Structure And Processes Of The Juvenile Justice System

With the ongoing approach of get tough on crime, the juvenile justice system has become more aligned with the adult criminal justice system. This can create a series of problems as juveniles may lack the ability to understand how their rash or inappropriate decision may affect the rest of their life. This may be the case for James. He was arrested for a serious crime and not only is he going to be processed through the justice system but he also at high risk for being transferred to adult court. There are a series of different routes James can be funneled into in the juvenile justice system and we will discuss the main routes as well as the differences when transferred to adult court. However, the structure and processes of the juvenile justice

These include detention centers, short term facilities such as reception and diagnostic centers, long term facilities, and lastly residential training center (Mays & Winfree, 2012). These short-term facilities typically involve holding juveniles from the time of their initial arrest until the adjudication hearing, as well as sometimes post adjudication where they await court rulings of out of home placement (Henderson et al., 2019). Long term facilities are utilized once a juvenile is deemed an adjudicated delinquent and will be house in one of these facilities. These long-term facilities are very similar to being incarcerated where they are required to serve a custodial sentence (Henderson et al., 2019). Since James has been arrested, he will likely initially fall under a reception or diagnostic center where he will be processed in and initial screenings and assessments will be conducted (Mays & Winfree, 2012). Part of this initial screening and assessment involves case classification where the juveniles risks and needs are accessed. However, it is important to note the adult criminal justice system has a thoroughly developed system of classifying adults while juvenile’s justice system has a relatively undeveloped process (Mays & Winfree,

Typically, the public facilities are operated and ran by local and state governments while private facilities are operated in a for profit capacity (Mays & Winfree, 2012). In addition to this, there are different types of environments at each of these facilities. There are institutional secure environments as well as open nonsecure environments. Institutional secure environments are similar to an adult prison with the purpose of restricting juveniles’ movements (Mays & Winfree, 2012). While open nonsecure environments can be compared to groups homes, shelters, hallway homes (Mays & Winfree, 2012). These open nonsecure facilities are still typically court ordered or involves a custodial detention, but there are clearly more freedoms provided than a secure