This chapter provides an in-depth overview of the juvenile justice system with the objective of helping social workers to identify the roles in juvenile justice. In the beginning, there is a broad overview of factors differentiating juvenile systems across states as they attempt to reconcile the conflicting needs of the juvenile and the public (Rome, 2013). Regarding juvenile systems, countries differ in the manner in the interests of forming the Juvenile system. Some states establish juvenile states with different desires such as holding the juveniles accountable for a particular offense and exercise punishment for mistakes they commit. Rehabilitation states are those countries that focus on taking on children and providing protection. In the final section of the chapter, there is an analysis of the history of the criminal justice system concerning the juvenile system of America as well as analyzing the constitutional rights of the juveniles.
Implication
The analysis of the factors that differentiate the juvenile system of every country indicates that juvenile justice varies from one nation to the other. The suggestion is that people in one country may be considered minor and they experience different treatment in other nations. For example, some states set the age limit for juveniles to be 16 while others rise to 18 years. Similarly, the forms of punishments prescribed to a particular crime also differ significantly across the countries. For example, the Juvenile system in America declares that juveniles should not be sentenced to life presentment, but they should focus on establishing reforms. The analysis of the criminal justice system shows that the juvenile system is not static, but it keeps on changing depending on juvenile rights, court rights, and the juvenile court proceedings.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Importance of the information in social work practice: understanding the operations of the juvenile justice system across countries enables a social work professional in performing duties. An understanding of the criminal justice system is essential because it provides adequate skills that can be applied when handling youths either in family settings or courts (Cicourel, 2017). Since a social worker is significantly involved in the delinquency stages in courts as well as providing reform to the youths, there is a need for understanding the constitutional rights of the juvenile system to handle the duties successfully.
Clients
According to Hawkins & Weis (2017) understanding the constitutional rights for juveniles is an essential aspect for the society as well as the families and courts who may seek the intervention of a social work profession. This information equips such clients with the types of juvenile crimes that need public intervention and those that need court trials. For example, if youths are accused of committing a particular offense that is subject to a court trial, the juvenile may be unable to understand the rights, but the prosecuted has the right to have a representative. Understanding the juvenile system of every country is essential because it provides insights into the expectations of the youths thus avoiding possible crimes.
Implementation and challenges
It is vital to understanding criminal justice systems applied by social workers in performing duties in families and courts in the society. For example, social workers perform various functions such as handling drug cases, sex offenses, and the identification of coming up with rehabilitative measures (Hawkins & Weis, 2017). However, implementation of the criminal justice system faces various challenges. For example, some rehabilitative measures may fail to achieve the set objectives thus compelling social workers to spend time looking for alternative means. The work proves to be tedious because social workers have to examine the social background of the youths and circumstances which may expensive process.
Chapter 12: Criminal justice
Summary
In this chapter, there is an analysis of the criminal justice system into in-depth details regarding the units and its function in the society. In the review, the criminal justice system is divided into three groups thus providing an analysis of the manner in which the law enforcement, court system, and the correction system. The duties performed in the criminal justice systems are subdivided into these three units with the law enforcement playing an essential role in arresting the criminals, court system examines whether the suspected individual is guilty of the prescribed crime while the correctional system determines the punishment prescribed to the individuals. Under every unit, the defendant has rights that should be observed. The penitentiary unit is the most applicable system in social work because professionals in this sector play an essential role in monitoring the behavior of the criminals. Crimes are divided into either social or biological crimes, and this has a significant influence on the correctional measures adopted.
Implication
Dividing the criminal justice system into three units implies that a criminal justice system has three different groups and criminals have to know their rights at every step. Understanding the theories that explain criminal behavior provides a basis for involving social workers in the criminal justice system as they try to understand social behavior thus handling criminals whose deviant behavior may originate from a social background such drug use and poverty (Rome, 2013). At the functioning of the units, social workers are involved in the criminal justice system when deciding the punishment mechanism.
Importance of the information in social work practice
The information provided in this chapter equips social workers with adequate skills required in handling cases in courts such as offering correction or punishment mechanism based on community-based corrections such as fines, punishment, and community service. Also, the system provides an analysis of people of the social factors that need to be considered when making a ruling decision. For instance, the kind of correction given to low-income and high income differs significantly, and the same differences appear across gender and age of the people in a society.
Clients
Most of the customers for social workers are people purported to have committed a crime either at the family or in the courts. This chapter provides adequate information to the clients regarding their rights as they go through the three units of the criminal justice system. According to Pound (2018), at the law enforcement unit, officers have the opportunity to investigate suspects before exposing to the courts. Therefore, this chapter offers information relating to the conditions under which the person should be examined. For example, the law enforcer should not investigate an abandoned place by the law enforcer without a warrant. At the correctional stage, the suspect should be subjected to different forms of corrections depending on the nature of the crime and evidence provided.
Implementation and challenges
The information gathered from this chapter applies to social work when examining social behaviors that may be the primary source of a crime. For example, people may engage in criminal behavior such as theft because of using drugs or poverty (Feeley, 2017). In this situation, social workers play a role in prescribing the correction measures based on community punishment such as fines. The involvement of social work in a criminal justice system possesses various challenges in the order. For example, the court system ends up engaging in racial punishment by exposing people to different forms of corrections based on gender, age, and ethnic groups.
Chapter 13: Death Penalty
Summary
This chapter focuses on explaining the application of the death penalty in the criminal justice system in the 20th century focusing on the 8th and 14th the amendments (Rome, 2013). Historically, this chapter shows that there has been a progressive reduction on the applicability of the death penalty in criminal cases. The analysis reveals that the death penalty today is prescribed in 33 states and is prescribed on people who have committed against the government or that result to the death of the victim. The opponents of the death penalty throughout the 8th and 14th amendments in the United States excludes juveniles, people with intellectual disabilities and those with mental illness from experiencing death penalty.
Implication
The above arguments indicate that the death penalty has significantly reduced across the globe limiting it to people who commit crimes against the government and those which result in the death of the victim. The application of this form of punishment is further limited by the several factors that need to be applied when considering the suitability of the defendant to experience death penalty. For instance, juveniles and people with mental disabilities should not be exposed to the death penalty. If an insane person is found guilty of committing either state offense or killing the victim, the person will be excluded from the death penalty and take an alternative form of punishment.
Importance of the information on social work
The chapter provides adequate skills that can be applied be social workers when seeking to mitigate the death penalty. Social workers play an essential task in trying to reduce the application of the death penalty irrespective of the form of crime committed by the individual (Schroeder et al. 2006). Social workers believe that exercising the death penalty has adverse effects on the society because it teaches the community that it is sometimes acceptable to kill a person for retribution. Under such circumstances, cases of criminal offenses will increase in society. The information provided in this chapter is useful for social workers because they act as mediators between the client, family, and the attorney.
Clients
This information is essential to the clients and the client’s family because it provides an agreement on the factors that should be considered when examining the life history of an individual thus determining whether the accused person is fit for a death sentence. In this case, there is a focus on mental fitness, intellectual capabilities, and age of the individual. The 8th amendment argues that it is illegal for the court to prescribe for the death penalty on individuals who are either juvenile, mental illness, or unable to process information.
Implementation and challenges
According to Schroeder et al. (2006), the death penalty is applicable in social work in situations where a social worker professional acts as a liaison between the clients and the attorney. In such circumstances, the individual is expected to investigate the history of the client and provide information about the fitness of the person before deciding the form of punishment to be prescribed to the suspect. The social worker should follow the details and agreements regarding the death penalty in the constitution such as identifying the age and the history of the person to determine if there is an association between mental illness and the client. In some cases, social workers play a role in courts by advocating the client to the team or the jury. Playing this role has a significant challenge because the social worker focuses on providing information to mitigate the death penalty thus keeping the criminal in the streets. In most cases, making judgments based on age, intellectual capabilities, and metal fitness contributes to a high level of biasness in the criminal justice system because of people. For example, the proportion of youths and adults in courts will not be proportional thus promoting particular forms of crimes among the juveniles in a society.
Chapter 14: Health and social work
Summary
This chapter explores the level of healthcare facilities in society concerning the United States where healthcare disparity has been in existence for an extended period. The section finds that healthcare disparities originate from several factors such as the gap in education, income, and social factors. This information provides a basis for the US to come up with approaches used an attempt of addressing the complexities in healthcare facilities such as Medicare for people over 65 years and Medicare benefits for people incapable of achieving the Medicare bills (Rome, 2013). The chapter provides reproductive rights, HIV aids, and provision of genetic information as the key aspects that call for a need of social workers.
Implication
The idea that reproduction and procreation should be considered when offering medical facilities to citizens implies that social factors determine healthcare. Social workers believe that individuals have rights to conception and thus should have an opportunity to reproduce without government interference (Redmond, 2017). This stamen indicates that the government should not determine any form of prescription that can be used to reduce the number of children an individual should have. The issue of HIV/AIDS has psychological and social implications meaning that social workers play a significant role in mitigating the epidemic disease.
Clients
This information is essential to both people who have HIV and those who need to make decisions they make decisions regarding reproduction. HIV/ Aids is increasingly becoming an epidemic across the globe and cause social and psychological problems to the victim and the family members. Social workers provide education to people regarding the causes and effects of HIV as well as the precautionary measures that can be applied in preventing such diseases. Reproduction clients need to understand genetics and understand the manner in which DNA testing is applied in court and its implications.
Importance of the information on social work
Human professionals rely on information from health and social work when making decisions. For example, the United States enacts policies such as Medicare for the aging and Medicaid benefits to people with financial challenges in achieving healthcare facilities. Social; workers play an essential role collecting the social information to equip professionals with information regarding the number of aged population, young children, and the number of people with Aids thus finding mechanisms of addressing such challenges.
Implementation and challenge it posses
This information is applicable in hospital social workers who play an essential role in proving direct services to patients and family members in an attempt of reducing the adverse effects that such people may get from illness or hospitalization. The hospital social work functions with an objective of improving the emotional feelings by applying the targeted interventions using the services available in the hospital (Rome, 2013). In performing these duties, social workers need to conduct extensive research on an epidemic issue to come up with strategies capable of addressing the problem at hand. Performing these duties requires allocation of resources exposing the government and the private hospitals into significant expenses. In other cases, social workers provide education and knowledge to people who seek particular information such as the DNA (Redmond, 2017. For example, social workers have adequate knowledge about genetics, and they inform clients about the usage of DNA in courts. This role promotes issues in society because people have sufficient information about the evidence that will be used in court especially when handling rape cases.
Chapter 15: Mental Health and Social Work
Summary
This chapter explains the principles and rules governing trial for people with mental disorder. In this case, social workers are categorized as the unit which plays a significant role I the court by working with people with mental disorder. The advocates and policy experts in any court of law fight for people with mental disorder and this chapter creates an opportunity for people to determine the types of mental illness that the court should include. For example, mood and anxiety disorders are some of the diseases that prove to be excluded from trials in court. Such people have rights such as the right to receive treatment and the right to refuse treatment provided that the person demonstrates competency. Social workers lay a significant role in this stage because they have to access the individual’s ability to demonstrate competence by focusing on the individual’s ability to define time, place, and understand the trial.
Implication
The prescription of the mental disorders that determine whether an individual is fit to stand for trial shows that the court should not violate the rights of people under such conditions (Rome, 2013). These conditions create a consensus between the different groups such as social workers who work with mentally ill people and advocates who defend such people. This implies that the existing rules in constitution exclude those people with a mental challenge. In a situation where the court decides to put an individual on trial, there is a need for social workers to examine the mental fitness of the accused which is reflected through the person’s ability to define a place, time, and understand the trials.
Clients
This information provides a basis that clients should consider when engaging in a trial. The clients need to understand that it is their constitutional right to undergo mental checkup before participating in any trail with an objective of determining a level of competency. If an individual is found mentally unfit, it is their right to seek or ignore any medical attention depending on the level of skill. For example, clients have the right to refuse medical care provided that they can understand the proceedings while institutionalized patients have the right to remain accountable for their actions. This information enables to predict the outcomes based on the level of competency.
Importance of the information on social work
Social workers ensure that there is an understanding between the jury and the client by providing information regarding the mental state of the client. Additionally, they provide education and training to people regarding the importance of information regarding the conditions under which clients may be subject and trial and the excluded cases (Sobhani, 2015). This information provides social workers with factors that they need to consider when determining the competence level of the person.
Implementation and challenges
Social workers apply this information in courts when needed to analyze the behavior of the accused person to determine the level of competency. According to Mulvey & Schubert, (2017) the social workers have to explore the extent to which the individual demonstrates skill and encourage the victim to take medical intervention observing the rights of people with mental disorder. This implementation stage possesses a significant challenge to society especially when it comes handling criminals based on demographic factors. For example, mental disorder is common among old men than children and women meaning that this information provides a basis of discrimination by the law.
References
Cicourel, A. (2017). The social organization of juvenile justice . Routledge.
Feeley, M. (2017). Two models of the criminal justice system: An organizational perspective. In Crime, Law and Society (pp. 119-137). Routledge.
Hawkins, J. D., & Weis, J. G. (2017). The social development model: An integrated approach to delinquency prevention. In Developmental and Life-course Criminological Theories (pp. 3-27). Routledge.
Mulvey, E. P., & Schubert, C. A. (2017). Mentally ill individuals in jails and prisons. Crime and justice , 46 (1), 231-277.
Pound, R. (2018). Criminal justice in America . Routledge.
Redmond, B. (2017). Reflection in action: Developing reflective practice in health and social services . Routledge.
Rome, S. H. (2013). Social work and law: Judicial policy and forensic practice . Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Schroeder, J., Guin, C. C., Pogue, R., & Bordelon, D. (2006). Mitigating circumstances in death penalty decisions: Using evidence-based research to inform social work practice in capital trials. Social work , 51 (4), 355-364.
Sobhani, M. (2015). Extending the logic of the juvenile justice system to a separate justice system for mentally ill offenders. Alb. Gov't L. Rev. , 8 , 439.
