Social Justice Issue: Juvenile Justice System

Social Justice Issue: Juvenile Justice System

Prior to the 1960’s youth did not have their own set of constitutional rights, which led them to be charged unconventionally depending on the situation; often they were viewed as mini-adults who understood the consequences of their actions completely. As crimes committed by youth rose, the US Congress passed the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Act in 1974. This was put in place to help reform treatment of juvenile offenders, preventing them from being held as adults for petty crimes, and made states follow plans to help reduce the amounts of minorities in the system due to disproportional amounts (which is still the case today). With the all time high-rise of crime in the 1980’s to the 1990’s and

In this study conducted by the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, 59.6% of the study group of students who did have interactions will school discipline systems. Approximately 23% of these students would later on have involvement with the juvenile justice system, and those who have more disciplinary infractions in school have a higher chance of interacting with the juvenile justice system, which could mean higher chances of being sent to a detention center. (Fabelo et al., 2011). Some of these youth actively have disabilities such as physical or mental disabilities, or emotional disturbances. Out of the students that had contact with the juvenile justice system in this study, it shows nearly 48% of those diagnosed with emotional disturbance have contact with the juvenile justice system, while students who don’t have diagnosed disabilities are disproportionately less likely to come into contact with the justice system. This trend shows that more frequently, youth who have diagnosed disabilities or emotional issues are more prone to having contact with the juvenile justice system than those that don’t. (Fabelo et al., 2011) Alternatively, race plays an issue in the numbers of students who come into contact with the system. Students of Caucasian descent are least likely to come into contact with the juvenile justice

Examining the environments where these youth come from can show that this problem stems from unmet needs, such as a lack of a support system, lack of a stable home environment, lack of food, lack of proper parental supervision etc. The factors could be various. Multi-systemic therapy approaches tailored to the needs of the individual could address the stressing issues and offer a support system for the youth and guidance to help them follow a constructive path instead of a destructive one. (Tarolla, Wagner, Rabinowitz, & Tubman, 2002) Organizations such as after school programs and community clubs have programs that give spaces to youth where they can have adults to lean on when they need, and access to services they (and their families) might not otherwise have. For every dollar spent on programs like this in prevention, thirteen can be saved in costs of running prisons and punitive programs. (Campaign for Youth Justice, 2012) Aside from the positive morale of building youth instead of punishing them, the financial aspect of investing in prevention before spending it all on punishment could save the government money to put in other places it could be used more efficiently, such as the education system or welfare programs that support