Dangers of Juvenile Detention - Research Proposal Example

Dangers of Juvenile Detention Abstract This research paper was about the juvenile justice system in our country. It sought to find out the impact of juvenile detention on the character of a delinquent criminal. The major sources of information included text books on criminal justice, online websites and journal articles on the same. During the study, it was discovered that many juvenile justice systems, not only in our country, tend to encourage the use of detention to rehabilitate delinquent offenders. However, the findings of the study showed that this was not the best way to correct such offenders. It was discovered that detention only works to make the delinquents even worse. This is because it brings many delinquent offenders together, and they are able to share ideas and express their bitterness towards the society. Bearing in mind all the findings, the paper went ahead to recommend some alternatives to juvenile detention, such as one-on-one counselling and community service. Introduction The juvenile justice system refers to the correction mechanism used to handle offenders below the age of eighteen. In other words, it is the way the state deal with young criminals. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, young criminals were treated the same way as adult criminals. There were no special ways in which the criminal justice system dealt with young offenders. All criminals, whether young or adult were considered the same, and they were subjected to the same criminal justice system. There were no juvenile courts nor juvenile prisons. However, as time went by, the society realized that young offenders were special in a way. The reasons they ventured into crime were not the same reasons why adult criminals engaged in crime. The society, and the criminal justice system to be exact, started to find for ways through which the young offenders could be handled more efficiently and according to their special needs[ CITATION FloNd \p 1 \l 1033 ]. That is how the juvenile justice system came into being. However, one thing that did not change was the correction mechanisms. Up to date, delinquent criminals are still imprisoned, which is the major correction mechanism in the general criminal justice system. Unfortunately, detention (commonly referred to as imprisonment) has proved to do the young offenders, and the society at large, more harm than good[ CITATION PunNd \p 1 \l 1033 ]. Problem Statement Juvenile detention has proved to make young offenders worse. There are high chances that a detained juvenile will come out of the detention even more encouraged to commit crime. Detention therefore, has proved itself over the years not to be an efficient corrective measure in the juvenile justice system. Research Question What are the dangers of juvenile detention as a corrective measure in the juvenile justice system? Methodology The major source of information was the internet. Various online articles were perused and conclusions drawn from the same were compiled and compared. Furthermore, statistics from the Department of Youth Service (DYS) in Massachusetts were relied upon to determine the percentage of delinquent criminals detained between the years 2006 and 2007. Literature Review The current juvenile justice system is not one in which delinquent offenders are handled separately in accordance to each needs. Rather, many young offenders are detained in the same prison, something that makes them to interact and share ideas over a long period of time[ CITATION Mai14 \p 1 \l 1033 ]. Past research and studies have shown that a good number of those adults who are brought before the criminal justice system, have a record of having been detained as young criminals before. Research has further shown that young criminals who are detained are likely to go back to crime, more times than those corrected in ways other than detention. What makes the situation even worse is the fact that at times, juveniles are detained for minor offenders, something that stirs the bitterness in them. According to the Department of Youth Service (DYS) in Massachusetts, 53% of the young offenders detained during the year 2006 were for minor, non-violent offenses[ CITATION GloNd \p 1 \l 1033 ]. This for sure does not help in solving the problem of crime delinquency. Findings The perusal of various online articles and the statistics from the Department of Youth Service (DYS) in Massachusetts pointed to one major thing; detention is not an effective way of handling minor offenders. Detention presents two major of its disadvantages, which contribute in making young offenders worse than they came in. The first major disadvantage of detention is the fact that it brings together many delinquent criminals. This enables them to exchange ideas, as they seek to find the reasons why each one of them is detained. In the process, these minor offenders are able to instill into each other new ideas of committing crime. The other disadvantage of juvenile detention is what it makes the minor offenders think of themselves and the society at large. The fact of being detained and denied freedom does not auger well with many of young detainees. This is because, it makes them feel as if they are a great danger to the society, and that the society hates them for that particular reason. It appears to them that the society is punishing them for their mistakes[ CITATION FloNd \p 1 \l 1033 ]. It is worth appreciating the fact that these young offenders get involved in crime for different reasons. In fact, these reasons are so distinct from those given by adult criminals. Criminology is the best evidence of the reasons for delinquency. The theories of crime presented by criminology suggest that more minor offenders engage in crime due to the lack of proper guidance. In other words, due to poor upbringing. A child therefore ends up in crime, not because he intended to, but simply because he is not aware that it is a crime. The other reason children get involved in crime is simply to seek attention. This is normally the case with those children coming from families that seem not to appreciate or care about them. Finally, some children get involved in crime as a result of the bitterness gotten from violent families and poor role models. For instance, there are cases where a child strikes his father with a knife, in the process of defending his mother. Therefore, when all these factors are put into consideration, detention fails as a corrective mechanism. The other disadvantage of what detention does is that it has the potential of introducing the young detainees to drug abuse. As much as the criminal justice system does its best to ensure that drugs and other substance of abuse are not accessed by detainees, these drugs still find their way inside detention centers. It is not shocking to see that even some of the detention officers are connected to these. Deny it or not, a prison or a detention center is a place where drug abuse is the order of the day among the detainees. When a child is detained for an offense, he is exposed to drug and substance abuse. As much as many detainees would try not to use the drugs, they end up doing so out of pressure from the fellow detainees. Furthermore, these young detainees may view themselves as having nothing to lose. It is at this point that a young detainee comes out of detention already a drug addict. When he is integrated back into the society, they are likely to continue abusing these drugs, if not trafficking the same to other individuals. Conclusion and recommendations The discussion above is enough evidence that juvenile detention is not as effective as many would think. The juvenile justice system should resort to other corrective measures that would properly attend to the individual needs of these minor offenders, instead of instilling unnecessary bitterness in them and making them even worse. One-on-one counselling can do better. This is where a minor criminal is handled by a professional counselor, who would identify first their special needs and know how to remove the criminal intent from a minor offender. The counselors can even be legal officers, parents, influential people in the society, and not necessarily psychologists. Community service is the other alternative to detention. It is where minor offenders are punished, but in a softer way[ CITATION Mai14 \p 1 \l 1033 ]. They are obligated to spare some two or three hours every day, to work on community projects under the supervision of community service officers. By doing this, the young offenders would not view themselves as great dangers to the society, something which detention does to them. Therefore, one-on-one counselling and community service programs have the advantage of not exposing these minor criminals to other minor criminals, and therefore there are very minimal chances of them going back to crime. References CITATION FloNd \p 1 \l 1033 : , (Ramirez, Nd, p. 1), CITATION PunNd \p 1 \l 1033 : , (Leyritania, Nd, p. 1), CITATION Mai14 \p 1 \l 1033 : , (Szalavitz, 2014, p. 1), CITATION GloNd \p 1 \l 1033 : , (Tan, Nd, p. 1), Read More