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GANGS AND JUVENILES Gang violence is most pervasive in large cities like Los Angeles or Chicago. But now, smaller towns have been pinpointed as having several gang-related activities such as Lee, Massachusetts. The reason for this is that gangs are forced to seek other territories where there is little pressure from authorities. (Thou). The term inner-city gang strikes fear in the minds of most middle class Americans. Gangs to them are by definition lawless and deviant, perpetrators of often brutal acts of violence against rival gangs and others who are targets of their hate. There are parts of virtually every major city in the United States where middle-class citizens dare not walk for fear of being attack by gangs.
And yet, on the basis of a ten year study of gangs in New York, Boston, and Los Angeles, Martin Sanchez Jankowski (1991) argues that gangs are not always considered deviant in their own social worlds. In the poor, minority neighborhoods in which gangs exist, they are often viewed as normal aspects of everyday life. Young men in these communities join gangs because to do so makes sense. it is a rational way of getting a larger share of the things they want in an environment of chronic scarcity and deprivation. Young men in inner cities want many of the same things that other Americans do: money respect, and a sense of security. But their social situation makes these resources hard to obtain.
American society has created ghettos for members of ethnic minorities, and ghettos offer few legitimate ways to fulfill ordinary wants. Gangs try to circumvent this problem. They attempt to create an effective social organization to deal with the pressure and challenges of living in some of the most difficult circumstances in American society. Thus, gang membership is not sign of social disorganization, an absence of values, or a psychological defect.
It is instead an effort to achieve widely desired goals. When the first juvenile court in the United States was built in 1899, the indubitable objective was to move away the practice of sentencing children as if they are no different from ordinary criminals, to the extent that they spend their lifetimes in prison or worse, receive a death sentence. The essence of juvenile justice can be seen in its history, as a product of an educational movement that aims to change the perceptions on children from miniature adults to individuals who are yet to fully develop their moralities and cognition (Snyder & Sickmund, 2006). The State thus adopted the doctrine of parens patrick, and stepped into the role of a supreme guardian of the children including those who are accused for criminal offense.
Today, however, the juvenile justice system is under deliberation because people have come to realize that with the shielding of the young offenders, the system had also taken away one of their basic rights -- the right to defend ones self in a trial by jury. Deciding what is best for the children by treating and rehabilitating them, as well as withholding the fitting criminal charges against them yet all in the absence of complete due process is indeed one big debatable issue. The fifth, sixth, and seventh Constitutional Amendments had laid out such fundamental rights of an accused as the right against self-incrimination, right to a fair and speedy trial, and right to a lawyer and a jury of ones peer. No one is excluded in these provisions with respect to age; all citizens, both children and adults, can therefore invoke these rights (Indiana Historical Bureau, 1995). The juveniles, however, have no right to a trial by jury. The dilemma ensues because granting children access to a jury trial in a criminal court means foregoing the customary practice of absolving a child from criminal indictment to give him or her chance to a clean and record-free adult life.
Yet, the concerns over rising juvenile criminality indicate that measures must be taken not just to protect the future of the children but also to ensure the safety of the community and the delivery of fair justice. Many states implemented changes in the way juvenile cases are handled, resulting to the occasional waiving of jurisdiction by the juvenile court so that the defendant will be tried under the criminal court wherein a trial by jury is a norm. The variations in handling childrens cases from state to state implies the lack of widespread consensus regarding the issue, but perhaps the best guide for judgement is the Constitution itself. The Constitution dictates that everyone is equal before the law. This is not to say, however, that the court should revert back to punishments that will ultimately deprive the children the chance to reform.
There should always be space for compromise; in fact, blended sentencing is now a welcome option. What is needed today is to consider each case as unique and deserving of individualized verdict. A universal principle of whether to grant or not to grant trial by jury is not the solution. Some cases might be weightier than other cases making an adult trial more fitting for it, while those classifiable under as usual juvenile delinquency may be settled traditionally under the juvenile court.
In the end, everyone must consider that the children are indeed the countrys future. The society must act to rear good children citizens today, and this includes helping delinquent children out of their troubled ways. Therefore, the success of striking a balance between hard and considerate justice lies in the good sense of the esteemed justices of the United States courts who must act to the best interest of all parties. WORKS CITED Indiana Historical Bureau. The Rights of Juvenile Offenders. 1995. Retrieved April 19, 2008, from web Snyder, H.
N. & Sickmund, M. Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report. Washington, D. C. : U. S. Department of Justice.
Office of Justice Program. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. 2006. Retrieved April 19, 2008 from web Thou, Amy. Dang Violence. Advocates for Children. Retrieved April 19, 2008 web
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Research essay sample on Trial By Jury Juvenile Offenders
