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Global Issues Report:

How does Juvenile Justice relate to persistence?

Natalia Roberts

The University of Texas at El Paso

RWS 1301

Dr. Vierra

April 16, 2019

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Abstract

This paper is about how juveniles who are tried as adults are less likely to not want to go

to college, there mind set is rushed to be matured and all the rules they are introduced at a young

age can be stressful. This paper also includes different opinions and ideas that could help

juveniles in school and what might be the best option for them. Also, a look into what juvenile

schools are lacking when it comes to getting a proper education and how other countries may

have better solutions when dealing with juveniles when it comes to schools and sentencing.

Global Issues Report:

How does Juvenile Justice relate to persistence?

Around the world juveniles tried as adults are less likely to succeed in college, kids who

are put in an adult system do not have the motivation to want to go to school or when they do

attend school they are do not like the rules given since rules are all they were under. Adolescents

also think that they may be problematic, so they don’t see the need to be going to school they

feel like an outcast. According to MIT News (2015) the period of incarceration appears to make

kids much less likely to return to school at all, especially if they are around the age 16, they will

sometimes even become a repeat offender (para. 8). An adolescent who is forced to think and see

things like an adult will eventually act out they haven’t had time to mature by themselves, and

the older they get the more the more they are bound to not care some even become repeat

offenders.
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Discussion

The European Juvenile system is better than the U.S. and researchers have found that in

Germany, Netherlands and Croatia rely on judicial discretion, they allow judges to decide

whether to apply juvenile or adult sanctions. Juveniles also the lack of resources to want to do

better on in life due to lack of confidence. Most colleges do not do enough to encourage

juveniles to want to consider applying or even have a program.

In Germany cases that involve youth under age 21 in youth court, and when discretion is

applied, most cases result in juvenile sanctions, especially those involving more serious offenses.

According to PHYS ORG (2018), Vermont recently extended the age group of the jurisdiction of

its juvenile courts from age 18 to 20, and three other U.S. states (Connecticut, Illinois, and

Massachusetts) are considering similar proposals. They are aware that 18- to 25-year-olds are a

developmentally distinct group that should be treated differently by the justice system. (para. 1).

The European group mostly understands that young minds need maturing and time to develop

not being sentenced harshly right away. This issue of being sentenced harshly or being tried as

an adult goes into juveniles wanting to attend school but don’t have the right mindset to want to

or they are not given a chance to go to school because they haven't had time to properly have a

chance to mature.

Policy makers are realizing that adolescents are still young and still developing maturity

and should be given more opportunities like specific programs or treatment to help them mature

in the areas they need help in. According to ACLU (2019), Through advocacy, legislation, and

reallocation of resources, most states have successfully expanded community alternatives to jail

and prison and significantly reduced the number of children behind bars. Parole sentences are

wanting to be ended the ACLU is a union that is working in making sure that a young person
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does not have to spend most of their time in prison but get the help they need to succeed in life as

an adult. Juveniles also are not given enough recourses to get help.

Another problem is that juvenile schools are not doing enough. Juveniles have been

found to not do well and lack what they need to be taught some even say that it is “worse than

prison” and “do more harm than good.” According to Ed Source (2014) a report called Just

Learning: The Imperative to Transform Juvenile Justice Systems into Effective Educational

Systems found that the effects of the juvenile justice programs are setting youth back instead of

helping them. The report also found that many of the students also have learning disabilities,

emotional and behavioral problems, and health issues, and about 30 percent of the juveniles

reported they had been physically or sexually abused, 37 percent had problems with hearing,

sight or teeth, and 20 percent “wished they were dead” (para. 2-3). Students in this juvenile

school are just trying to get through high school but with the way it is set up they lack wanting to

continue to attempt to go to college.

It all comes down to the way juveniles are being treated and the resources for them to

potentially get the help they want especially when it comes to education and the problems with

discrimination being a juvenile. According to The Prospector, Civil Right Commission release

report on Chicanos (1970) reports review that treatment of Mexican-Americans by law

enforcement agencies are shown to have excessive discriminatory use and unequal treatment

towards juveniles and lack of courtesy. With Chicanos being untreated unfairly in the system

they are more likely to have more arrest and to be looked at badly when it comes to schools.

When it comes to schools, they should provide more counseling for juveniles. Schools

today are known for not having enough resources for young adults who may have been in the

Juvenile system, there is also a high rate in different ethnicities in schools who are getting more
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discipline or more judgement than others. According to Hirschfield (2018), suspensions can be a

micro-level factor if biased principals suspend more black youth than white youth. The level of

processes, by contrast, operate at the classroom, school, or district level, if predominantly black

school districts are more likely than predominantly white districts to discipline students by

suspending them, black students overall will be adversely affected, even if each district applies

suspensions equitably within its own schools. Just like when a juvenile return to school, black

students are more likely to not get help or be judged.

On to top of that juveniles receive very harsh and unnecessary punishment. Adolescents

are believed to not have fair treatment or too harsh of a punishment in the court room. According

to Aaron Kupchik (2006), Prosecuting adolescents in criminal court creates an awkward

ambivalence for courtroom decision makers who must apply adult laws to adolescent defendants

(p.2). It makes it hard for a judge or the court to make a decision that would make the most

sense. Laws that were created for adults are being forced upon adolescents, that shouldn’t be.

The laws are training young minds to be grown too quickly.

Juveniles are influenced to start bad behaviors not necessarily born with it. It is proven

that kids who live in a household who are not very acceptable of the police of a higher chance of

raising a kid who will act upon the police. According to Cavanagh (2018), Mothers with more

positive initial attitudes toward the police were more likely to have sons who were part of 1 of

the 2 attitude trajectory groups than the 2 negative attitude trajectory groups. (p. 2). Kids are

influenced from the very beginning and are influenced easily, therefore many adolescents have

probably been influenced in a major way to act the way the act. The juvenile system can also

sometimes be to cruel for young minds.

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Victimization plays a big role for adolescents in the juvenile justice system victimization

is to see the youth characteristics and other factors that could have caused the youth to commit a

crime. According to Wylie et al., (2018) Most studies measure victimization as child

maltreatment, it can later lead to mental health problems (p. 2-3). Victimization is not a good

way for the juvenile system to understand adolescents it can make things harder than they must

be. There needs to be a better understanding that juveniles are capable of learning from their

mistakes.

In Egypt juveniles are given a second chance to be able to get counseling and do the

things they love. The UNODC is allowing young men to fix their lives and see what’s outside of

just wanting to be a criminal. In the article of the UNODC (2019) Abdel Rahman is one of the

492 young men who have benefited from the educational, administrative, legal, social, health and

psychological assistance that have been provided to help. (para. 5) Abdel Rahman got arrested

for bringing something known as hashish to guest of a wedding and got arrested and was

sentenced three years and now from the UNODC program he owns his own barber shop. In

Egypt they know that juveniles just need more reassurance.

The way juveniles are being treated are not fair, not enough resources for them to

potentially get the help they want especially when it comes to education and the problems with

discrimination being a juvenile. According to The Prospector, Civil Right Commission release

report on Chicanos (1970) reports review that treatment of Mexican-Americans by law

enforcement agencies are shown to have excessive discriminatory use and unequal treatment

towards juveniles and lack of courtesy. With Chicanos being untreated unfairly in the system

they are more likely to have more arrest and to be looked at badly when it comes to schools.
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As a college being near the border UTEP needs a program where juveniles can get help

efficiently. Philip Martinez time in El Paso he has a hard time dealing with juveniles and having

to deal with the cases he has to, yet he is dedicated to change the problems that are amongst the

people of El Paso and to build a safer area for UTEP students. According to Tipton (2002),

Martinez made it a pamphlet to be emailed to staff and students that provided information about

the campus security and crime statistics and the risk about drugs and alcohol risks (p.3). This was

to make more students feel safe at campus and to spread awareness about all the things that could

happen if they were to make a bad decision that could risk it all.

Conclusion

Europe has advanced the way they deal with juveniles they have a different perspective

than the U. S. even a better understand some might say. Many think Juveniles are not suit for

school but that is only because the lack of resources they have and the fact they are being tried as

adults at a young age, which encourages them later to want to do better later in life. As said

before the U.S. has its flaws when it comes to juveniles and how to properly give them le way to

a better future. Studies have shown that juveniles need more maturing before being tried as an

adult and are capable of doing better and learning from their mistakes just like Abdel Rahman a

young man from Egypt, once a juvenile was given a second chance and now is living a better life
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because of the proper resources and education. UTEP should provide more resources available to

use to juveniles to encourage them to want to get to where they want to be to want to go to

school and reach a goal.

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References

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Cavanagh, C., & Cauffman, E. (2018). The role of rearrests in juvenile offenders’ and their

mothers’ attitudes toward police. Law and Human Behavior, doi:10.1037/lhb0000313

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28-38. doi:10.1037/vio0000213
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Jerry "Bo" Tipton. (Oct. 2, 2002,). Judge Philip Martinez doesn’t forget el paso. The Prospector

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Kupchik, A. (2006). Judging juveniles: Prosecuting adolescents in adult and juvenile courts New

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Wylie, L. E., & Rufino, K. A. (2018). The impact of victimization and mental health symptoms

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Figures

Figure 1. Mostly black and Latino adolescents being tried as adults. Copyright Bossip Staff
2016.

Figure 2. Young boy being sentenced to stay in harsh adult prison. Copyright Debra
Loevy 2015.
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Figure 3. Teachers in New Orleans Juvenile Detention center hope to help juveniles improve on
their basics. Copyright Katy Reckdahl 2016.
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CBFA #3 4/20/19 +2
• Four revision sessions since last CBFA; well done!
• Be aware of the page length requirement
• Include a discussion of your figures in the body of the paper
• Thesis and first topic sentence claim need to address a global issue

CBFA 4/14/19 +1: missing figures section