Wow! I did not realize how fast time flies when you have so much to catch up on! Research Methods was tough but, I made it through with an A-. There is a lot of information to learn and it doesn’t seem as if there is enough time in the day to learn it all! I just finished midterms for the fall quarter in Criminal Evidence. I’m going to post my final project for Research Methods. =)
Delayed postings.
I know that I have not posted much since last spring but, I do have a lot to post and catch up. Due to some confusion with an advanced scholarship, I almost did not get to continue my education! I love learning about all things forensics and criminal justice related so, needless to say, I was not happy about the way things were going! Everything is back on track and I have just started my 5th semester (or term as it is often called). I am working on Research Methods in Criminal Justice (CJ490). I hope to be able to post my essays from last semester within the next day or so. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my posts! =)
Juvenile Delinquency – Week 7 Analysis Essay
While true that some juvenile offenders commit adult crimes, each case needs to be taken into account and both adult and juvenile criminal justice systems must handle each type of offender accordingly. A judge that is used to seeing violent and career criminals is not going to take anything into account when sentencing a juvenile offender. The need to keep and maintain separate justice systems is imperative to the future of our country. If every child offender were thrown into the mainstream prison and jail systems, there would be a bleak outcome for generations to come. We as a society have a moral obligation to try and find the cause of juvenile offenses and offenders and to see if we can rehabilitate them into honest respectable adults.
Some similarities between juvenile and adult justice systems are; both have penalty systems that range from mild to severe punishments depending upon the type of crime committed. If a problem child runs away over and over, then counseling or trying different foster parents may be a few methods that are used. Most children will not run away over and over from a happy home. On the other hand, an adult who runs away from their obligations will also be made to face the problem head on to try and correct it. The same applies for both juvenile and adult offenders who are violent; more severe and longer lasting punishment will result. When sentencing a juvenile, their age and lack of maturity or understanding of the ramifications still needs to be taken into account however, therefore making the need for adult and juvenile justice systems exist. The laws have made some leeway of keeping the differences for severe punishment of juvenile and adult offenders separate in that the death penalty no longer applies to any persons under the age of 18. The maximum sentence that can be given to a juvenile offender is life without possibility of parole. While this sounds less harsh than the death penalty, to the mind of the child with a life sentence, knowing that they can never get out into the sunshine or to have children or get married or anything a normal teenager should be looking forward to, becomes too much to bear and they will or will attempt to commit suicide while incarcerated. It is a harsh reality to bear to somebody who “just did something dumb one night when they were 15.” There are no easy ways to deal with such violent offenses from juvenile offenders, but they must also be made to pay for crimes of such a severe nature. As long as children remain more innocent and less capable in the minds of society, there will always remain a need to have separate justice systems. The need for separate justice systems remains to this day, as it should. There is a far greater chance for a juvenile offender to stop the cycle of recidivism than a hardened criminal would.
