Introduction
Juveniles are individuals in a society who have not attained 18 years. However, the term juvenile is commonly used in relation to the criminal justice system when people below the age of 18 have committed or are suspected of committing an offense. The criminal justice system aims at maintaining law and order in society by arresting individuals suspected of committing an offense and prosecuting and correcting them for misconduct. This paper examines the challenges faced by juveniles in the criminal justice system, the difference between juvenile criminal justice and adult criminal justice, and how being a minority affects them.
Challenges that Juveniles Face in Criminal Justice System
There are many challenges that juveniles face in the criminal judicial system. Health is a key concern that affects young people during arrest or while in juvenile prisons. For instance, In the United States, there are about 810,000 arrests of juveniles each year. Racial minority youth constitute 65% of those imprisoned despite making up 39% of all children in the United States. Males make up 85% of all jailed youth in the United States (Zagory et al., 2022). While youth in the criminal justice system have conditions far more severe than their peers in the community, their basic health needs are similar, making them vulnerable. The common issues among incarcerated juveniles include chronic medical conditions with severe effects on low socioeconomic communities and ethnic minorities and mental health conditions such as suicidal thoughts, mood disorder, and post-traumatic stress.
Additionally, imprisoned children face higher risks of sexual health issues such as teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, and physical injuries. According to Zagory and colleagues, young children are influenced by older children into drug use which influences how they behave while in prison (Zagory et al., 2022). They face harsh punishment for their misconduct after using hard drugs leading to poor health conditions (Zagory et al., 2022). Additionally, they may engage in fights that result in physical injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder. Drugs may impair their judgment, and they may engage in homosexuality, thus attracting sexually transmitted diseases (Zagory et al., 2022). Moreover, some children, especially those newly incarcerated, are forced into homosexuality and thus may attract diseases and develop trauma (Zagory et al., 2022). Therefore, prison administration should enhance security to reduce the challenges that juveniles face in the criminal justice system.
High emphasis on accountability, punishment, and procedural formality
The criminal justice system aims to enhance peace and stability in the society by either rehabilitating offenders, deterring them from the offense, or punishing them. However, the strategies for dealing with juveniles in criminal justice are not uniform, as different countries have their ways of dealing with offenses (Young et al., 2018). For instance, while Belgium emphasizes juvenile rehabilitation, the United States and the United Kingdom emphasize criminal responsibility. The minimum age for offender responsibility in Belgium is 18 years, 6 in the United States and 10 in the United Kingdom (Young et al., 2018). The United States has been carrying out capital punishment for children before the US supreme court ruling against juvenile execution in 2004. Prior to the ruling, 22 juvenile execution sentences had been practiced between 1995-2005 (Young et al., 2018). Some countries still practice juvenile executions based on religious beliefs (Young et al., 2018). According to Young and colleagues, children below ten are very young to be subjected to harsh punishment. Governments globally should revisit their laws to correct the minimum age of juveniles’ accountability for the offenses.
Influence on crime involvement and recidivism
Most children are involved in criminal offenses due to various influential factors. Juvenile gang membership has grown in recent years following poverty and peer pressure. Additionally, incarcerated children with a history of criminal offenses may influence others to join their gangs, thus increasing the rate of recidivism (Young et al., 2018). Despite government efforts to reduce juvenile criminal offenses, poverty has compelled children to commit offenses like stealing (Pyle et al., 2019). Juveniles freed from prisons face challenges of overcoming the influences of recidivism and may lack the ability to meet personal dreams. They should receive extensive guidance and counseling to enable them to overcome recidivism.
Difference Between the Juvenile and Adult Criminal Justice Systems
In the court system, where every adjudicated defendant pleads guilty, juveniles are more likely to plead guilty than adults. Although age does not influence an individual’s decision to plead guilty when requested to assume guilt in a hypothetical scenario, children have higher chances of pleading guilty when requested to assume innocence (Redlich & Shteynberg, 2016). Additionally, they are less likely to comprehend their plea decision’s long-term and short-term impacts and understand the information relating to the plea (Redlich & Shteynberg, 2016). Due to this challenge, children have higher chances of ending up in prison than adults.
Better services for the Juveniles
Although juveniles undergo several challenges, adult offenders face more severe challenges than juveniles. According to Staples-Horne et al. (2021), most governments consider juvenile offenders to be of poor and underprivileged background, thus providing enhanced healthcare services. On the other hand, adults face harsh punishment in prisons since they do not receive adequate healthcare services (Nowotny et al., 2017). Children are criminalized for certain offenses just because they are children. For instance, they may face legal action for begging, truancy, or alcohol usage (Staple-Horne et al., 2021). However, most children engaging in such actions are usually influenced by older people.
Rehabilitation over punishment
Additionally, the purposes of adult courts and juvenile courts are different. After ruling against juvenile execution in the United States, the primary aim of juvenile courts is to rehabilitate the juvenile offender. On the other hand, the main purpose of adult courts is to punish adult offenders for their misconduct (Young et al., 2018). Therefore, although juveniles and adults may face different challenges in the judicial system, they both suffer since they do not enjoy similar opportunities as the general public.
How Being a Minority Affects Juveniles in Criminal Justice System
Being a minority contributes significantly to juvenile problems in criminal justice systems. Minority juveniles live in communities highly targeted by police for proactive policing. Proactive policing involves measures that aim at preventing crimes before they can happen. According to Nordberg et al. (2016), proactive policing measures have led to police brutality in the targeted communities leading to injuries and deaths of suspected juveniles. Minority juveniles face frequent, involuntary encounters with law enforcement authorities and thus may have poor relationships with community members. According to a study conducted by Nordberg et al. (2016), juveniles in the targeted communities claimed that their encounter with the police was dehumanizing since the police are over controlling their actions. Furthermore, the children claimed that the encounter was prejudiced, dangerous, and ineffective in dealing with crimes.
Inability to Cope with Unfavorable Prison Conditions
Although incarcerated juveniles face similar health issues that others face in the community, they cannot deal with them well. For instance, while older prisoners may have families they should provide for after leaving prison, children have parents and friends whom they depend on (Barnert et al., 2019). Therefore, older adults can easily change their behavior during prison to return to society and ensure good lives for their families. On the other hand, children may develop suicidal thoughts out of shame, thus ending their lives and their dreams (Barnert et al., 2019). According to Barnert and colleagues, minorities in incarceration facilities face serious health issues that must be addressed promptly to enable juveniles to live healthy lives while in prison. However, it takes time for minority juveniles to receive deserved medical attention, leading to poor health outcomes. Therefore, being a minority affects how juveniles deal with mental health issues in prison.
Conclusion
The criminal justice system exposes juveniles to harsh treatment and living conditions, thus may lead to poor health challenges. This paper has elaborated on the challenges that juveniles experience during their encounter with the police in their communities, in juvenile courts, and while they are serving their terms in prison. The paper has also explored the differences between juvenile and adult criminal justice systems. Finally, the paper has how juveniles, being of a minority group, are affected by the criminal justice system. To solve the challenges juveniles face, governments should enhance access to medical healthcare in juvenile prisons and the security of incarcerated children.
References
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Nordberg, A., Crawford, M. R., Praetorius, R. T., & Hatcher, S. S. (2016). Exploring minority youths’ police encounters A qualitative interpretive meta-synthesis. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 33(2), 137–149. Web.
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Zagory, J. A., Short, C., Evers, P., Jones, M., & Brandt, M. L. (2022). Caring for Children in the Juvenile Justice System: A Trauma and Surgical Subspecialty-Focused Approach. Journal of Surgical Research, pp. 279, 113–118. Web.