Juvenile Justice System
From the start of establishment of this system, the main aim has been to rehabilitate those minors that misbehave in the society and involve themselves in criminal acts (McCord, Widom, Crowell & National Research Council (U.S.), 2001). It is the law that provides that adults, who are involved in criminal acts, tried in courts of law and are found guilty of their acts to be sentenced accordingly. However, it is obvious that minors could also engage in criminal acts. This formed the basic question to establish the juvenile system of justice to punish those minors involved in criminal acts as they are rehabilitated. Sentencing in this case means punishing them, according to their mistakes. Some of the structures used in the sentencing include home arrests, where the minor will be required by a juvenile judge to stay at home only not unless he or she is attending to important issues such as school and counselling sessions. The minor could also be placed with another person apart from the parent where he or she will live with that person and not the parent.
He or she could also be sent to a juvenile
hall, for a short period of time or even taken to probation after leaving the
hall. The probation period usually could take some few months to give the minor
a chance to reflect on his or her behavior and make wise decisions of changing
for the better. Another structure that could be used is the juvenile facilities
such as camps that are used to isolate the minor form the rest of the society
and is sent to the camps for long periods. This structure best applies on those
minors that engage in serious criminal acts such as murder. In extreme cases,
minors could be prisoned. Different countries have different standards when it
comes to this issue. There should be no standard that should be used by all
states because different states have different law provisions about crimes. Some
states have blended structures for punishing adults and those of punishing
juveniles (Griset, 2011). However, as far as the issue is taken care of, it
does not matter what standard is applied.
References
Griset, P. L. (2011). Determinate sentencing: The promise and the reality of retributive justice. Albany: State University of New York Press.
McCord, J., Widom, C. S., Crowell, N. A., & National Research Council (U.S.). (2001). Juvenile crime, juvenile justice. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.