Juvenile Offenders and Juvenile Capstone Project

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Juvenile offenders and reoffenders are an important problem facing the United States criminal justice system. For more than one hundred years, states held the belief that the juvenile justice system acted as a vehicle to safeguard the public via offering a structure that enables the rehabilitation of children growing into adulthood. States identified the difference of children committing crimes versus adult offenders (Loeber & Farrington, 2012). For example, the states saw them as less blameworthy with a higher capacity for longstanding, true change. Therefore, states have founded a distinct court system especially for the handling and rehabilitation of juvenile offenders along with a separate and different youth-based service delivery system that offers additional aid not found in the adult justice system.

The juvenile justice system offers the study of criminal justice an important area to develop proper rehabilitation techniques that will help juvenile offenders and reoffenders find a means of becoming self-sufficient law abiding adults in society. Criminal justice professions have grown in the juvenile offender area (Loeber & Farrington, 2012). New roles are meant to engage juvenile offenders on a level that promotes growth and rehabilitation. These roles are youth security specialist to juvenile rehabilitation security officer, and juvenile rehabilitation counselor (Krohn & Lane, 2015). These jobs shift the juvenile justice system towards enabling positive transitions of juvenile offenders into law-abiding adults.

Society benefits the most from research and study in the area of juvenile offenders. Juvenile offenders can and do develop into adult offenders that then reoffend and create potential problems for the public. They can become a danger to society if the juvenile offenders feel they have no option but to engage in delinquent behavior. Many times juvenile delinquents need guidance in order to avoid reoffending. That guidance cannot be achieved without proper research conducted to discover what techniques are needed to help juvenile offenders avoid reoffending.

Abstract

Juvenile offenders are an important part of the criminal justice system. They are the population of offenders that benefit the most from rehabilitation and have the greatest potential for change. Programs out there created to aid juvenile offenders and prevent them from reoffending have not been as successful as intended. However, in recent years, things have changed in relation to strategies and theoretical frameworks used to create these types of programs.

This paper focuses on juvenile offenders and juvenile re-offense rates along with several theories and techniques pulled from research that suggest decreased recidivism and positive growth through the application of programs that aim to understand juvenile recidivism in order to circumvent its continued occurrence. Such theories explored are integrated cognitive antisocial potential theory, self-control theory, life-course persistent theory, and social bond theory. The paper also examines gang violence, programs currently available that demonstrate effective juvenile rehabilitation, and juvenile sex offenders and their rehabilitation.

Juvenile offenders must be understood in order to be successfully rehabilitated. Without a framework from which to generate an adequate base of understanding, effective strategies remain absent in the advent of program interventions and juvenile delinquents. The juvenile justice system has seen changes in the last few decades and theoretical perspective is one of those changes. This paper seeks to provide the means with which to determine whether juvenile recidivism has decreased thanks to new interventions and what causes juvenile offenders to reoffend.

Introduction

What makes a juvenile offend?

Juvenile offenders often commit crimes for a variety of reasons. The main timeframe for juvenile offenders to commit the majority of their crimes during childhood is in their late teenage years (age 15 to 19) with the peak declining as they enter young adult hood (early 20's). Amongst Western populations, this age-crime bell-shaped curve is considered universal. When examining the nature of crimes committed, violent crimes occur later in youth compared to property crimes. Gender also plays a role with the curve peaking sooner for girls versus boys. Minority young males, often have the wider and higher curve due to exposure to crime and violence within the disadvantaged neighborhoods they grow up in each year.

The environment of disadvantaged neighborhoods can be negative with gang violence, assaults, and domestic problems being prevalent among members of the community. Many have noted the lack of stability in these areas as a main predictor for juvenile delinquency (Baglivio, Wolff, Piquero, & Epps, 2015). This is not to say poverty or environment is the only reason for juvenile offenders to commit crimes. Some juvenile offenders commit crimes due to early exposure to drugs and alcohol (Baglivio, Wolff, Piquero, & Epps, 2015).

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This reason may not depend on socioeconomic status and can happen in any neighborhood.

Whatever the reason may be, juvenile offenders more likely than not, stop offending after their transition into adulthood. However, research suggests those that commit crimes early (before the age of 12), will most likely continue to offend as they become adults. Children that commit crimes at an early age may do so due to some form of abuse they endured when they were young (Chouhy, Cullen, & Unnever, 2014). While this is not the case for all young juvenile offenders, abuse and an unstable home life may contribute to a higher occurrence of juvenile delinquency.

Another potential reason for juvenile delinquency is mental illness. Some youth suffer from depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders that increase the likelihood for juvenile delinquency (Chouhy, Cullen, & Unnever, 2014). Those that suffer from mental illness need assistance in building positive coping mechanisms that can them avoid resorting to actions that can lead to further criminal offense.

By becoming aware of the multiple reasons why juveniles offend, this can then generate a deeper understanding of what can be done to avoid juveniles from offending or reoffending. Strategies aimed to prevent juvenile delinquency must take into consideration the various hurdles youth must face as they grow and transition into adulthood. These hurdles require new strategies aimed at delivering better options for youth. From summer and afterschool programs to cognitive behavioral therapy, it takes a multi-faceted approach to provide a long-lasting positive effect for any juvenile offender.

Causes for juvenile re-offense

While juvenile delinquency has its causes, recidivism also has its own reasons. Some of these causes are similar to first-offense juvenile delinquency, while others are based on the criminal justice system structure and lack of effective initiatives that provide support and options for juvenile offenders. Many juvenile offenders re-offend, with males reoffending more than females (Krohn & Lane, 2015). Of the ones that re-offended, the causes result from substance abuse problems, mental health problems, household characteristics, academic performance, and abusive family environment.

When it came to structural problems, youth placed in persons in need of supervision or PINS, had lower recidivism rates than those placed in the category of juvenile offenders and juvenile delinquents. Those charged with violent crimes had higher recidivism rates than those that were charged with nonviolent crimes (Krohn & Lane, 2015). Research suggests the three main causes for higher rates of recidivism are age at discharge, criminal history, and community characteristics (Law & Quick, 2012).

Age can play an important role in recidivism. Earlier research noted juvenile offenders that committed crimes before the age of 12 end up reoffending. While other researcher suggests committing crimes in the late teenage years could lead to higher rates of recidivism in the early twenties (Chouhy, Cullen, & Unnever, 2014). Regardless of which age a juvenile offender commits a crime, the nature of the crime can play a role in the risk of reoffending. A juvenile offender's criminal history shows the nature of the crimes committed by the juvenile offender, and also the number of crimes the court system charged the juvenile offender.

Some of the causes of recidivism like substance abuse and mental health problems can come as a result of community characteristics. Communities with higher rates of poverty, gang violence, and drug dealing will create the kind of environment that may lead a juvenile offender to reoffend. This is especially true if the nature of the crime committed by the juvenile offender revolves around drugs or violence. In a 2012 study on factors for juvenile recidivism, offender type proved to be the one factor with the most impact on recidivism rates. "Offender type was the only factor found to have a significant impact on recidivism with general and substance-involved offenders more likely to recidivate than sex offenders" (Calley, 2012, p. 257).

High recidivism rates may also be attributable to lack of program continuity during the transition phase and inconsistency of approach between program staff (Liem, 2013). Programs have been generated with limited continuity transitions in mind. Although some see improvement among its program participants on some level, this is only short-term. Rehabilitation programs aimed to reduce recidivism rates fall short from achieving their goals (Liem, 2013). The lack of success with rehabilitation programs could be due to the lack of adequate mental health services available to juvenile offenders. Mental health problems are a big part of why juvenile.....

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