Juvenile Offenders
A juvenile offender is a minor who participates in unlawful behavior. This is a person who is typically below 16 years of age. The unlawful crimes that could be committed by a juvenile include, robbery, murder, rape, assault, weapon possession, drug use and possession among others. Juvenile crimes conviction should be treated differently compared to adult crimes depending on the seriousness of the crime. Juvenile offenders should be tried and convicted as adults when they commit serious crimes that result in death, torture and put human life in danger.
Krohn, Marvin & Lane (4) state that due to the concern of the increasing juvenile crimes, tough policies have been put to be able to fight juvenile crime remarkably. These tough policies include transferring serious juvenile offenders to adult courts. For a case to be considered a serious crime, a judge has to listen to the individual crime and determine if it should be transferred. Policies have changed throughout the years and states have transfer laws that automatically transfer juvenile offenders to an adult court depending on the crime committed. This has made juvenile crimes decrease significantly but the tough laws remain and are used where necessary.
According to Krohn, Marvin & Lane (440), the rise in juvenile homicide offenders led to the legislative policies that changed the duty of a juvenile system from a rehabilitation system to a more correctional system. The juvenile court changed its purposes from rehabilitation to protecting the people from juvenile offenders. Dealing with juvenile crimes and offenders would be more formal and will reflect the adult system. There was a change in the purpose of the juvenile system which was meant for rehabilitation and providing treatment to the offenders that were brought to the juvenile courts. It changed to a system that focused on protecting society and taking into consideration the victims of the offense. Increasing homicides by juvenile offenders led to prolonged sentences for the offenders and also the transfer of the offenders to the adult criminal justice system.
To deal with crime by juveniles, one approach to the problem is treating them as adults and this is an approach that is being adopted by many judges. Research shows that the majority of the people believe that juvenile offenders who commit murder should be tried and convicted as adults Bardess, Shelley & Schmidt (183). This is so because an offender who is capable of committing murder can understand the wrongful nature of the act. The main objective of juvenile courts is to reform rather than to punish. In some states, the juvenile courts determine whether an offender should be treated as an adult depending on their offense. When the juvenile offenders are treated as adults, they are tried and convicted for the crime rather than the rehabilitation and treatment given in the juvenile courts. When convicted as adults, their penalties may include those given to adult offenders.
Conclusion
Juvenile offenders who commit serious crimes should be tried and convicted as adults because these are people who can comprehend what they are doing. People have supported this law because it is effective compared to rehabilitation and paternalistic treatment. This has led to a decrease in juvenile crimes making the communities safe to live in and the victims of the offenses are reflected on. Considering the effectiveness of the system, more states and judges should adopt to it to help reduce and end juvenile crimes.
Works Cited
Bardes, Barbara A, Mack C. Shelley, and Steffen W. Schmidt. American Government and
Politics Today: The Essentials. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.
Krohn, Marvin D, and Jodi Lane. The Handbook of Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice. ,
- Print.
