The evaluation of the programs of the juvenile justice policy reform depends on the lacunas in the systems and then evaluating the effecting the efficacy of the various measures adopted to address various issues confronting the juvenile justice reform
Juvenile justice reform policy with its increased emphasis on zero tolerance in the face of the rising crime rates needs to be analyzed and evaluated on ethical grounds. These evaluations are a necessary measure as it reveals that our justice system is not supporting any kind of biases or is it in any way violating human rights. The escalation of the crime rates to 43% between1985 to 2000 in the U.S (Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention, 2000 has created a hype subsequently it has led to regulation of stringent laws as there is a purported threat to public safety. This rise in crime rate needs to be dissected and analyzed so as to objectively find out whether there is a real threat is a kind of hysteria that has been created. Crime rates are often very ambiguous because it includes offenses committed by youngster which are not crimes if an adult would have done the same like running away from home. Some crimes like a violation of curfew or possession of prescription drugs on-campus schools are minor offenses. These offences are a major cause of the high crime rates found in the United States On the contrary the rate of serious violations has decreased by 33% reflecting the efficacy of the comprehensive approach that was adopted by the law enforcing agencies along with the social organizations.
Everybody is equal in the eyes of law and it is the basic principle on which the judicial system of a nation works. It is incumbent on all those who are a part o the law enforcing body to be ideally devoid of any kind of racialism. It’s unfortunate that those who wield power and riches can go scot-free whereas those who belong to racial minorities and impoverished backgrounds are not left even if they have committed some small violation of the law. The role of the police department is very essential. They are the ones who are responsible for arresting a minor on the charges of offense. They have special discretionary power with them which in legal terminology is called diversion which means that either the police can reprimand the offender so that it can act as a deterrent. or it can refer the person violating the law to an asocial organization The success and the promotion of an officer is based on the number of arrests and convictions of a crime.
The officers should be programmed in such a manner that they give precedence to a reduction in crime by not putting every offender behind the bars but by reforming the criminals in a manner that they voluntarily leave the path of crime. It is very essential that the police department should be cleansed of racial bias. It is said that this department which is responsible for the implementation of justice which is reeling under the accusation that it is biased. It is the right of the person who has committed the crime for a free and fair trial. The ratio of the colored versus white is two is to one far as the rate of referral to the court is concerned. interestingly the percentage of the white youth involved in serious crime is higher than that of the blacks.42% of blacks committed heinous crimes whereas 55% white were committing gruesome crimes. The imprisonment rate is astronomically higher.
The blacks are five times more put behind the bars than the whites. All these statistics are a constant reminder of the fact that our justice system is harboring officials who are prejudiced and biased. The colored neighborhood is scenes of some worst crimes related to drugs and addiction. Poverty, broken homes, a history of abuse, and neglect are some of the causes that lead a child to commit acts that amount to a violation of the law if it is committed by an adult. Nobody is more sensitive to injustice than a child. Discrimination on the basis of race is a stigma on any society and it becomes all the more ugly when their recipients are the most vulnerable section of our society i.e the children. The statistics are not showing that blacks are more prone to crime. In fact, it shows that in some states like New York it is the whites who have a higher overall crime rate. In 1998, whites accounted for 57 percent of the total youth arrests, while
Blacks accounted for 42 percent. (Juvenile Justice Advisory Group 2002)The crime rates differ in what types of crime are more prevalent among the whites and the colored races. In short, there are no uniform patterns that can justify that certain races are more prone to crime The racial discrimination issue can be resolved when the Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Act is fully empowered.
Even in the case of adults who are being tried in the court of law due consideration is given to the circumstances of the offender. The crimes committed by the children are largely a result of abusive environments. Incarceration which entails the loss of liberty is not always a solution to the problem of delinquency. The rehabilitative approach in a child-friendly atmosphere is very necessary for the Child’s transition into violence-free adulthood. The enactment promulgation of the law under which the serious offenders are to be tried in the adult court so as to hold them responsible for their actions can be counterproductive.
The other ethical issue that has always been at the center of discussion as far as children who are in conflict with the law are concerned is that whether a child who is in conflict with the law can be held responsible for crime in a manner as adults are responsible for their acts. In most states, 18 is the age that demarcates an adolescent into an adult, whereas in states like New York the adulthood is conferred at the age of 16.This difference in the ages at which the transition of a child into an adult itself shows that we are still not unanimous on the basic question of the age of adulthood. We always ignored nature as our guide as puberty should be considered the demarcating line between the adult and a child. Despite the growing number of scientific research that the brain of a child is not fully developed to apprehend the consequences of the action. The prefrontal cortex is in the process of development and the center called the Amygdala which deals with aggressive behavior is in its developmental stage.
Before convicting a child it is very necessary to ascertain the background of the child. Sometimes a background of physical and substance abuse is the cause of offense. Sometimes the children are suffering from mental problems and post-traumatic stress. All these problems are beyond the control of the child and hence due consideration should be given to the circumstances and the developmental stage of the child before convicting him. The loss of liberty in case the incarceration of the children who either have committed a serious crime or have committed minor crimes is an area of concern in the juvenile justice world over. Even United Nations has recognized the severity of this issue and gave its recommendation. (E/CN.4/1995/100).In many cases, the children are in detention because there is a delay in the hearing of their cases. This pre detention in the case of innocent victims can be very detrimental as they are deprived of their freedom for no fault of their own. Some researchers are of the view that deprivation of liberty is in most cases that of pre-detention. (Cappelaere 2005)
There has been a shifting framework of juvenile justice in the country. Initially, there were family courts that were trying children and adolescent offenders. The spurt in the crimes in 1992 had led to stricter measures like trying the serious juvenile offender in the adult court. There should be trained professionals who should be entrusted with the task of taking the testimony from children. The courtroom may induce fear in the child giving a testimony. The emphasis should not be on hating the sinner. The motto should be to hate the sinner, not the sin.
A comprehensive plan is needed to address the problem of handling the menace of the rising tide of juvenile delinquency. The stringent measures of treating children as adults are not seen to curb the rising tide of violence in children. On the contrary, it is seen to have a negative impact of increasing the recidivism rate as the children who are incarcerated in the adult prison facilities tend to socialize with hardcore criminals and their delinquent habits become more prominent. The chances of physical abuse increase and the loss of liberty to the serious offender who is granted stay without parole make his chances of going to specialized centers that are providing counseling and imparting skills to the residents so as to transform them into responsible adults. According to David Berger, an Amnesty international attorney “Children who commit serious still have the ability to change their lives for the better. it I am now time for state and federal official to take positive steps by enacting policies that seek to redeem children instead of throwing them in prison for the rest of their lives.”( Berger,n.p) Researchers have pointed out that 59% of those children receiving life without parole sentences have committed the crime for the first time. This reflects that the law-enforcing agencies are being more punitive and disregarding the conditions which have led to the commission of a crime. Even the fact that the child has committed the crime for the first time is also not given its due consideration.
The other factor that is taken into account while evaluating the juvenile justice reform is trying to see the conditions of the rehabilitative facilities and prison in which the juvenile delinquents are incarcerated. The officials handling these children sometimes lose sympathetic attitudes while dealing with them. The boot camp in Panama City became infamous when Martin Lee Anderson lost his life as a result of the manhandling of the prison authorities. One of the indicators of the human rights of children under detention is the number of custodial deaths in the juvenile delinquency system of a country. Investigations like CRIPS sometimes reveal the appalling condition of the Places where the teens that are incarcerated reveals that a lot needs to be done.The girls that have suicidal tendencies were asked to take off their clothes and a cell of subhuman condition was allotted to them.These dark dungeons with no fresh air and putrid smell of their feces that they defecated in holes was the home of these offender. The punishment should be commensurate with the crime committed by them.
Many a crimes are committed by individuals who are under treatment for one or the other kind of mental health problem. Just as there are separate mental health court in case of adults there should be similarly a parallel system for trying minors with mental health problems. The children suffering from myriad mental health problem should have access to doctors and medications and they should be supervised. A community based approach should utilize to bring about a behavioral change in the individuals incarcerated in these jails. Many of the children who are incarcerated in these jails have mental problems but it has not been diagnosed as they have never been seen by psychiatrist. So the first step in this direction would be to screen all these children for psychological illness. Then treating them to make transition towards healthy life, summing up in Mchardy’s words “The American juvenile justice system continues to be an arena in which a myriad of varying values and practices come under constant challenge and close scrutiny, not only from those outside the system, but particularly by those within the system, those on the firing line–the judges, court administrators, prosecutors, defenders, police, social workers and probation officers who are responsible for the operation of the system. Every juvenile court and the personnel who work with it are faced with the difficult process of evaluating and adapting to multiple “standards”
References
Excerpted from CRC/C/43, Annex VIII, 10th Session, 1995.
Juvenile Justice Advisory Group (2002) Comprehensive juvenile justice plan. New York state
Berger David rest of their lives: Live without parole for child offenders in U.S. Cappelaere. G., Grandjean, A., Naqvi, Y. Children Deprived of Liberty. Rights and Realities. DCI Holland, 2005.
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform.