Juvenile Justice System Essay

Juvenile Justice System

In recent years the United States has typically diminished the amount of incarcerations among the youth by strictly putting away kids that commit more severe crimes while delivering other lesser punishments to the minor crimes. West Virginia on the other hand, has continued to lock up a majority of crimes committed by the youth no matter how severe. The correctional facilities within the state are overflowing now and are seeing less and less effective results when the delinquents are finally released. The juvenile justice system in the State of West Virginia lacks proper rehabilitation methods and procedures, disregards the original intent of such a system created for a specific group, and wastes the public’s money

If the parents are doing a poor job of teaching their kids what’s right and wrong or they just aren’t trying, then community-based programs aren’t the best solution. In addition, if the crime was committed at the home, then there is little good in placing the kid back where they are able to commit the offense

There needs to be consultation among the authorities, the parents, and the child to make the best decision. The reasoning being that the child could be in fear of staying at home with their parent or they could just be disobedient and want to leave home despite what is best for them. Also, with parents, they could be abusing their kids or even neglecting them, both of which are detrimental to an individual’s health. In addition to that, I think the authorities should be the priority in decision-making with whether the child should be put in a correctional facility or group home based upon the living situation at home, the severity of the crime, the child’s willingness to stay home, and the availability of local community