Whenever a youngster commits an offence, our court system has a decision to make which is: shall we treat them as an adult offender, or shall we simply restore the harm and rehabilitate them as a way of leading them to a brighter future? This is the first question that is at the core of the Juvenile Justice System.
I have been operating within this system as a paralegal and, currently, as a lawyer for the past five years. I have also experienced what harm some mere mistakes can bring, and I have observed the amazing power of a second chance. The main lesson I have acquired is as follows: Kids are not small adults. Their heads are still developing, their ability to change is unlimited, and their youthful errors should not be their hallmark throughout their whole lives.
It is based on this belief that the controversy on rehabilitation versus punishment is of such significance. It is not just a matter of arguing the legal lingo, but what type of community we would like to create. We are either opting to be caught in a cycle of crime or be on a route to being productive citizens.
Why We Have a Separate Justice System for Youth
The notion that children should be treated differently is not a new concept. It is several centuries old, but it took root in America in 1899 when the first juvenile court was established in Chicago.
The children below that age could be tried, convicted, and sentenced to jail equally with the adults before that period. The situation was usually horrible. Reformers understood that this strategy was not benefiting anybody; it did not help the community to be safe, and was ruining young lives.
This caused the idea of parens patriae, a Latin term meaning parent of the country. It basically implies that the government owes a responsibility of being a parent or a caregiver to neglected children, or arrested children who commit crimes. According to this philosophy, emphasis was laid more on rehabilitation (to help the child towards a responsible life) rather than retribution (punishment simply because it is the right thing to do).
The juvenile system has never been structured; therefore, to answer: What does this child need to cease committing crimes? But simply, how much time should this child serve?
The Power of Rehabilitation: Building a Better Future
Rehabilitation is to provide a youngster with the necessary tools and help them to correct their behavior and changes in their life aspects. It is a philosophy that is founded on the reality that the adolescent brain is completely different as compared to an adult brain.
The Science of Youth
The prefrontal cortex (part of the brain that deals with planning, judgment, and understanding of long-term consequences) is not the part that matures completely. This may go on until the individual is in their late twenties.
The implication of this in the courtroom is obvious: A 16-year-old has a higher probability of impulsive behavior, succumbing to the pressure of peers, and the inability to see the large picture implications of some of their actions. Their brains are still developing, and hence they have an enormous amount of growth and correction potential. Rehabilitation programs exploit this possibility.
What Rehabilitation Looks Like in Action:
- Therapy and Counseling: A lot of troubled youths have a history of trauma, abuse, and mental health problems that propagate their behavior. The system provides Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) instead of imprisoning them. This treatment makes them aware of their thoughts and triggers that send them to make bad choices, and how they can stop and decide on a better reaction.
- Education and Vocation: When a child is not attending school and does not have job skills, there are much higher chances of reoffending. Rehabilitation will make sure that they remain in school, or in the case of older teens, they will get vocational training such as welding, construction, and coding. This offers a justifiable route to a fixed income.
- Family Support: Delinquency does not occur in a vacuum. The family unit is normally involved in programs that provide effective parenting, conflict management, and communication classes. A stable environment in the home setting is usually the greatest element that helps prevent a child from rejoining the system.
As the facts reveal, it is clear that programs aimed at resolving the main causes of crime, and not simply the time served, result in a reduction in rates of recidivism (reoffending). It would be more cost-effective to invest in the future of a teen than to recycle them through the expensive correctional institutions, only to see them repeat the cycle again and again.
Accountability: The Misunderstood Element of Justice
Rehabilitation is frequently misunderstood because people think that letting the kids off easy is offered instead. This is flat-out wrong. One of the components of the juvenile process is accountability, which is not implemented in the same way as adult punishment is.
Responsibility of a child implies that he or she should realize the wrong they did and take proactive actions to mend it.
1. Restorative Justice
Restorative Justice is one of the most efficient instruments of education regarding actual accountability. This method deals with both the community and the victim, and not only the offender.
- The youth is required to sit down with the victim (or a surrogate) and the society and discuss the crime and its effects.
- They collaborate and devise a strategy on how to repair the damage. This may be a direct apology, community service, or paying restitution (money) to the victim.
This rehabilitation makes the criminal pay the human price of their activities. This fight is frequently a lot more effective and significant than solitary confinement. It substitutes an impersonal punishment with personal responsibility.
2. Meaningful Sanctions
Sanctions applied by the juvenile courts are severe, but they are meant to educate rather than to harm. These might include:
- Intense Probation: The young people are closely monitored, at times by checking in daily, curfews, and random drug tests.
- Electronic Monitoring: Wearing an ankle bracelet to track location.
- Community Service: Completing numerous hours of community service without being paid.
These are measures that hold the child responsible and leave him or her within their community, where the child is still able to receive school and family support as well as therapy.
The Edge Case: When Punishment Takes Over
Although the primary goal is rehabilitation, the system should also ensure that the community does not suffer severe damage. In the most serious and violent offenses, the juvenile system has systems that approach the adult system of punishment.
The Transfer to Adult Court (Waiver)
This is the most important verdict made by a juvenile court judge. When a youth has performed a very serious crime, such as a murder, an aggravated assault, or some sex crimes, the prosecutor can request the judge to waive or transfer the case to the criminal court of adults.
This is not a decision that is made lightly by the judge. They are granted a special hearing and consider several factors, which include:
- The seriousness of the crime and its planning.
- The age, maturity, and record of the child.
- Whether the child stands a realistic hope of being rehabilitated in the juvenile system before their attainment of 18 or 21 (depending on the state).
- The safety of the community.
When a case is transferred, the teenager would not have the special protections and treatment focus provided in the juvenile system. They are subjected to similar sentences and places of correction as the adults. This can only be done when the court feels that the potential of the child to be rehabilitated is not so significant as opposed to the need to have the children in society be safe, and the one who committed the crime deserves revenge.
Case in Point: My Experience with a Balanced Approach
As a lawyer, I dealt with a bright 17-year-old whom we shall refer to as Alex. Alex was caught stealing cars to have fun with friends. This was a grave property crime.
The penalty approach would have imprisoned Alex for one year, disrupting his high school education and subjecting him to bad influences. The likely result? He graduates in a bigger crime.
Rather, the court sought a compromise:
- Accountability: Alex wrote an apology letter to the victim and gave 200 hours of community service in a local soup kitchen.
- Rehabilitation: He was put under intensive probation. Most importantly, he had to go to behavioral therapy sessions every week to remedy his behavior of thrill seeking and boredom. The court also ensured that he remains in his auto repair course in his high school.
The judge imposed a very hard penalty (probation) but directly coupled it with a rehabilitative emphasis (therapy and job skills). Alex completed probation, high school, and currently, he is currently an apprentice mechanic. He paid his debt to the community and became a productive citizen of it. Everyone wins out of this.
The Future of Juvenile Justice
A more recent movement in legal practice is toward evidence-based solutions, which are biased towards rehabilitation. We are discovering that most of the punitive interventions that were implemented during the 1990s, such as boot camps and harsh punishments, have not proven effective. They often made kids worse.
The current emphasis is on so-called best practices, which encompass:
- Risk Assessment Tools: The application of science to figure out which youths are high risk and require rigorous monitoring versus those that require less supervision.
- Trauma-Informed Care: Understanding that a big percentage of young offenders are victims in their own right and building programs around the healing of deep wounds.
- Community-Based Services: Placing children outside of state facilities and in local programs so that they are not detached and stay attached to family and school.
It is not aimed at abolishing punishment, but applying it reasonably and adequately. Punishment must act as accountability, and rehabilitation should always be the purpose of accountability. When the system becomes a guide and a resource instead of becoming an iron fist, it will save lives and make our communities safer for all of us. The decision is simple: the greatest investment we can make is to invest in the ability of a child to change.
I share more legal stories, insights, and personal reflections on my Medium blog. Feel free to check it out if you’re interested.