JUVENILE

Should Juvenile Offenders be tried as Adults?

Should Juvenile Offenders be tried as Adults?

Introduction

Putting juveniles on trial at adolescence has become a hot issue in area of criminal justice. A lot of research has been directed in the area. What should be their punishment for the crimes? In my opinion, juveniles who commit serious crimes should not be tried as adults. Not only is trying these teens as adults unjust and unfair, but also there are other negative effects on juveniles. They are other alternatives that our society can use to help make a juvenile a better human being (LaVelle, 2004). We also need to realize that children are our future, and we are throwing their future away. Crimes committed by juveniles have increased since the mid-twentieth century. There are many theories about the causes of juvenile crimes which is considered important within criminology. This is because the number of crimes increases dramatically between fifteen and twenty years. Any theory about the causes of crime of a juvenile stems from early in life.

Discussion

A number of negative effects occur as a result of putting juveniles on trials. The most serious of these effects is the increase in criminal tendencies of the youth once released from the jail. Once out of the prison, juvenile have mastered the tricks of crime and offense. A few months imprisonment deprive the juvenile to develop their ideals based on role models of equally (even more severe) criminals. Since the degree of offense vary within the imprisoned juveniles, the experience turns out to be a learning of advance criminal methods. Consequently, the research reports an increased incidence of crimes reported from youth put on trial than those who were not (Reibstein, 1997).

Another reason juvenile should not be tried as adults because when they are serving time in jail and it will more likely lead to greater conflicts. An example of this was my friend whose brother named Paul was a gang member. Paul was sixteen years old and had been tried as an adult on two counts of crimes; each jail sentence was nine months in a security prison. Each time when Paul got out of jail, he returned to the street and was still involved in crimes and gangs. All that time in jail helped him to master were more crimes tricks. If he had been tried as a juvenile, he would have received a light sentence and counseling of some kind to help him get off the street (Melton 114).

Most states set a minimum and maximum age to judge people as minors or adults. As well as adults, juveniles can be charged with felonies and misdemeanors. In order to be considered a minor you must be under the age of 18 and up to the age of 20 in some cases. Examples of these offenses include: absent to school, violating curfew and running away from home. The prosecutor must prove, in the same way you do with adults, children had a criminal intent or intent to commit ...