An emerging issue in juvenile criminal justice is the treatment of juvenile offenders, the court system and the effect of having a criminal record as a minor. This issue is illuminated in various articles and has come under serious debate due to the nature of crimes committed by juveniles and long-term effects of criminal records. The rapid rise of juvenile delinquency is having a negative effect on both the accused and society. Indeed, having a criminal record as a minor can have lifelong ramifications. To compound matters, the remedies of sealing or expunging record are usually expensive and too complicated to follow. Since juvenile records have lifelong consequences, juvenile justice workers are urged to seek reforms that would make it easier for minors to squish delinquent acts from their pasts to enable them to move on with their lives.
Major changes have been conducted in the American Juvenile Court System owing to the increase in the juvenile crimes. Contrary to the past where special treatment by the court was given to juvenile crimes, the public and the court perception has changed significantly due to changing social trends. Crimes such as substance abuse, youth’s violence and youth robbery are on the rise (Sharma, Sharma, & Barkataki, 2016). In the past, Juvenile crimes were treated in a non-punitive and therapeutic way. Today, some juvenile criminal cases are treated as adult cases due to their severity. Generally, the article attempts to show the various juvenile delinquencies, efforts being made to control and the relationship between family and juvenile delinquencies. Juvenile offenders should be treated differently from adult offenders since the nature and characteristics of juvenile crime differ from those of adult crime. Teenagers tend to engage in riskier behavior than adults, like taking drugs and committing delinquent offenses. It seems that teenagers not only consider risks in the cognitive sense, but also emotionally and socially. Further, the influence of peers can heavily impact risk taking. To that end, progression through adolescence has been demonstrated to be linked with significant changes in behavior in teenagers and may be associated with an increase in delinquency an aggression. Due to such factors, it is important to treat juvenile offenders differently from adult offenders
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The causes of youth’s delinquencies in the American society today are different. Youths problems such as drug and alcohol abuse, violence in schools, poverty, unemployment and materialism should be looked at in different aspects (Lehmann, Chiricos, & Bales, 2016). The juvenile courts are much aware of the various causes of these social problems. In America, the most popular form of juvenile crime punishment includes verbal warnings by the courts, community service, probation, counseling, fine, house arrest, juvenile halls and secured facilities, and rehabilitation. These punishments have been seen to be inadequate in some crimes committed by juvenile such as rape, first degree murder, sodomy and forced sex offences. In such cases, the juvenile court is permitted by law to transfer the juvenile to an adult court where they will be charged as adults (Lehmann, Chiricos, & Bales, 2016). The lean juvenile punishment was arrived at due to the fact that juveniles were seen to be having a high potential degree of behavioral change as they grow older. However, in today’s society the juvenile problems in some cases progress into adulthood.
The truth of the situation is that when a juvenile has been judged as a delinquent, the outcome is severe as minors are still being treated like adults by the criminal justice system. Having a criminal record when a person is still a minor can impact his/her future jobs, chances of joining higher education institutions, or volunteering opportunities. Even if the records state “juvenile,” employers may not be able to note the difference between juvenile and adult records, or they may not care as they assume that a minor who commits a crime is the same thing as an adult who commits an offense ( Ispa ‐ Landa & Loeffler, 2016) . In regards to higher educations, incentives such as public housing and financial aid may not be offered. Other consequences include revocation or suspension of the driver’s license, bans form adopting a child or becoming a foster parent, and being denied certain professional licenses ( Ispa ‐ Landa & Loeffler, 2016) . The prejudice that accompanies people who have committed juvenile offenses is also passed to those who were wrongly accused. A person who was subject to false accusations will still feel the aforementioned ramifications.
Overall, the discussion illuminates why juvenile offenders should be treated differently from adult offenders. Having a criminal record as a minor has lifelong consequences. It impacts one’s future jobs, chances of joining higher education institutions, or volunteering opportunities. It ruins one’s efforts to make a meaningful contribution to society as an adult. As the society continues to evolve, so should the way which the court system handles juvenile offenders. Since the primary objective of the justice system is rehabilitation, stakeholders should strive to create programs that enable positive transformation in juvenile offenders rather than just punishing them. This will reduce the occurence of recidivism and enable juvenile offenders to become meaningful members of society as adults.
References
Ispa ‐ Landa, S., & Loeffler, C. E. (2016). Indefinite punishment and the criminal record: Stigma reports among expungement ‐ seekers in Illinois. Criminology , 54 (3), 387-412.
Lehmann, P. S., Chiricos, T., & Bales, W. D. (2016). Sentencing Transferred Juveniles in the Adult Criminal Court. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice , 15 (2), 172–190. doi: 10.1177/1541204016678048
Sharma, S., Sharma, G., & Barkataki, B. (2016). Substance use and criminality among juveniles-under-enquiry in New Delhi. Indian Journal of Psychiatry , 58 (2), 178. doi: 10.4103/0019-5545.183791
