juvenile justice system has been inadequate” (nap.edu). Hence the more that the statistics show growing numbers of violent adolescents and teenagers, the more that policymakers fight for harsher penalties for these incidents.
However, while arrest data is valuable in tracking the flow of crime, as the table above demonstrates, there are limitations to relying exclusively on arrest data. Arrest statistics don’t always accurately encapsulate the actual number of people arrest each year, largely because a variable quantity of people may be arrested more than one time annually (nap.edu). Furthermore, for… Continue Reading...
The fact that Michael was only sixteen at the time of the crime demonstrates the relevance of a separate juvenile justice system, suggesting that trying juveniles as adults can indeed prove problematic. “Adolescents are more likely to kill because the normal turbulence of adolescence runs up against constraints they perceive have been placed upon them in a setting of limited alternatives,” (Heide, 2016, p. 1). The main factors to consider in the Broken Arrow case include the unique features of juvenile familicide, the role of child abuse and related trauma; and the role mental illness plays in cases like these.
Motives
The Broken Arrow case bears almost all the… Continue Reading...
