The juvenile justice system is described as a distinctly American invention; it began in 1825 when a wayward children institution called the House of Refuge was started in New York City, which later became the first juvenile court, close to a century ago in 1899 (Findlaw, 2019). Before this revolutionary innovation by the American people, youth and children were treated as "miniature adults." They were tried and punished in the same manner as adults would be punished. The young offenders were exposed to horrible conditions like the corrupt influence of adult inmates in the penitentiary institutions; they were routinely remanded. This article focuses primarily on the way juvenile offenders were treated in the 19th century. The essay also explores the reforms made for improvement, the development of the system, comparisons of how it was then and now, the processes involved in juvenile justice, and the comparison of the juvenile justice system and adult justice system.
In the 1800s, juvenile delinquents were treated the same way as adult offenders because they shared the same incarceration units. In prison, adult offenders bullied juvenile offenders because they were exposed to them. Young offenders were also subjected to equal punishment as adult offenders would. For example, they were housed in overcrowded and substandard facilities; they lacked medical care and rehabilitative services and suffered punitive and controlling environments. Unfortunately, most of these juveniles were incarcerated for non-criminal behaviors since few other options would correct them. Environmental management and group treatment remained poor all through, both inside and outside. The situation is unfortunate for juvenile offenders because it is evident that they were struggling in such conditions.
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This continued poor treatment became an ignition to reformers' efforts to focus on changing the daunting conditions of these juvenile offenders. Firstly, pioneering penal reformers Johnson Griscom and Thomas Eddy opposed the housing of children and youths in the same units as hardened criminals. They asked the federal government to create institutions specifically for juvenile incarceration. Their efforts bore fruit when, in 1925, the New York House of Refuge was designed to keep youths who were regarded by authorities as difficult and prospective delinquents (Krisberg, 2018). The New York House of Refuge would, in later years, transform into what the Americans referred to as the juvenile justice court. After the juvenile justice court had been established, the jury changed their way of operation. They started trying juveniles in informal settings with less stringent verdicts. Juvenile cases were tried as civil and not criminal.
The juvenile justice institutions began as the New York House of Refuge, which resembled fortresses, and found in urban centers. Unfortunately, these refuge houses were confronted by the same challenges as those in adult jails and prisons, like deteriorating conditions and overcrowding. As education became more compulsory for youths, reformers thought about creating new institutions that emphasized education's importance. This development prompted reform schools where juvenile offenders were corrected and taught valuable educational skills that they would use after release (Center of Juvenile and Criminal Justice, 2020). In the mid-nineteenth century, other correctional institutions like out-of-home placements, cottage institutions, and probation. In 1899, the New York House of Refuge was transformed into juvenile courts.
Even before the advent of juvenile courts, juvenile offenders were treated like adult offenders and confined in the same prisons that suffered inadequate overcrowding and bullying. There were high juvenile incarceration cases because the system lacked due processes of determining whether "difficult" children deserved incarceration or rehabilitation. The indiscriminate holding of suspects also caused overcrowding of juveniles in New York Houses of Refuge long after being removed from adult jails. It is different from the case today, where correction centers are no longer meant to punish but correct juveniles. Rather than serving a prison term in harsh conditions, juveniles are first tried. Their cases are perceived as civil rather than criminal because most of them have mild criminal behaviors. Many states today have resorted to expanded community-based intervention rather than confining juvenile offenders in correctional institutions. Reform schools that were established in the 19th century are now being closed.
The juvenile justice system processes are procedures used by the juvenile justice system to handle minors who commit criminal offenses against federal and state laws. This process is divided into four steps. Firstly, intake officers investigate a juvenile to determine if they can have charges pressed against them. Once payments are pressed against these juveniles, they are put into detention for 48 hours before they proceed for trial. The trial is presided over by a judge, who finally renders a verdict.
Juvenile justice systems are created to rehabilitate minors compared to adult justice systems designed to punish adult offenders. Thus, several punishments are used to keep children out of jail, like diversionary programs, probation, and parole. Juvenile trials are held by adjudication hearing rather than a trial, unlike their adult counterparts who undergo public trial in the presence of a jury. Courts in the juvenile system are informal, unlike in the adult justice system, where courts are formal.
In conclusion, the juvenile justice system has a long history of revolutionary change. The incarceration of juveniles existed even before the juvenile system was established. Young offenders were confined together with adult offenders in dilapidated conditions, which reformers found undeserving. These reformers proposed for the separation of incarceration units between adults and juveniles, help create a juvenile justice system in 1899, which has witnessed several revolutionary changes like reducing shifting away from confinement and adopting rehabilitation as an apt way of correcting juvenile offenders. With all these changes, I would conclusively say that the juvenile justice system has done more good than harm to offending minors.
References
Krisberg, B. (2018). Juvenile justice and delinquency . Los Angeles: SAGE.
FindLaw, F. (2019, January 24). History of the Juvenile Justice System. Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://criminal.findlaw.com/juvenile-justice/development-of-the-juvenile-justice-system.html
Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, C. (2020). Juvenile Justice History - Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice. Retrieved October 23, 2020, from http://www.cjcj.org/education1/juvenile-justice-history.html
