Crime

Tougher Criminal Measures vs. Early Intervention

The Welfare, Justice & Corporate Models

The Failure Of The Juvenile Justice System

JUVENILE JUSTICE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

In May of 1997, the House passed a bill that allowed juvenile offenders as young as 13 years of age to be tried as adults for certain violent crimes. The House approved the measure that is part of a “$1.5 billion package aimed at curbing the rise in violent crimes by the young...under the GOP bill, virtually all of the $1.5 billion would go to states that agree to stricter prosecution and longer imprisonment of violent young offenders,” (Hess, 1997: 1). The Democrats and the White House favored a bill that allowed for 60 percent of the funds to go for alternative measures for young offenders, such as crime prevention and early intervention. Yet, the passage of the bill is a symptom of an unresolved debate that has been an issue in Congre

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h delinquent youths as well as those children and youths labeled incorrigible, truant, and/or runaway. Juvenile justice focuses on the needs of over 2 million youths who are: taken into custody; diverted into special programs; processed through the juvenile court and adjudicated; and placed on probation, referred to a community-based day treatment program, or placed on a group home or a secure facility,” (Roberts, 1989: 5-6). Judith Schwartz (1986: 6) believes that the Juvenile Justice system in the United States is a dualistic system that has two objectives as its aim, “the US juvenile justice system has two goals, one to protect young people who break the law, and the other is to protect society from young offenders...it is the resolution of this duality that presents a problem to be solved.” Because of this in-built cause creating an ineffectual system, and the above sentiments of the American public backed by stricter youthful offender legislation, many experts in the field believe that an ideology change has occurred within the American juvenile justice system. Instead of the welfare and justice models of American tradition, the corporatist model now seems to be taking a predominant role, “Juvenile justice developme
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Approximate Word count = 2684
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)