Criminals

Juveniles are children who fall under the age of eighteen and have committed a crime. Since they are so young it plays a part in the decision of whether they will placed in a trail that an adult will be placed under or not. The age of the person who commits the crime is the reason why juvenile delinquency punishments are less harsh at times then if an adult would’ve committed the same crime. I feel that if a crime is harsh enough than a juvenile should be tried as an adult.

Anyone who commits a crime and breaks the law should be held accountable no matter what the age is. We should all be responsible for our own actions. Many people wonder if trying a juvenile in the same way as an adult will turn out to be a better solution to stop crime. I believe if a child is made responsible for his or her actions she will think twice the next time before he or she reacts. People who commit crimes and then go unpunished for what they did are more than likely to commit another crime or duplicate the first crime they committed.

If children think they can get away with their actions they will continue to do the same things over and over again. As a criminal justice major I think everyone should pay a price if they decide to break the law. There should be no special treatment no matter what age the defendant is. A crime is a crime no matter where you go or who you are. I know understand that some children who commit crimes a fairly young and people feel like they don’t have the mental ability to understand what they did because they are so young. Children are taught right from wrong from infancy.

We guide our children their whole lives until adulthood. Children are more than capable of understanding right from wrong. The problem is we as parents defend our children because we don’t feel like they’re capable of understanding, when the truth is we are merely just handicapping our children. As parents don’t underestimate what your child is capable of. These kids need to know there are consequences for their actions. By us not punishing our children we are just letting them know its ok for them to continue in an unruly matter. We are also teaching them it’s ok and there will be no consequences.

Parents need to prepare their children for the real world. I stand strong when I say it is the parent’s responsibility to teach their children, I couldn’t agree more. However, what happens when the parents have done all they can? You can bring your child up to the best of your ability and he or she may still go astray. This is why we can’t shield them from the light. Let them know for every action there’s a reaction. Educate on what could possibly happen if they commit a crime. By shielding these kids from reality we make it harder on them when they have to enter into society on their own.

It’s imperative that as a parent we do our jobs but this still doesn’t mean that that they will follow in our footsteps. People say a child can’t remember what he or she did. I totally disagree. I believe that if a child commits a crime and he has to suffer dire consequences will remember if the consequence is as harsh as the crime. I don’t think that kids are too young to remember what they did. I think that’s just an excuse. As we keep making excuses for these children they are tearing society apart with their violence.

It shouldn’t matter the age if you commit an adult crime you should you pay just as an adult would. Get these kids off the streets so the kids who are trying to do something to better themselves can stand a chance. It’s ridiculous how kids get away with so much. Everyday it’s getting worse and the majority of crimes that are being committed are from juveniles but yet we continue to want to slap them on the wrist with something easy like a curfew. That’s crazy! The law is the law and kids are no exception. They are no different from anybody else.

If they choose to act in an adult manner then they should be treated as such. The law is not made to be broken. This is why we have rules and laws, they are to be followed and if they are broken then whoever has acted in this situation should pay. Now, in some cases I believe that you can be cut a break. Of course I believe in second chances but not just getting off simply because you’re a child. You should pay for your actions no matter the age. The law is not made to flex around your age. It’s simply made for the type of crime you commit. If you are old enough to act in a rationale matter then take the consequences.

Just because a kid commits a crime doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been committed. It definitely doesn’t mean that the victim’s family didn’t suffer either. What about the victim’s family they suffer as well. I know that violent crimes receive the harshest punishment for adults but the same guidelines should be carried out for the juveniles as well. Trying them as adults will make them understand the consequences of their actions and second guess committing any future crimes. This may lower the crime rate in society and make us feel a lot safer in our own homes.

This could stand as an example and others will learn from their mistakes. A lot of the times kids are following in another peers footsteps or just simply trying to fit in. no matter what the reason or situation is if a crime is committed then you should suffer the consequence. I think the juvenile should be subject to more severe sentencing, including the life sentence. If you take a life than yours should be shouldn’t be spared. I don’t believe that you should give a child the death sentence but they can definitely spend a life sentence in jail.

What good will it do having them out on the streets to commit more crimes. I don’t think you should have the benefit of seeing daylight when you have chosen to take a life. You should suffer just as they are. You have no right to take the life of someone so why shouldn’t you pay for what you did. A lot of kids commit crimes simply because they know the punishment will be easy. Children have gotten away with so much these days they aren’t scared of the law anymore. Kids know when they get in trouble they will be detained for a few months or perhaps just a night.

Maybe they will be on house arrest where they can still do what they want they just have to do it at their house. The juvenile system is too easy on kids these days. We have almost lost the battle when it comes to teens and crimes. This is why we need to try them harsher as adults so they will get the message we are trying to put out. You have to punish by crime and not age it’s the only way these kids will learn. In order for society to do better we have to be better at what we do. To allow one person one punishment and another person an alternative for the exact same crime is not fair and highly ridiculous.

It destroys the structure of our society. Juveniles who commit murder should be tried in the same matter as an adult. We also need to keep in mind that kids will be more willing to that they know they won’t have consequences for. Let’s not forget the victims or the victim’s family members who suffer. They deserve justice as well. They have suffered a great lost. As a parent we never want to see our children go astray or perhaps follow the wrong footsteps but they choose to take on that responsibility when they decide to disobey.

When they commit a crime they have to be punished and yes if the crime is harsh it should be as an adult. You make your bed hard you lay in it. Just as you make people suffer from your actions you should suffer from them as well. Children are old enough to know right from wrong. They can comprehend that it is against the law to commit a violent act against another person. I feel very strongly that in the United States juveniles with violent felonies should definitely be tried and treated as adults in the criminal justice system.

In early times, prisons served an entirely different purpose from the one it does today.  While it was basically still for the enforcement of the law, it was used as a holding area for people accused of crimes and in the process of trial, and for those accused of lesser crimes as non-payment of debts.  Back then, the only two penalties for crimes were death and banishment.

Over the years, imprisonment for crimes has considerably changed.  The cause for imprisonment and the conditions of prisons have changed depending on the norms and capability of societies.  However, there still stands one common reason for imprisonment of persons convicted of crimes and that is basically to keep them away from society.  It is for the purpose of keeping the public safe from criminal elements such as them and to prevent them from committing crimes again.

There are four major social benefits of incarceration that must be considered in measuring the cost effectiveness of imprisonment:  retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation or incapacitation.  (Catherine Bucci, 2005).

Society believes that offenders must be penalized.  This belief is as old as time.  The difference is the penalties imposed on crimes, which are markedly different from society to society, from era to era.  Serving time in prison is the convicts’ retribution for the crime they committed. Putting criminals behind bars serves to warn others of similar fate and hopefully prevent them from committing crimes also.  Imprisonment of convicts is a deterrent to potential criminals.  While serving time in prison, the convict may receive intervention to curb criminal mentality.  They are made to do activities that will take their minds off from their negative side and bring out the positive in them.  While in prison the criminal is not able to commit crime under the watch of law enforcement agents.  All these ultimately benefits society as they all focus on the control and prevention of crime.

There are four morally justified purposes for punishment.  (Ryan Kummamer, 2007).

To Protect Society.  Imprisonment will keep the offender away from the public.  This is to ensure that the public will be safe and protected from further threats from criminals.   Society is assured that the criminal is under police custody and could do no harm again.  If the criminals are allowed to roam the streets unchecked and uncontrolled they pose a great threat to the peace and order of the community.

To Reform the Offender.  Prisons are not just penitentiaries but also reformatory institutions.  While serving time, convicts are provided with opportunities that will help them to be contributing and productive members of society when they are released from prison.  These opportunities are made available to them thru skills training and rehabilitation and therapy sessions.  If prison changed the offenders, it will a better and welcomed change.

As a Deterrent to Potential Criminals.  The threat of imprisonment and serving long prison term should serve as a strong warning to potential criminals.  The threat which brings fear deters persons from committing crimes that would surely send them to jail.  Studies even show that a prison term is more feared than the death penalty.  This reinforces the assumption that imprisonment is an effective deterrent for potential offenders to keep away from committing crimes.

Penalty and Pay Back.  Justice calls for penalty to be imposed for the commission of crime.  An offender commits a crime for which society wants him to pay.  The penalty of imprisonment serves as the punishment.  Imprisonment brings back order, paying back of what was taken away or restoration to the proper order and condition of a community before the incident of crime.  When the offender is put behind bars, a sense of peace once more prevails in the community that once was shaken by the crime.

All four reasons justified the means to an end.  Imprisonment will have served its purpose if in the end, a reformed convict integrates to mainstream society and does not turn into a recidivist.

There are several basic theories regarding criminal justice and its relation to individual rights and social control; Restorative Justice, Retributive Justice, and Transformative Justice.  (Raymond E. Foster, 2006, 2007).

Imprisonment is likewise justified if the ends of justice were met and served.

Restoration.  Justice calls for the restoration of what has been taken away from society because of the crime committed.  At times there were chaos, anger, disruption from normalcy and confusion.  When a criminal is confined in prison, he is taken away from the community.  This becomes the time for the community to pick up the pieces to start over.  The condition of the community before the incidence of the crime is brought back.

Retribution.  The offender suffers what the victims had in essence suffered as well.  Since time in memorial, every part in history made offenders pay up for the crimes against persons, society and humanity.  This age is no different, so that people would realize that crime definitely pays.

Transformation.  Everybody deserves second chances, including convicts serving prison terms.  Their confinement in penal institutions must bring something good and purposeful.  Convicts are given the means to reform within the walls of prison.  When they are released they are hoped to become changed from the criminal that was committed to the facility to a reformed person who would re-join society.

Today, unlike in the 50’s when families provide the backbone of society, many factors like broken homes cause the high incidence of crimes.  Without strong societal support and an equally effective criminal justice system crimes would be hard to control.  Given all the avenues to pursue criminal justice, deterrence must still be the first measure sought.  Deterrence from the commission of crimes is effective to fight crime.  If there is a big threat to criminals like fear of being incarcerated, that would be deterrence enough to prevent further commission of crimes.

The recorded low crime rate in the 80’s up to the 90’s has been due mainly to the high possibility of  prison sentence and increased prison time for serious offenses.  Legislation to these ends had a big impact on the downward trend of crime rate.  Laws raised the odds of imprisonment and made crimes unattractive to would-be criminals.

Imprisonment is a more acceptable option to a society that frowns upon capital punishment.  Church groups, civil society and human rights advocates are all against the death penalty.  In many other countries, they deplore the conditions of jails as unfit for humans giving due concern over the rights of accused.  These groups tend to see  the other end of the scales of justice.  However, and intervention approach done and extended to convicts serving time make imprisonment the just alternative to capital punishment.

Somehow justice must be carried out in a situation where a crime has been committed.  The scales of justice must be equally in favor of the perpetrator of the crime and the victim, and society in general.

Imprisonment satisfies all ends of justice.    The convict must pay for the crime committed against persons and society.  Society in turn demands that justice be served thru commensurate penalty.  As penalty for a crime committed, retribution is met.  A compassionate society could find it to forgive a convict who has served time in prison for a crime committed.  Giving second chances to convicts, reformation is satisfied.    Separating the convict from society until he has repent, done time and is deemed ready to re-join society.  Public protection is assured.   Imprisonment scares people away from crime, then crime prevention is guaranteed.

Sources:

Bucci, Catherine.  (09 Jan 2005).  Rising Sanctions for Repeat Offender.

Retrieved 17 Jan 2007, from

 http://www.ecoon.unconn.edu/Bucci_internshippaperexample.doc

Crime Fighters:  Justice.  (16 Jan 2006).  Retrieved 17 Jan 2007, from

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/crime/fighters/prisonservice.shtml

Prison Reform. (13 Jan 2007).  Retrieved 17 Jan 2007, from

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_reform

Crime and Punishment in Americ:1999.  NCPA Policy Report No. 229.  (Oct 1999)

Retrieved 17 Jan 2007, from

http://www.ncpa.org/studies/s229/s229.html

Strategic Goal Six:  Protect American Society by Providing for the Safe, Secure & Humane

Confinement of Persons in Federal Custody.  Retrieved 17 Jan 2007, from

http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/annualreports/pr2001/Section06.html

Kummamer, Ryan.  (2007).  On Capital Punishment.  Retrieved 17 Jan 2007, from

 http://www.newcitizenship.net/2006/12/on-capital-punishment.html

Foster, Raymond E.  (2006-2007).  Criminal Justice.  Retrieved 17 Jan 2007, from

http://www.hitechcj.com/criminal-justice-degree-online/