Cjs_240_Final

Final Project: Justice System Position Paper Elizabeth L. Saylor CJS 240 / Deanna Beaulbouef December 19, 2010 Axia University of Phoenix Final Project: Justice System Position Paper “The Juvenile Justice System should focus on Rehabilitation” My reasoning for wanting the juvenile justice system to adopt my focus on rehabilitating juveniles is because it is the right thing to do. It is our jobs as adults to come together and help all children regardless of if we are the parents of that child or not. All juveniles deserve a chance at a better life, one that is free from pain, abuse, and whatever else it is the children are facing behind closed doors and if the parent or parents of that child cannot or will not give them what they need then they need to have someone else they can turn to that is willing and able to help them succeed with life. Most kids today are put on the back burner where parents are concerned they may feel they are doing what is best for their child by working all those long hours and trusting someone else to provide for their children or to ensure they are safe and out of trouble, but how much does a person really know about the person they are depending on to keep their child or children safe and out of trouble' What you need to ask yourself is how would you feel if it were your child facing the life as a delinquent' Wouldn’t you want to do everything in your power to help your child' Or would you just turn away and let your child be locked away because it is the easier thing to do' I am the mother to not only a teenager, but a defiant teenager with bipolar disorder and yes, there are some days I think it would just be so much easier if I didn’t have to deal with the manic episodes but this is my child and I love her and I want to help her understand she is worth saving and deserves a good life, just because she has a disorder doesn’t mean she can’t have a happy, healthy life. The problem is there are no programs for bipolar unless you have great insurance which we do not. How do I help her understand something that I barely understand myself' Law Enforcement officers would greatly be affected by choosing to rehabilitate juvenile delinquents rather than punish them. Law enforcement would play a very critical role in this process due to the fact that police officers are usually the first point of contact the juvenile would make in the justice system. Law enforcement is already playing an important role in the process of juvenile delinquency. Law enforcement officers target such areas where known gang activity takes place, known as “saturation patrol” (Siegel & Welsh, 2005). Police officers are very strict with targeting truancy and curfew violations because skipping school not only affects the child’s future education it also leads to other acts of delinquency, curfew also leads to other acts of delinquency when the juvenile is out on the streets late at night what is there to do, but get into trouble. Schools have signed on to have police officers in schools patrolling the area to reduce crime and to ensure student and teachers safety while in and on school property. Law enforcement officers play a very important role in helping to educate children and to deter juvenile delinquency with such programs as D.A.R.E, Drug Abuse and Resistance Education program and G.R.E.A.T, Gang Resistance Education and Training program, without such programs children would have no idea on drugs or gangs and the dangers of such activities, therefore the police are very important to the education and rehabilitation of juveniles. If more juveniles were given the chance at rehabilitation it would drastically cut down on the cases the courts would have to hear and see. So many kids would not have to stand before a judge, they could report straight to the intake officers. The intake officer would be in a better position to understand what sort of help the juvenile needs due to the fact that an intake officer would have more time to talk to the juvenile on a personal level whereas, a judge does not due to the case load and other people in the court room during the hearing juveniles are less likely to open up and tell the judge honestly what is going on and why they are in court before him/her and why they choose to violate laws and commit an act of delinquency. Intake officers would be very important in the process of rehabilitating juveniles by referring them to the program that would be best suited for their needs and possibly the parents would also need to be referred. To implement more rehabilitation instead of punishment would affect the probation process and the probation officers due to the fact it would add more work for the probation officer. Probation officers chose this line of work because they want “to help kids” the only problem is they already face case overloads, lack of resources, and not enough staff members (Torbet, 1996), therefore, in order for probation officers to really be able to do the job they signed on for more funding needs to be given to address the challenges the probation officers face now and what they will face when more duties are added. I know most people are thinking we don’t have the funds to do what is needed now how are we going to add more duties' Well let me say this, if there are fewer juveniles incarcerated in detention centers because there are less acts of delinquency being committed, and then in the long run adding more prevention programs will save money. Juvenile corrections officers work with the kids that are already incarcerated (Juvenile Correctional Officers: Job Descripition, Duties and Responsibilities, 2010). Juvenile correctional officers work in the areas of correctional facilities, drug treatment programs, and some even work in community based programs, more duties could be giving to them within the programs instead of just driving the juvenile’s places they could also help with the running of certain programs to help with the rehabilitation in juveniles. The main responsibility of the corrections officer is to ensure the safety of the juveniles that are incarcerated. There are many different forms of corrections such as; probation, intensive supervision, house arrest, balanced probation, restitution, and residential programs (Siegel & Welsh, 2005), all of which are effective programs for helping troubled youth and juvenile delinquents, the only problem with these programs is they are for juveniles that are already in trouble therefore, if there were more preventive programs then juveniles would be able to avoid the corrections process. The office of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention already have a number of programs in place, but again most everything is aimed at juveniles that are already in trouble. D.A.R.E is a great program for helping to educate juveniles on drugs and G.R.E.A.T is a great program to help educate juveniles on gangs and the activities of gangs, not to mention the dangers, but there needs to be more programs like the Girls Study Group (Girls Study Group, 2010), this program is aimed at helping females before they get into trouble because female delinquents are on the raise. The program helps females avoid delinquency by showing them where this path will lead them, it helps them understand the consequences and risk of getting involved with drugs and gangs and other forms of delinquency behavior. The state of West Virginia, where I reside has community programs such as, Delinquency prevention for at risk youth, restitution, and Gender specific services (Juvenile Justice and Prevention Tilte V, 2010), however, there was no mention of drug treatment programs in my county or even within 50 miles which is very much needed considering West Virginia is one of the highest ranking states for drug use, with an estimated 87,855 marijuana users, 38,430 abusing prescription drugs, 14,380 cocaine addicts, and 815 heroin addicts (Drug Rehab. Org, 2009), and this is just the adults who sought help, how many children are living in these homes that are picking up the habits of their parents' So I ask you, does West Virginia need more rehabilitation programs for our youth' West Virginia has the D.A.R.E program to try and intervene with the drug use, but in my opinion this is not enough because of so many juveniles living in homes with parents that are addicts. West Virginia and the youth that live here would benefit from a Big Brother/Big Sister program, where children can be around positive role models someone who cares, someone he/she could trust and talk to someone who wants to help them make a better life for themselves and not end up like the person or people who may reside in their home that is addicted to drugs. People may argue that programs such as these cost money and this state is already a very poverty stricken state, but what is the future going to be like if we don’t take a stand now' We can spend a few extra dollars now to help the children of West Virginia or spend a life time paying to keep them in prison when they become adults. In conclusion, I am not claiming to know all the answers on rehabilitating juveniles nor am I claiming to be a perfect mother, I have made my mistakes with my two older children and I am trying to right the wrongs I have done. I have one daughter who was involved with drugs, I can’t take the credit for her getting her life together and getting off drugs because her father and I are the one’s she learned it from, although I was clean before she stated doing drugs and I have been clean for almost twenty years now, she still got the habit from us. My other daughter is just very defiant due to her father committing suicide because he was bipolar. My point is and the reason I so strongly believe children/ juveniles should be rehabilitated and not punished is because nine out of ten children are delinquents because of home life rather it be addicts for parents, an abusive step parent, mental disorder and not understanding how to deal with it, parents smothering the child, or parents who really just don’t give a dam what their children are doing or who they are doing it with because it is easier that way for the parent. All children deserve a chance at a happy and successful life; children should not be punished because of choices made by their parents. If we come together today and focus on rehabilitation our children instead of punishing them yes, it would cost us more money today in funding, but in the long run it will save money, and make for more productive, upstanding community members in the future. References: Drug Rehab. Org. (2009). Retrieved December 18, 2010, from West Virginia: www.drug-rehab.org/westvirginia Girls Study Group. (2010). Retrieved December 18, 2010, from office Of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention: www.ojjdp.gov/prgrams/progsummary.asp'pi=42 Juvenile Correctional Officers: Job Descripition, Duties and Responsibilities. (2010). Retrieved December 18, 2010, from Education Portal: education-portal.com/juvenile_correctional_officer.html Juvenile Justice and Prevention Tilte V. (2010). Retrieved December 18, 2010, from DCJS West Virginia: www.dcjs.wv.gov/Appendix%20B Siegel, L. J., & Welsh, B. C. (2005). Juvenile Delinquency: The Core (2nd ed.). Thomson Wadsworth. Torbet, P. M. (1996, March). Juvenile Probation: The workhorse of the Juvenile Justice System. Retrieved December 16, 2010, from Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention: www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/workhors.pdf