Juvenile Diversion Programs in Florida

Juvenile Diversion Programs in Florida

Hypothesis

The image popularised by police and reflected by the media is of an explosion of juvenile crime, of growing gangs of young hoodlums looting and pillaging, of delinquents destroying public and private property with reckless abandon. Almost on a daily basis the media conveys information about crime waves and threats to social order generated by certain sections of young people.

Thesis Satatement

The Juvenile Diversion Programs in Florida is to provide first-time youth offenders of Florida State a positive alternative to juvenile court. Young lawbreakers facing lawless person charges will have the opening to take part in the program which, through organised undertakings, aims to improve mind-set about the legal system, self-image, educating better methods of communication, confrontation tenacity and stopping a future decision to shatter the law.

Introduction

This paper was written 2 distinct parts - The analysis of the problem of juvenile delinquency in Florida, and a theoretical, model court and rehabilitation system for handling the prosecution, sentencing, and reformation of juvenile delinquents. The full scale of this paper does not delve into the most intricate theories of any one aspect of the juvenile delinquency dilemma of today, rather it touches on a host of contributors which combine to form the whole of the problem.

In researching this paper, it has become evidently clear that the elusive, omnipotent "answer" to the problems plaguing the juvenile justice system is as much a myth as the Lochness Monster. In the state of the present political, social, and organizational mindset, there is no answer that best matches everyone. So, contrary to popular opinion, the ideal court will serve the majority of the people to the fairest extent and the rest of the people to the next best deal after that. Hard bite to swallow? Yes, for most. Particularly when you are the one receiving the brunt end of the failure in the system. But this is the way the scheme is. Too often, there is no one right answer, each answer weighing in equally with its pros and cons. Thus, the purpose of the court is to decide which solution provides the greatest ratio of pros to cons. And here, the recipient of the fairest deal is most often the unknowing public, and the recipient of the "next fairest deal" is often the juvenile his/herself. This is the sad, ironic truth of the system. Not perfect by a long shot, but sure as heck the best model yet.

Literature Review

For purposes of clarity in the JC Juvenile Justice Code of Law (as well as this paper), adolescence is recognized as the period in life when a child begins to develop the mental capacity to reason and think as an adult, and ends with the legal recognition of the child as an adult (by age or decree). Somewhere in that tumultuous turning period of growth, the child achieves a milestone whereby his (or her) capacity to reason and understand the inertial law of actions and consequences becomes ...