criminal conduct
Various cases that involve young offenders are severe enough to warrant transfers into adult criminal proceedings. However, several benefits of juveniles remaining in the Juvenile Justice System must be reviewed in each incident to establish possible waivers and other best options within the system. Firstly, the decision provides a consistent structure within the entire justice system. When the youth commit offenses and other horrendous crimes, they can be easily absorbed back into the community, unlike when adults are involved. For example, offenders below the age of sixteen falls within an age bracket that needs guided judgment and informed sentencing and not necessarily waivers as experienced in the adult court system. Secondly, it would be beneficial to offer society an opportunity to educate or teach offenders about accountability. This is beneficial because criminal conduct is not always an acquired behavior, although other households treat it as acceptable conduct. Since illegal activities must always carry judicial consequences, leaving juveniles within a juvenile justice system allows for better correction mechanisms as the youth grow into responsible adulthood.
However, despite the benefits mentioned above, there are various consequences, both positive and negative, associated with having a structured juvenile justice system. For example, most juvenile systems may lack access to services that are not always available within the youth system. Contrarily, convicting juveniles as adult offenders could allow access to schooling and vocational skill development. Additionally, most juvenile systems do not have specialized help to solve additional challenges, handle learning disabilities, or associated concerns that may have resulted in committing an offense or criminal conduct.
In a personal opinion, juveniles should be incarcerated in the adult system for various positive reasons. Firstly, the decision would eliminate the juvenile threshold for consequences linked to severe criminal activities. According to country or state regulations, most juvenile offenders can have their data sealed or excised once they reach adulthood. The element of waivers within adult courts, followed by convictions, does not become entirely secretive. Therefore, eliminating the leniency as a youth transitions into adulthood establishes an incentive to keep off bad behavior and conduct. Secondly, juveniles should be absorbed within adult court systems because some are mature enough to deliberate criminal activities. For example, a fifteen-year-old who could be babysitting at a daycare facility or home gets involved in an incident where she accidentally drops a five-month-old baby leading to physical injuries. This incident may render the babysitter incompetent, although the incident could have been entirely accidental. In such a scenario, the committer can be considered mature, which means the court system must consider the age element.
Various challenges are associated with placing juveniles within adult court systems. Firstly, adult courts do not consider the maturity level or age of the youthful offenders. Children’s physical, social, and mental development makes them prone to making decisions that may be considered right or criminal. For example, most male teenagers tend to be unprompted risk-takers because of their psychological development. Children younger than sixteen years lack the understanding of their criminal activities’ consequences and should therefore not be incarcerated in adult judicial systems. Secondly, there are more difficulties in sealing adult criminal records than juvenile cases. When the youth are involved in criminal activities, their records can be quickly closed once they grow into adulthood and obtain an opportunity to succeed in life. However, if a conviction is done in an adult court for juveniles, expunging their records becomes a formidable undertaking; therefore, their conduct can be obtained by anyone else. Thirdly, there are fewer opportunities for rehabilitation within adult court systems. Therefore, letting juveniles receive sentences in an adult court system would imply that the sentencing period is prolonged, prolonged prison stays, or unnecessary treatment that may hinder their freedom of association. Lastly, placing a child in an adult prison facility is likely to create significant risks and possible causes of depression.