Juvenile Corrections Essay

Juvenile corrections encompasses the portions of the criminal justice trunk that get laid with fresh offenders. M all of these facilities and programs seem to mirror jails and prisons, tho fresh corrections be non meant for long term sentences. Sometimes sentences for upstarts are simply several weeks long. Juvenile corrections too have a sacrosanct focus on rehabilitation beca usage studies have shown that new offenders are more prone to rehabilitation than adult offenders. These programs and dish outs were aimed to help to teach these modern offenders how to better deal with situations and how to avoid entering the into the criminal justice system again. (wisegeek)The pass judgments who handle these juvenile person cases specialize in give waying with juvenile offenders and their crimes. differents who specialize in juvenile crime are a start out of the juvenile corrections system as soundly. This holds social workers, probation officers, as well as others. Their aim is usually not to punish the juveniles alone, except to use the punishment as a way to rehabilitate them as well. (USLegal) historic Background of Juvenile correctionsThe origins of juvenile corrections are not entirely clear. Juvenile and adult offenders have been treated differently for several(prenominal) time, but what ages are considered to be juvenile has changed over time. The United States placement on juvenile ages and law was greatly influenced by English law. In the 1700s, William Blackstone, an English lawyer, published his Commentaries on the Laws of England, where he identified that young persons are incapable of committing crime. Generally, anyone under of the age of seven was incapable of committing crime. Any baby bird over the age of 14 was able to be tried as an adult. Children between the ages of 7 and 14 are a gray area, but were generally not held accountable for their actions unless it could be shown that they k reinvigorated what was right or wrong. Punishments for creation found blamable of crime include the death penalty, even for juvenile offenders. (ABA, 2011)The juvenile corrections system began to change and be reformed in the nineteenth century. Social reformers began to create special facilities to rehabilitate troubled juveniles, curiously in large cities, (ABA, 2011, p 5). These reformers stated that they wanted to shelter these juvenile offenders by keeping them separate from the adult populations because they were better able to be rehabilitated. The first court system for juveniles in the United States started in 1899 in Illinois. These courts as well aimed to rehabilitate the juvenile offenders. They had juvenile court systems in some states by 1824. The courts became the guardians of the juvenile offenders, or their parens patriae. These court proceedings were considered to be urbane matters and not considered to be criminal matters. Their basic focus was on rehabilitating the juvenile offenders. (A BA, 2011)The juvenile courts changed again in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1967, the case of Gerald in In re Gault, the Supreme motor lodge granted many juveniles some, but not all, due process rights in the course of their court proceedings. This included the right to be notified of their pending charges, the right to have an attorney, the right to protect themselves against self-incrimination, and the rights to confront and cross-examine their witnesses. Three years later, in In re Winship, the Court also established that the acc utilise must(prenominal) be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In 1971, in McKeiver v. Pennsylvania, the Courts govern that juries are not required for juvenile proceedings. In around cases, the judge in charge of the juvenile corrections department give taste the case, judge the offender, and sentence the offender. (ABA, 2011)Recidivism Rates in Juvenile CorrectionsWhen it comes to amount a correctional agencys facilities and programs, recidivism rates are most frequently used. These rates guide spending and funding decisions aimed to effectively encounter crime. While there is no standard rate that is aimed for, the idea is to try to reduce the recidivism rate or even keep it the equal oppose to raising it. When the recidivism rates are not progressing in the manner expected, these agencies must try to find other avenues and strategies that will make a validating impact on the recidivism rates, and in the long run, these juveniles lives. (CJCA, 2011)The indium Department of Correction (IDOC) defines recidivism as a return to incarceration within three years of the offenders date of release from a state correctional institution. (Schelle, 2012) The 2011 recidivism rate for all juvenile offenders was 36.7%. The recidivism rate for African American juvenile offenders was 43.8%. Eighty-two percent of the juveniles who recidivated did so with a new crime, and the other 18% returned because of technical violations. Of all ju veniles released in 2008, 40.9% of males returned to IDOC, while yet 15.8% of females returned, (Schelle, 2012). Surprisingly, juvenile sex offenders had the lowest recidivism rate at 13.6%. (Schelle, 2012)Risk-Focused Juvenile offensive activity legal communityRisk factors for juvenile delinquency have been identified from septuple studies. These risk factors are different for older and younger juveniles. When foc apply on the single(a) juvenile between the ages of 6-11, delinquency risk factors include cosmos male, having a low IQ, having asocial attitudes and beliefs, dishonesty, having medical and physical problems, hyperactivity, exposure to television set violence, petty offenses, having poor attitude and performance at school, and substance use. In this same age group, the childs family environment can also include risk factors as well. Some of these risk factors are creation in a low socioeconomic status or poverty, having antisocial parents, having poor relationships , receiving harsh or inconsistent discipline, having a befuddled home, creation separated from their parents, and having abusive or neglectful parents. (Przybylski, 2008)For children between the ages of 12 and 14, the individual risk factors include general offenses, having a low IQ, displaying antisocial behavior, committing crimes against others, using physical violence, being male, displaying risk taking behaviors, displaying aggression, having low concentration, restlessness, and general offenses. Other factors also include having a poor attitude in school, academician failure, having weak social ties, and gang membership.Living in a companionship with high neighborhood crime, drugs, and disorganization are also factors. In this same age group, the childs family environment can also include risk factors as well. Some of these risk factors are lax or harsh discipline by parents, lack of adult or enate supervision, lack of parental involvement, having antisocial parents, havi ng poor relationships, coming from a broken home, living in poverty, being abused, and experiencing family conflict. With all of these risk factors being mentioned, It is beta to recognize that risk factors cannot be used to identify which particular children will grow up to be offenders, (Przybylski, 2008, p 84).There are also protective factors that may help counter-act the risk factors mentioned above. These include the individual juvenile having a strong attitude or being intolerant toward deviance, having a higher IQ, being female, having more positive social skills and orientation, and understanding the sanctions for any transgressions. Some familial protective factors include having warm, strong, and supporting relationships with caregivers, good observe by parents, and the general support of the juveniles friends by the juveniles parents. Other protective factors include the juvenile being attached to their education, gaining recognition for extracurricular activities, and having friends who are also against deviant behavior. (Przybylski, 2008)What Rehabilitation Efforts toy for Juveniles and Which Do NotThere has been much research on what programs work to rehabilitate juvenile offenders. The general results have been that the majority of the programs have no real effect on the juvenile recidivism rate aside from a few exceptions. The reason why juveniles have lower recidivism rates is believed to be because juveniles are not completely aware of the ramifications of their actions and do not invariably understand the true damage they inflict on their victims. (Lieb, 1994)The results of multiple studies bear witness several approaches to rehabilitation that do not work. Those include visiting a probation officer one time per month, diagnostic assessments, behavior modification for any complex behaviors, broad discussion groups, attending school as a single approach, field trips, work programs, psychodynamic counseling, and therapeutic camping trips . The research used 50 different juvenile correctional programs and came to the conclusion that the results were, far from encouraging, and correctional treatment has little effect on recidivism, (Lieb, 1994, p 5).The results showed that some behavioral approaches received more positive results. An analysis used 90 residential and community programs for juvenile offenders. The analysis concluded that, Behavior approaches had the most achiever in reducing recidivism although the effects were so small that they could not defy the null hypothesis. Group therapy and transactional analysis programs were more likely to produce banish effects, (Lieb, 1994, p 5). What does seem to work is using correctional treatment and service utilizing three principles that include getting service to the high-risk juveniles, paying economic aid to the risk factors mentioned above, and using different styles of treatment depending on the needs and breeding styles of the individual juvenile offender. (Lieb, 1994)ReferencesABA. (2011, June 29). The History of Juvenile Justice. Retrieved November 29, 2012, from American Bar connecter http//www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/publiced/features/DYJpart1.authcheckdam.pdfCJCA. (2011). Recidivism Committee. Retrieved December 2, 2012, from Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators http//cjca.net/index.php/initiatives/recidivism-committeeLieb, R. (1994). Juvenile Offenders What whole kit? A Summary of Research Findings. The Evergreen State College. Olympia cap State Institute for Public Policy.Przybylski, R. (2008). What Works Effective Recidivism Reduction and Risk-Focused Prevention Programs. Denver RKC Group.Schelle, S. (2012). Juvenile Recidivism 2011. Indianapolis Indiana Department of Correction.USLegal. (n.d.). Juvenile Corrections Law & Legal Definition. Retrieved November 22, 2012, from USLegal.com http//definitions.uslegal.com/j/juvenile-corrections/wisegeek. (n.d.). What is Juvenile Corrections? Retrieved November 22, 2012, from wisegeek.com http//www.wisegeek.com/what-is-juvenile-corrections.htm