Chronic offenders here involve frequent or regular appearances to the law for various crimes in a very short period. Some people engage in chronic crime as a means of generating some money quickly. The cause of this is due to shortage of skills, education and employment to enable them to make money to sustain them in life. Chronic offenders mostly get involved in the criminal justice system at an early age and repeatedly get in and out of the system for years. Often, an arrest does not change their behaviors as many are in custody for less than a month they are released. Chronic offenders are associated with alcohol and drug abuse. Offenses committed by chronic offenders are minor compared to other offenses thus calling for a minimal response.
Most chronic offenders are charged with low-level crimes that are categorized as public disturbance offenses. The charges mostly echo the lifestyle of a certain individual and how he functions. It is found that not all chronic offenders tend to commit the low level of crimes, but others go a mile to be involved in major offenses, for instance, drug trafficking crimes which have high charges in most nations (Lynam, 1996). The cause of this is due to lack of proper advice or treatment after being involved in many chronic offenses in the past. Criminal justice needs to get new strategies for dealing with chronic offenders in terms or arrest, prosecution and other ways which are suitable to correct the offenders to avoid committing more crimes in the future.
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When an individual is rearrested as a result of chronic offenses and noted, a different system should be identified automatically for an extensive psychological and social assessment to stop all these activities, and the assessment is to be conducted by courts, in consultation with social services professionals to come up with an appropriate plan of the action. In some cases, it’s good to come up with mechanisms to consider when both parties are aware of the chronic offending status of an individual so that appropriate decisions can be made.
Juveniles at risk of becoming chronic offenders
It is possible that juveniles are at risk of becoming chronic offenders if they are not handled with care. A separate juvenile justice system has been established to turn away youthful offenders from the disparaging sentences of criminal courts and come up with restoration based on the individual's juvenile requirements; the system was to be different from that of adult criminals.
There various factors which may contribute to juveniles at risk of becoming chronic offenders, for instance, neighborhood or family dynamics, gender and relationship. Juveniles need to be alerted of various offenses on time to avoid them imitating others who are already involved in chronic offenses.
In most cases, youths need to be warned about chronic abuse of drugs and alcohol as it brings about dangerous behaviors including criminal activity. Although it is seen that drugs and alcohol are not uncommon among adolescents, extreme use is a risk factor for the chronic offense.
In conclusion, continuity of offending from the juvenile to adulthood tends to be higher to people who started offending at an early age, so it’s clear that to stop this tread juvenile need to be controlled at an early age before they adapt to chronic offenses in future. Also, it’s good to have programs often to keep the youths busy to avoid them being involved in chronic offenses.
Work Cited
Lynam, D. R. (1996). Early identification of chronic offenders: Who is the fledgling psychopath?. Psychological Bulletin, 120(2), 209.
References
Jones, P. R., Harris, P. W., Fader, J., & Grubstein, L. (2001). Identifying chronic juvenile offenders. Justice Quarterly, 18(3), 479-507.
Lynam, D. R. (1996). Early identification of chronic offenders: Who is the fledgling psychopath?. Psychological bulletin, 120(2), 209.
Vaughn, M. G., & DeLisi, M. (2008). Were Wolfgang's chronic offenders psychopaths? On the convergent validity between psychopathy and career criminality. Journal of Criminal Justice, 36(1), 33-42.
