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How would you feel if someone in your family was brutally murdered by an adolescent? With the increasing amount of crime being committed by juveniles, officials are trying to come up with ways to prevent such transgression from ever occurring. More and more teens are committing crimes they know they can get away with because of their age. Juveniles know how far they can go before they really get themselves into trouble they cannot get out of. Usually when you are being tried as a juvenile the punishment is less severe. If a juvenile commits murder he or she has the knowledge of the crime they have committed.
Juveniles should be no less accountable than adults, and treating them as such may also help to deter crime. However, juveniles differ from adults in more than just their age. They do not possess an adults capacity to judge and allowing them to be tried as adults is inconsistent with many other laws addressing juvenile behavior. Imagine that you are a parent whose son or daughter has been killed by a 14 -year-old. The teenager is brought to court, found guilty of the crime and the judge sentences him to two years in a juvenile facility, after which he will be free with not even a criminal record to follow him. Many people see these light sentences that some juveniles receive for serious crimes as being a mere slap on the wrist and demand that a greater action is taken.
Dr. Don Boys, of the Christian Conservative think tank Common Sense for Today and a former member of the Indiana House of Representatives, has a forceful argument against leniency: We are told that kids murder, mug and maim because they grew up in poverty; however, poverty doesnt cause crime; crime causes poverty! Juveniles, like adults, commit crimes because they choose to do so. And they must be held accountable. When young criminals kill and rape, they should be treated like adults, even executing them! Most of us are horrified at that thought, but if capital punishment can be defended then who is to say one must be 21?
If a 16 -year-old commits a vicious murder, who says he should not pay with his life? So the message to kids should be clear, concise and conclusive. No free ride until 18. No anonymity. No blaming poverty, parents of potty training for criminality.
No more community service for rape and murder. Even the dullest teen will understand that society considers leniency lunacy and a thing of the past. Dr. Boys does not stand alone in his opinions. Surveys of the American public have revealed that most people are in favor of treating juveniles as adults in many cases. In the Winter 2000 issue of Juvenile and Family Court Journal, Dr.
Bohsiu Wu, an assistant professor of sociology and deputy project director at the Center for Delinquency and Crime Policy Studies at California State University at Sacramento, published a paper that supported this. According to his study that analyzed a 1995 National Opinion Survey of Crime and Justice conducted by the Criminal Justice Centers Survey Research Program at Sam Houston State University, 68. 3 percent of adults were in favor of trying juveniles as adults in crimes involving theft or property damage; 73. 5 percent agreed that juveniles charged in drug violations should be sent to criminal court; and 90. 8 percent of people surveyed felt that juveniles accused of violent crimes against persons should be tried in adult court. Similarly, supporters of strict criminal legislation believe that sending juveniles to criminal courts where they can receive life in prison or capital punishment, will not only provide fairer sentences for those who commit horrible crimes but also will deter others from doing the same. If a minor realizes that he or she might receive a lengthy sentence in prison or execution, rather than just being sent to a juvenile facility until the age of 18, they are more likely to think twice before committing a crime (Road). Marcia Satterthwaite, writer of a study published in Juvenile Crime, noted that there were no good empirical studies on cause and effect, but interviews with juvenile offenders did provide evidence that minors were aware of their actions and that this could influence their behavior. The study, said Satterthwaite, Reports the findings of a series of interviews with adolescents in New York who self-report a dramatic reduction in criminal involvement at the age of majority, that is, the age at which they become subject to the punishments of the adult court.
As one youth who recently turned 16 (the age of majority in New York) says, When you are a boy, you can be put into a detention home. But you can go to jail now. Jail aint no place to go. Another adolescent saw his 1 - 4 year sentence [in a juvenile facility] as easy. Ill just do my year and get out, it aint nothing. But he advised his friend who continued his criminal activity to stop because hes 16 now; hell go to jail.
However, juveniles differ from adults in more than just age. Many psychiatrists and psychologists agree that juveniles are not the same as adults and that transferring them to criminal courts is therefore and injustice. Recent brain studies indicate that children and adolescents process emotionally in the part of their brain responsible for instinct and gut reaction (McCormick). Strong emotions can cloud or distort judgments for both adults and juveniles, but teens experience more frequent mood swings. Juveniles lack the cognitive and emotional maturity of adults, are less able to think rationally or clearly when faced with emotionally charged decisions and should be held less culpable for their choices (Woolard). Not only do juveniles differ from adults in their mental development, but they are also recognized to be different under many other important laws.
These include those covering smoking, drinking, driving, voting, gambling, jury duty, curfews, marriage, and military service. Laws that set the legal age for driving at 16, smoking and voting at 18, and drinking at 21, recognize that younger people lack the maturity and experience necessary to make wise choices regarding substances, devices, or powers that can be dangerous if misused (Garner). Given the general acceptance of these laws as just and appropriate, you might ask why there isnt a national consensus against treating juveniles as adults when it comes to crime. This represents an inconsistency in the law that can be illustrated by the following example: If a 14 -year-old boy wants to buy a gun in Michigan, he is prohibited by law to do so, but if he commits assault with a gun he will likely be tried as an adult (Garner). There has been a rise in juvenile crime that in turn led to tougher laws and increased the number of juvenile transfers to criminal courts. This is helping to deter crime amongst juveniles and letting them see that they should be no less accountable than adults.
Juveniles who can commit such an adult crime should be charged accordingly because they are aware that every action has a consequence. Brutal crimes committed by minors are still brutal crimes and should be prosecuted as such. Word Count: 1206
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Research essay sample on Deter Crime Juvenile Crime
