Juvenile Detention Issues

According to the 2006 edition of Current Population Reports published by the U.S. Department of Commerce. There is now more than 70 million children under age 18 in the United States, which is more than 25 percent of the U.S. population. This number is expected to rise up to 80 million by the year 2020. This growing problem has received more of a national attention. Karen Mathis is a President of the American Bar Association and created the ABA Commission on Youth at Risk to a year of effort to identify the challenges facing this population. Crime in the year of 2002 in the US was reported that about 1.5 million youths under age 18 are arrested each year for crimes ranging from loitering to murder. There are more than 700,000 youths belong to street gangs due to the report in 2002. This report is according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

10 percent had driven a car/vehicle when they had been drinking alcohol.

18 percent carried a weapon.

43 percent drank alcohol.

8 percent attempted suicide.

53 percent of high school students engaged in sexual intercourse.

Until the 20th century there was a little difference between how the justice system treated adults and children. The age was considered only in terms of the right punishment. Juveniles were available for the same punishment as adults, including the death penalty. Then, over the last century attitudes toward children who committed crimes started to change. The criminal behavior of juveniles was seen as a sign of a lack of parental care and control. The adoption of this allowed for different treatment of juveniles by the judicial system. However, parents did not resolve all legal issues regarding juveniles. In fact disparate treatment of juveniles remained a part of life particularly within the judicial system. This issue was addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court around the 1960’s. In fact, mostly all states now have a "Juvenile Code" or "Children’s Code" that provides specific rules for juveniles in the juvenile justice system.

Some of the causes and conditions of crime are obviously poverty, drugs, gangs, and abuse. It is also clear that there are higher rates of detention and probation within racial and ethnic groups. How do we address these issues in attempting to prevent crime? Whose responsibility is it to address these issues? Who pays? We are confronted by a society that is becoming more complex and more mobile. Teen pregnancy, suicide, smoking, running away, and the use of dangerous drugs such as methamphetamine have become common problems addressed in the juvenile justice system. In addition, children do not settle as they once did. Guns, knives, and other weapons are now more commonly used. The juvenile justice system is the garbage can for many of these problems. One statistic reported by the U.S. Surgeon General is that 1 in 10 children in the United States suffer from a mental illness of those, 60 percent to 70 percent are children of color whose only access to mental health treatment is through the juvenile justice system. Witch spend approximately $12 billion a year treating these mental health issues. Each year in the United States around 600,000 minor boys and girls go through juvenile detention after being arrested and while waiting for further legal action.

Sources

·      http://www.justicepolicy.org/images/upload/06-11_rep_dangersofdetention_jj.pdf