The juvenile system has proved to be ineffective throughout history and a heinous crime

should deserve a heinous punishment. The late 1800s and early 1900s sparked an important
movement in American history, the start of juvenile law and providing juveniles with their own
court system and mild punishments for crimes that they commit. In 1872, Massachusetts was
the first state to create and provide a separate court for juveniles that contained different rules
and also a different atmosphere. Juvenile Law was founded for the simple purpose of
rehabilitating juvenile offenders so theyd be able to return to society as a functioning young
adult instead of just punishing them. Before juveniles were tried as adults and risked getting
sent to prison and missing out on life experiences that they wouldnt ever be able to get back.
By 1925, all but two states had juvenile courts, every state has there own separate set of laws
pertaining to juveniles. The system has proven to be flawed in every aspect from the
rehabilitation itself to the rate of offenders that commit crimes continuously and also the rates
now compared to the past. Juvenile law in America in the 21st century is not effective, because
of the lack of structure within the juvenile process.
In a juvenile system, aging out is problematic due to most states having the maximum
age for somebody to be allowed to be tried as a juvenile is 17 years old, but that doesnt
guarantee a juvenile who committed a heinous crime,for example murder, to not be decided by
a judge to be tried as an adult. The court process for juveniles is different. They have a more
relaxed setting that is a lot less nerve racking than offenders who go through adult court deal
with. The process begins by a trained social worker giving the background of the offender to the
judge. The judge then has a private meeting with the child and they discuss what happened with
the crime and what punishments would be deemed as fair which is called a private hearing.
Which then the trial concludes with the judge making a decision that involves the childs best
interest, usually a therapy program to help figure out the cause for the child committing the
crime, and then preventing it from happening in the future. Punishments for juveniles are more

enhanced than that of adult offenders. The most common punishment that most juveniles
receive for crimes they commit is to receive a warning or a fine. Usually this is acquired by first
time offenders or if the juveniles crime committed was not considered as being serious by the
judge. More serious punishments that an offender can receive is probation or transfer to another
agency if they are a frequent flyer through the justice system
The rates for juvenile offenders have dramatically changed since the commencement of
juvenile law in the United States of America. Over the years since the last time all juveniles went
to adult court the number of misdemeanors committed by girls has gone up 49% (Bishop). This
shows that crime prior to juvenile law was roughly two thirds what it is currently with the juvenile
system in place. Also according to Bishop, felonies for females has gone up 15% with the place
of juvenile law. With the rates going up dramatically for females there is clearly a flaw in what
they receive as punishment not being effective for them. According to Richard Haier The brain
is made primarily of two different types of tissue, called gray matter and white matter. This new
research reveals that men think more with their gray matter, and women think more with white
(Haier). This shows that what a male may receive as a punishment such as rehabilitation a
female may not. Also a female may look at the consequences they could receive before
committing the crime and then realise that the misdemeanor or felony is worth the
repercussions. Not only are females committing a lot more crimes they are also repeating
crimes at a frequent rate.
The main goal of juvenile law is Psychiatric Rehabilitation, also known as Psychosocial
Rehabilitation, is a form of therapy that allows it so offenders can be fully functioning members
of their society, but is lacking in doing so. This form of psychology is most often used to help
mentally disabled individuals be able to function in society. The therapy provides the emotional,
social and intellectual skills needed to live in society and be a fully functioning member of
society. Individuals that go through the therapy learn to work in a community with the least
amount of support from outside sources such as a parole officer or even a therapist. There are

two different strategies that are used throughout this therapy. The most common approach is to
work with patients skills dealing with a stressful environment. The second way is the ecological
approach which produces the offender to be able to produce environmental resources to help
with stress. This serves as the offender being their own resource and no longer needing to rely
on an outside source such as a psychiatrist in order to survive in their environment. Both of
these types of counseling are also used for alcoholism and drug addiction so when the user
feels stressed instead of drinking or doing drugs they find away to relieve their stress.
There are many flaws when it comes to Psychiatric Rehabilitation in a study done in
1992 shows that with constant therapy programs that criminal behavior only reduced by 20%
amongst the 400 juveniles used in the test group (Lipsey). One reason is that the high base rate
in which people offend is an issue. Making people that have the potential not receive the
attention they need because there is so much demand for kids with serious problems that
receive more attention and therapy will most likely not be able to help them by itself. The system
can become so backed up with offenders at a time that offenders receiving treatment than can
be rushed through their program in order for the more recent offenders to receive proper
treatment. Another issue is that studies show that juveniles who commit crimes early at a
younger age are most likely to continuously commit crimes and repeat going through the
system. Something else that is a concern is juveniles that live in high crime populated areas
grow up seeing crime so they see being an offender as being the norm and what is expected
from them. Also with only 20% of the time of rehabilitation or therapy programs being successful
it only minimizes the crime rate and doesnt completely eliminate it (Council of Juvenile
Administrators). Many juvenile offenders live in communities where they need to be tough in
order to survive amongst their peers and many have a hard attitude which allows them to feel as
though there is no authority therefor making them never feel punished. Even juveniles in non
crime filled cities feel as though rehabilitation isnt a punishment to receive and instead just
something to just get through to continue on doing the activities that they want to do. Some

juveniles are sent to group homes, boot camp, detention centers, and also wilderness camps.
These have proven to work horribly because they form bonds with other offenders and it
courages crime to happen at them and the offenders feel as their is no punishment given to
them. A tremendous concern amidst the Juveniles system using therapy is that it is not an exact
science. Therefore there is no faultless system to use for every delinquent that requires the
attention. what works on one kid wont necessarily be successful for another child. The juvenile
system right now is like the game of clue one big guessing game for each offender where you
try to figure out what will assist them in becoming a fully functioning adult. Also with each reentry into the system chances are the less able it will help since it already failed them
previously.
An additional problem with juvenile system is the amount of repeat offenders that come
out after going through the program, especially for females has dramatically increased over the
years. According to the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators in New York after release
29% of female offenders will be rearrested within 12 months and 43% will be 24 months prior to
the previous arrest. Female offenders also will have 11% be rearrested within the first twelve
months for committing a felony which would be a lot more serious than their previous unlawful
act leading to an arrest that they had committed within a year of finishing their rehabilitation
program. The reconviction rate for one year later is 9% for the female population and 23% will
be reconvicted two years later. For all the rates are towering compared to the female
reconviction and rearrest rates in the state of new york. After 12 months of being released 53%
of male juveniles will be rearrested and within 24 months 70% is rearrested for only
misdemeanor charges. Within 12 months of being released 31% of males in New York will be
rearrested for a felony and 49% will be in 24 months. Out of all of that 28% will be reconvicted
within 12 months and 51% will be within 24 months of their release. Combining female and male
rates for the state of New York 49% of all juveniles will be rearrested within 12 months and 66%
will be arrested within 24 months for committing misdemeanor offenses. Also 27% will be

rearrested within 12 months and 44% within 24 months for felony charges. A total of 25% will be
reconvicted in 12 months and 47% will be reconvicted within 24 months of committing their past
crime. New York is a state with low rates for recommitting crimes, states such as Virginia,
California, and Maryland have high rates for juveniles becoming repeat offenders. Compared to
New York having 66% of juveniles become rearrested within 24 months, the state of california
has 76%, and Maryland and Virginia both have 72% of offenders repeat within the 24 months
(Columbia University). With the rate of rehabilitation being dramatically less than that of
juveniles that fail to change shows a major flaw with this type of punishment. Recidivism
amongst juveniles acts like a revolving door once they are released they are bound to return
with another crime that they have committed. with the statistics that comes from the juvenile
justice system shows that the delinquents are only bound to have failure once they enter the
system.
The juvenile justice system, although decades old, hasnt been effective to the juvenile
delinquents in the United States of America. The psychology has proved to be ineffective for
both genders with the amount of repeat offenses. The punishments arent enough to deter
females from committing crimes and is also barely effective to do so with males. With a juvenile
system like this the rights of juveniles are being abused, when they are not given the opportunity
or necessities to become successful adults in society. In order for America to have a promising
future change needs to occur, since the young people in society soon will be entering the
workforce and have a requisite to become functional members of society. This system is
undeniably violating juveniles civil rights, Martin Luther King once said, Change does not roll in
on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. In order to see the
change needed for the system to become efficient, somebody needs to be the voice for the
juvenile delinquents who are unable to be their own voice,resulting in injustice. Continuous
struggles, constant adjustments, and learning curves are essential for positive change or the
system will continue to be a revolving door.