Youth justice in 2011 is tougher on crime than on the causes of crime - Essay Example

? Youth justice in is tougher on crime than on the causes of crime Introduction: Youth justice is becoming a growing concern in the developed countries to safeguard the legal rights of the young generation indulged in criminal activities. The increasing criminal activities in countries such as USA and UK by the youngsters have compelled the legal authorities to adopt legal and formal policies to protect and provide the right justice to the youngsters. Youth justice provides justice to juvenile offenders who are legally not old enough or under 18 years of age. The main purpose of Youth justice or juvenile justice is to provide rehabilitation services to the youngsters rather punishing them. The basic aim of providing rehabilitation services to the youngsters is to prohibit them from future crimes and to lower down their criminal activities. Positive assistance is provided them to them by the involvement of their parents, social workers and probation officers in order to bring the positive changes in the behaviors of the young offenders and to prevent them from any other criminal activities in future. Youth justice in 2011 is tougher on crime than on the causes of crime: an analysis As discussed earlier, juvenile criminal activities are becoming the matter of growing concern for all the legal bodies around the world. Governments are taking special care and interest to minimize the causes of crime and to inhibit the criminal behavior in the youngsters. Recent riots in England have clearly showed the mental stability and the growing aggressive behavior in the young generation of England. It is important to understand the causes of adopting the criminal behavior rather than focusing on crime. It is impossible to eliminate criminal activities from the society but it is equally possible to understand and inhibit the causes of criminal activities that shape the criminal behavior in youth (Gilmore, 1990). Causes of Youth Crimes: It is impossible to understand and investigate the criminal attitude in young underage without understanding the reasons behind the adoption of such behavior. Different approaches and theories have been proposed to define and explain the criminal behavior in the youth. According to different criminologists, criminal activities involve all the public wrong doings committed by the teenagers falling into the age bracket of 12 to 20 years. There are several factors that sociologists believe are responsible for shaping such delinquent behavior in younger generation such as influence of the society, peer pressure and violation of different societal and moral norms. Some children are observed growing with antisocial behavior which may be the root cause of all the criminal activities. It has been observed that juvenile delinquent behavior is most common in age groups of 14 years while it is least in age groups of 17 years (Gilmore, 1990). Factors Contributing in Juvenile Delinquent Behavior: Our society emphasizes on punishing the offender for his crime rather than the cause that made him commit that crime and unless the root cause of the crime is eliminated; this problem will never be solved. Few of the most important factors that contribute in provoking and creating the criminal mindset are: 1- Economic and Social Factors: Criminal behavior is the outcome of pessimistic consequences of social and economical development. Economic and political instability and weak state institutions are responsible for giving rise to criminal behavior. Among other factors; high unemployment rates and low incomes are also included. Such circumstances may provoke the involvement of young people in criminal activities. 2- Cultural Factors: Criminal behavior may also be the outcome of extraordinary efforts to fit in the society one is living in and to meet that standard one can be willing to go at any limits at that point in time one may fail to distinguish between the right and the wrong. Just to meet the status quo, one may be willing to commit any crime to any limit. It has been observed that juvenile delinquency can also be the result of unaccepted and fragmented social norms. Negative cultural practices also play a vital role in shaping adverse attitude in the minds of young generation. Unequal distribution of wealth, weak family structures, unshakable social values and insufficient resources may act as the responsible factors (Spergel, 1995). 3-Migration: Migrants often feel hard to accept the social norms and cultural practices of other countries. This may often result in cultural shock which compels them to adopt the unacceptable behavior during the hard circumstances. Because of the reason that the immigrants often find themselves unable to fit in the new environment the tendency of the criminal activities is often seen higher among them . Peer Influence: Peer influence also contributes in creating adverse behavior in the vulnerable minds of young people. Youth is often influenced by the activities of their friends and they try to imitate their actions. For these young people, their friends are the role models. Their primary associations which start from their schools play an important role in shaping their personality and mindset (Spergel, 1995). Labor Approach in Youth Justice during 1997-2010: Labor approach in youth justice during all these years gives a clear idea that how youth justice system in England and Wales has transformed its policies and reforms. Monetary investment has helped the Youth Justice Board to perform better and to grant equal rights to the deprived youth offender teams and other controlling agencies. However, we know that the outcomes of the labor approach in youth justice were not so admirable and the claims made by the government on the success of youth justice system were just an illusion. It is extremely important to understand that the principle aim of youth justice system as it was mentioned in the “Crime and Disorder Act of 1998,” is in dire need of its proper execution to achieve significant results (Solomon et al., 2007). The focus of youth justice policies was aimed to facilitate the young offenders by fulfilling their social and personal needs. The policy was aimed to provide the young offenders with education, vocational training, and programs that ensure their mental health. However, to some extent the reforms failed to meet nearly all the targets. The focus of this approach was aimed to minimize the criminal activities of young offenders and to provide them with best facilities and support. Today, the youth justice system is in dire need to revise its policies and to focus more on how their goals can be achieved in addressing youth offending. Conservative Approach of Today: The conservative approach in England and Wales is aimed to bring the effective and the productive results in addressing the issue of youth offending. The basic aim of conservative approach is to focus on restorative justice rather on penal justice. This approach enables the youth justice system to understand and evaluate the justice system and focuses on how this conservative approach can motivate and bring the desirable results in facilitating the young offenders with justice. The recent policies of youth justice focus on eliminating the causes and actions of crimes more than it is directed in punishing the offenders for their crimes (Sanders, 2005). Summary and Recommendations: We often neglect the causes of crimes yet we focus on the punishing the offender for his criminal activities. However, it has been observed that stress should be laid in making positive efforts to rectify the behavior of the younger generation. It has also been found that it is highly important for the authorities, teachers and parents to address the causes of crime to inhibit the growing criminal behavior in youth. Parental control is important in maintaining the healthy mindset of their children. Strict delinquency policies should be adopted to address the causes of crimes rather punishing the offender for his offense. List of references: D, Gilmore (1990). ‘Manhood in the making: Cultural concepts of masculinity.’ London; Yale University I, Spergel (1995). ‘The Youth Gang Problem.’ New York; Oxford University Press. Solomon, E., Eades, C., Garside, R. and Rutherford, M. (2007). ‘Ten Years of Criminal Justice under Labour: An Independent Audit’. London: Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. Sanders, B. (2005). Youth Crime and Youth Culture in the Inner City.London: Routledge. Juvenile Delinquency. < http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/documents/ch07.pdf> Accessed online on 14th February, 2012. Read More