children can benefit from this sentencing. These benefits include rehabilitation, educational and skill development, limited stigmatization as their record is typically sealed or expunged when the child reaches adulthood, overall community safety as the child is removed from causing a larger threat to society and his or herself, further family involvement as many families are recommended to be apart of the rehabilitation process, individualized treatment plans that adhere to the necessary needs of the child, and the developmental change the child can undergo through maturity and change (Juvenile Justice, n.d.). The juvenile corrections system is known for more of a restorative approach than the adult criminal justice system (Juvenile Justice, n.d.). The main goal of juvenile corrections is to intercept young offenders who need or want to commit further and more ‘serious crimes’(Juvenile Justice, n.d.). The risks that juveniles can experience in adult prisons, that adults do not happen to face is the heightened vulnerability to physical and sexual abuse or assault, due to their smaller sizes and lack of maturity they are prayed amongst, negative influences and peer pressure can be experienced by these children as well, as mental health quickly begins to deteriorate (Silver et al., 2023). Many minors in adult prisons attach themselves to antisocial adults within the prison who ultimately begin to take advantage (Silver et al., 2023). These minors experienced a greater decline in themselves than needed rehabilitation (Silver et al., 2023). I see long-term negative consequences that come from placing juveniles in adult prison systems, stunted rehabilitation, the likelihood of recidivism, long-term trauma from the emotional and physical abuse, educational disadvantages, and the outstanding effect of their beings in an adult prison affecting their legal consequences within their adulthood. I believe a juvenile should be tried as an adult if they commit crimes of rape, murder, and intentional arson. WC:308
