Issues in Juvenile Justice System

Issues in Juvenile Justice System

There has been a rising number of youth offenders due to a high rate of drug and substance use, peer pressure, depression, and other defiant disorders. The increasing rate of reported cases and issues in the juvenile justice system has created the need to come up with elaborate legislation and strategies to improve the functioning of the justice systems. Numerous challenges are affecting the current juvenile justice systems making it hard to rehabilitate youthful offenders.

One of the significant issues within the juvenile justice system is drug and substance abuse among the deviant youthful offender, which is on the rise. The rate of drug abuse among youths is on the rise leading to the many instances of abnormal behaviors and violence (Decker, & Marteache, 2017). Most of the juvenile offenders in incarceration turn up to be more violent even after their release due to exposure to drugs and the development of hyperactivity disorders. The current juvenile systems do not help in rehabilitating the youthful offenders hence they end up growing to violent criminal gangs. Most of the young offenders are going through depression and other psychological disorders and thus the need to come up with more robust strategies to reform the youth offenders and reintegrate them back to society.

The juveniles can still access drugs while in incarceration, and thus, due to the influx of more offenders each day, many cases of drug abuse have been reported. Most of the young offenders are molded to become criminal gangs as a result of peer pressure, and thus, they end up being violent criminals. .Drug addicts may not access adequate therapy and rehabilitation, especially where the family members cannot provide for effective mental health treatment. The primary role of the juvenile justice system should be on the rehabilitation of offenders and thus should introduce more effective psychological therapy and counseling to help the youths grow into law-abiding citizens. The rising number of teens involved in daily reported crimes makes it necessary for the juvenile justice system to reexamine their view of young offenders.

Youth offenders after jail sentences have formed violent criminal gangs that involve in dangerous criminal acts and atrocities and thus affecting the society at large. The criminal justice systems have treated youths as adults by passing harsh incarceration measures that do not help to rehabilitate the young offender (Kretschmar, Butcher, Flannery, & Singer, 2016). Most of the youths are adjudicated and found guilty of mainly status offenses and truancy and thus should not be incarcerated but guided and counseled adequately on the need to halt their bad behaviors. The inhumane treatment of juveniles in incarceration makes it essential to find other alternative measures to end youth confinement.

Policymakers and law enforcement officers should focus on understanding the brain development of the juveniles and their relationship to their current criminal behaviors (Sattler,2017). A clear understanding of the factors contributing to the criminal act of the youths should be maintained to try and help the offender avoid deviancy. The juvenile justice systems should abolish harsh laws such as life sentences for juveniles and remove juveniles from adult jails to provide effective rehabilitation and reintegration of the young offenders back to society. Community-based strategies and non-custodial sentences would serve the rehabilitation of youths to be law-abiding citizens (Sattler,2017). The juvenile courts should be limited from imposing pretrial detention and charging the juveniles guilty of status offenses. More rehabilitation and probation centers should be put in place to provide the mental and psychological assistance to the minors.

Youth violence and female delinquency are some of the critical issues in juvenile justice as a result of the co-occurrence of mental challenges and drug use among youth (Underwood, & Washington, 2016). The policymakers need first to understand the root causes of violence and delinquency among juveniles to implement effective strategies to combat antisocial behaviors. Gender differences and antisocial personality traits among the youths have contributed to the rise of youth offending and thus the need to provide effective counseling and psychological assistance to prevent the rise of violence(Underwood, & Washington, 2016). The incarceration of offenders does not help to resolve the criminal behaviors of the juvenile offenders but instead make them more violent due to the exposure to harsh conditions and negative labeling (Waters, 2019). Research indicates that the criminal behaviors and violations associated with the youths is as a result of peer influence and abnormal brain development and thus the need to understand the mental development challenges and assist the kids in controlling their behaviors.

In conclusion, the juvenile justice system should put in place effective rehabilitative interventions to deal with youth offenders and exclude them from adults’ courts depending on the nature of their violations and age. Law violations of juvenile offenders should be handled in probate courts, juvenile courts, or comprehensive family courts to ensure that the juveniles are rehabilitated back to the community without exposure to harsh conditions that would make them more violent. Drugs and substance abuse among the youths is on the rise and thus the need to come up with campaigns on the effects of drugs and rehabilitate the addicts to reform from their criminal habits. Effective socialization measures should also be given to mould young offenders to grow as law-abiding citizens. Juveniles found guilty of mere violations should not be apprehended to serve harsh punishments, but effective counseling should be offered by the juvenile court system to assist the young offenders in controlling their criminal behaviors and being law-abiding citizens.

References

Decker, S. H., & Marteache, N. (Eds.). (2017). International handbook of juvenile justice. Springer

Kretschmar, J. M., Butcher, F., Flannery, D. J., & Singer, M. I. (2016). Diverting juvenile justice-involved youth with behavioral health issues from detention: Preliminary findings from Ohio’s Behavioral Health Juvenile Justice (BHJJ) Initiative. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 27(3), 302-325

Sattler, A. L. (2017). Treating youths in the juvenile justice system. Pediatric Clinics, 64(2), 451-462.

Underwood, L. A., & Washington, A. (2016). Mental illness and juvenile offenders. International journal of environmental research and public health, 13(2), 228.

Waters, R. (2019). After Prison, Healthy Lives Built On Access To Care And Community.