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Punishment vs rehabilitation
Rehabilitation or punishment
Punishment vs rehabilitation
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Punishment vs rehabilitation
Rehabilitation or punishment
Punishment vs rehabilitation
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Recommended: Punishment vs rehabilitation
In Paul Thompson’s article “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” the author talks about how that teenagers who committed crimes should not be treated as adults in the legal system. Thompson also talked about how statistically teenage brains are still developing throughout their teenage years. The author Paul Thompson is more credible because not only he provided heavy words and having an expansive vocabulary he also provided examples from facts and his own research as well. Specifically, in the article and on paragraph 6 the author uses examples from his research and resides it with the current topic and to his own opinions, in the paragraph he mixed both ethos and logos to try in luring readers. The technique that Thompson uses is very unique,
Prison is Violent for The Young Offenders Gary Scott a 17 year old man who was arrested at young age of 15 for a second degree murder and was served for 14 and a half years at a state prison in San Quentin California. In the article “Prison is Too Violent for Young Offenders” by Gary Scott he expresses that “Adult prison is not the appropriate level for young offenders”(P.2) Gary Scott writes in the article “Prison Is Too Violent for Young Offenders” that the incarceration of the young prisoners has an extremely destructive effect in the way that the young prisoners are developing negative behaviors due to the bad ideas the adult prisoners are showing them.
Courts must not be given the power to try and sentence juveniles as adults because the environment in adult prisons are for adults, not juveniles, therefore, Proposition 21 should be repealed. When a juvenile enters an adult court, they are looked at no longer as an adolescent, but as an adult. However, they are not adults. Juveniles are actually far from it, not just physically, but mentally as well. It is known that the human brain, specifically the prefrontal cortex and the frontal lobe, does not stop developing up until the age of 25 years old.
Juvenile crimes are essentially crimes committed by adolescents. Some examples of juvenile crimes include homicides, robberies, and drug use. While these crimes are basically the same crimes that adults commit, the difference is that they are committed by adolescents and the motivation behind these crimes. The motives for which a crime may have been committed are stronger in adolescents such as stress, jealousy, impulse, or simply an attempt to seek attention. These things are important factors in differentiation between juvenile and adult crimes.
There are certain instances of juveniles being tried as adults and sometimes ending up getting a life sentence without a chance of parole. I find that pretty harsh because there have been some cases where the juvenile meant no harm, they were either confused or brought along by gang members and they end up being charged along with the gang members for just being with them when a crime goes down. I believe that juveniles do not deserve to be given a life sentence because for one they are still maturing, they can learn from their mistakes and make amends, we still have to combat crimes like intended murder committed by a juvenile with extreme punishments especially if they are well over the age of 16. In the article published by the New York Times on March 14, 2012 “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences”, Garinger discusses that juveniles deserve a second chance since their brains are still developing.
The huge bulk of juveniles don’t commit serious offenses or minor offenses. Certain will commit status offenses, which convey to their age, like smoking cigarettes and marijuana, consumption liquor, running away from home. Juveniles commit grave offenses for lots of causes. They may have a core alcohol or drug issue. Females with mental illness are further likely to hurt themselves.
When teen felons choose to act without thinking, they are putting other people’s lives at risk. They need to be charged as adults because the victims of the crimes will not be given the justice they deserve when they have to worry about that criminal harming them again. Although some people think that sending a juvenile through adult court gives them no hope, they should have given this a little thought before committing the crime. Teens need to think about the consequences and how their actions affect others before they act. When choosing between putting a violent adolescent in prison and taking the chance of letting them commit that crime again, it is most suitable to let the teen be tried as an adult and to place them in prison.
Juveniles should be convicted as adults for violent crimes because it is not fair for juveniles to commit big crimes and get away with it so easily. If they want to act like adults, they should be treated. Some teens commit crimes and don't have a really good excuse on why they do it. In the article “On Punishment and Teen Killers” by Jennifer Jenkins she explains how the teenager that killed her sister, husband and her unborn child excuse of killing them was that he just wanted to “see what it would feel like to shoot someone”, which is no good excuse for what he did to this family. Another example from Jennifer's Jenkins article she states how “undeveloped brain” has nothing to do with teens committing these crimes.
Those in favor of trying juveniles as adults believe that it deters and minimizes crimes being committing by all minors. That trying juveniles as adults will bring the greatest good to the most amount of people. According to an article posted by the American Bar Association by Nicole Scialabba, “the increase in laws that allow more juveniles to be prosecuted in adult court rather than juvenile court was intended to serve as a deterrent for rising youth violent crime.” It is no secret that youth commit crimes in our society. In 2014, law enforcement agencies in the U.S. made an estimated 1 million arrests of persons under age 18 (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention).
When children and teens commit a violent crime such as murder, courts convict them as adults. This means that children as young as eight have been tried as adults in court. Eventually, these convicts will be housed in jails with adults. Despite the federal law stating that juvenile and adult inmates must be separated, most states do not comply with these rules. Furthermore, a law that varies throughout the states is the age in which courts send the children to adult or juvenile prisons.
Annotated bibliography Childress, S. (2016, June 2). More States Consider Raising the Age for Juvenile Crime. Retrieved from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/more-states-consider-raising-the-age-for-juvenile-crime/ More states are considering to raising the age for juvenile crimes before being tried as adult because young offender's mental capacity. The idea is to cut the cost of incarcerate young offender in adult prison and ensure offenders to receive proper education and specialized care to change their behavior. Putting children in adult prison does not deter crime.
In our society, crimes are being committed not only by adults but by juveniles as well. By law as soon as a person turns 18 they are considered to be an adult. So what if an adult and a juvenile were to commit the same crime yet were sentenced differently simply based on the fact that one is a child and one is an adult? Juveniles are committing violent crimes just as adults and should be given the equal treatment and sentencing as adults receive. Juveniles aren’t completely ignorant as everyone seems to think.
In recent years, it has become more and more apparent that the adolescents of today are unfit for the responsibilities currently available to them. Equipping someone who is unable to fathom the risks of the decisions they make with the power to put themselves and others in danger is far too precarious. For this reason, the age at which adolescents become adults currently established is dangerously low. The age of legal adulthood should be 25, because at this age young adults are truly capable of comprehending the consequences of their actions and are able to handle the responsibilities of adulthood.
Juvenile Justice Should juveniles get treated as adults that’s one of the biggest controversy in our nation now days, with many juveniles committing crimes that are inconceivable according to their age. Judges have the last word on how to treat this young people. Many people argue that “the teens that are under eighteen are only kids, they won’t count them as young adults, not until they commit crimes. And the bigger the crime, the more eager this people are to call them adults” (Lundstrom 87). This is why people can’t come to a decision as how these young people should be treated like.
Can you imagine waking up behind closed walls and bars? Waking up to see your inmate who is a 45-year-old bank robber and you are a 14-year-old minor who made a big mistake. This is why minors who have committed crimes should not be treated the same as adults. Some reasons are because the consequences given to minors in adult court would impact a minor’s life in a negative way. If a minor is tried through a juvenile court, they have a greater chance of rehabilitation.