JUVENILE CRIMINAL SYSTEM
Introduction
Sleepers is a movie whose intended purpose was to address the juvenile justice system in a lengthy manner. As indicated by this film, the adolescent equity framework is insignificant in the domains of equity. Justice frameworks are intended to address people to improve their residents who can withstand the law, not to solidify them, making them no-nonsense hoodlums. Be that as it may, Sleepers paint the juvenile equity framework as a flawed framework. This is confirmed by the brutish occasions that happen to Lorenzo, Thomas, Michael, and John. After these adolescent’s murder King Benny, they are taken to Wilkinson Home, a remedial place for transformation.
Discussion
However, when the four boys join the Wilkinson Home, they undergo brutal treatment under the hands of the individuals guarding this Centre. The boys are abused, thrashed, and raped. This experience plays a large part in the criminal life of the four boys. The correctional facility does not facilitate reformation, but rather it fuels criminal growth for the boys. For this reason, it is imperative to look into this movie while focusing on the convectional youth justice system in Canada. The efficiency of the juvenile system is determined by its ability to reform juveniles. In this case, the system was ineffective since it didn’t change the four youths. The experience of a minor can depend on how he/she behaves in the future. The youth can either become a criminal in adulthood or a delinquent. Thomas and John undergo harsh treatment, which converts them into criminals in their adult life. The community plays a large part in the boy’s criminal life since most people are hardly concerned. The law should be in such a way that it corrects juveniles instead of allowing them to join criminal gangs.
From the movie sleepers, an individual can effectively connect the relationship between adult criminals and the juvenile justice system. The Youth Criminal Justice Act governs the treatment of juveniles in Canada’s youth juvenile system. The law applies for individuals who are at an age ranging between 12 and 18 years. If a juvenile commits a criminal offense, his/her treatment should be in accordance with the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The law has been adopted a number of times, with the most recent being a parliament act in 2012. The YCJA’s main objective is to ensure that juveniles involved in any criminal act are reformed. Less severe cases, cases of unfairness during sentencing, and disparity are included in the law.
A closer look at the treatment of these boys while focusing on the YCJA indicates that the boys were mistreated. This framework provides a more effective juvenile reformation system, which, in no small part, takes care of the juvenile’s interests. The law has a particular way through which they deal with first, violent, and repeat offenders. According to the law, society has a large part to play in reforming juveniles. The needs and challenges of young people must be addressed to prevent more crime. JCJA is tasked with the responsibility of deciding the fate of children who previously lived in homes, but their stay has been cut short. A juvenile delinquent is a child whose age range between 10 to years and has committed a crime. Therefore, juvenile delinquency cases take place when a minor has committed a crime.
Improving the juvenile justice system requires the implementation of specific measures. Most juvenile cases are associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression, as indicated in sleepers. The system recognizes and is an active participant in the diagnosis of delinquency. The juvenile justice system should also focus on the positive development of the youth by helping them to take responsibility for their actions, offering fair chances to make it right, and providing solutions for a long-lasting future. Juvenile justice should also provide educational opportunities for juvenile offenders. This ensures that the individuals better their lives after incarceration (McCord, Widom, & Crowell, 2010).
The penalty meted on the boys in sleepers is against the act. The sentence was against the constitution, thus illegal. It is unfair for juveniles to face the prospectus of life without parole. This is because they are young, which means that there exist other alternative ways of improving their experience. Brutal treatment increases their involvement in criminal activities. The juveniles should be given an opportunity to better their life under close supervision. The government invests according to the law invests in educational opportunities and the development of these juvenile offenders. Investing in ways of reforming the youth should be fueled by the need to improve society by ensuring the child are well developed. The cost should, therefore, be used to make the smallest decisions but should not be a significant factor in such reforms. This is the model recommended and applied by the JCJA. From this law, the juveniles should have treated in such a way that they were reformed from their minor offense instead of projecting them into criminals. The law gives youths rights and freedoms, which protects their interests and provides intervention for any serious crimes. The law provides that juveniles should be allowed time to reform with the absence of violence or any other criminal treatment.
Restorative Justice System
The “Sleepers” case would have been handled differently by the restorative system of justice, as well as the retributive system. The fists approach is the definition of a crime by the restorative justice system. The restorative system approaches crime as a violation of the rights of a different individual by a different person. The retributive justice system, on the contrary, has a different approach to crime in that a crime refers to the violation of the laws of the state. For this reason, the retributive justice system has several aims when dealing with a crime, namely; punishing the crime as well as finding the responsible person or party to be blamed. On the other hand, the restorative justice system pays attention to the problems brought about by the crimes committed, and more so, establishing possible ways of solving the problem. In the case of the “Sleepers” case, the boys caused several problems and damages. The offenses brought about by the boys brought about some liabilities. For instance, their mischief endangered to the life of the man they injured on the subway. Another liability they cased was the damaging of the hot dog chart, as well as stealing the hot dogs from the vendor. Problem-solving is one of the key objectives of the restorative justice system, and in particular, cases where the liabilities such as these are caused and repair should be done to the complainants on the damages caused.
Another approach that the restorative justice case would have on the two boys is that the system would have treated the two boys as offenders, having committed the life of endangering the life of the man at the subway. Attempting to kill the man would have been considered a serious criminal offense. As a result, the case would have been settled by establishing a way of settling the liabilities caused by the boys. The best approach, in this case, would be establishing a platform for creating conflict resolution with the man. This would be an opportunity to engage the boys and the man in a dialogue in an attempt to reconcile. The restorative justice system could have offered the best approach, in this case, considering that the boys are young, and it is possible that they know little about the law. One of the boys (aged 14 years) is eligible to be subjected to the law, as a mature person. On the other hand, 13 aged boys cannot be sentenced as an adult. The retributive justice system would sentence the 14 years old boy, as an adult, and take the other through a juvenile sentence. However, restorative justice aims at resolving and settling the case. For that reason, the restorative system would treat both boys as young and with little or no knowledge about the law of the state. Nonetheless, they are old enough to understand that their actions are wrong, to the extent of causing harm to the man, which is violating the individual’s rights.
It is also important to understand the existing state’s justice system of Canada, would vary with the restorative justice system, because the boys would have an opportunity for rehabilitation as well as restoration. As outlined in the CRCVC, there are several principles that guide the restorative justice system (2011). As outlined in the CRCVC, a restorative system of justice is more concerned with settling debts, disputes and have the offenders understand their actions had negative impacts on the other party, while having both parties settle at an agreement. Under these principles, the restorative justice system lays its foundations for all that it entails. The critical step is ensuring that the offenders recognize the harm they caused and settling the conflict between them and the victim. This is contrary to the laws of the state, as states pay attempts to convict and establishing the party to blame. According to the Department of Justice (2018) paragraph six, the victims and the offenders are given a chance to engage and interact and have the means to settle the dispute. The approach offers a shift of the justice approach forms the state, to a victim-centered system, where the real victim or the person who has been offended to interact with the offender. The system has been proven to be more victim-centered, and in the long run, the closure established by this system has been proven to be more effective.
It is evident that the boys in the ‘sleepers’ have committed serious offenses, which can be presented in a court of law. The first attempt is the destruction of property by destroying the vendor’s cart. They steal hot dogs and injures the vendor with the cart and actions which can be sentenced as life-threatening. The approach of restorative justice is quite lenient on the boys. However, according to the CCRV, as indicated in the (2011) rule, the restorative justice system does not force the participants to participate in the gathering, as it has to be entirely voluntary. Therefore, it is important to mention that the 14 years aged boy has the right to choose the restorative justice system, or the state’s sentencing, as he is of legal age that makes him legit for sentencing in an adult court system. The victims, in most cases, might refuse to participate in the restorative system but might prefer the adversarial system, they get to feel that they are less involved in the adversarial system compared to the restorative system. The vendor and the man injured man might patriciate in the restorative program, which is known as the Victim-Offender Mediation program, contained in the CCRV (2011). The aim of this program is to establish a form of agreement between the victim and the committers of the offense, with the hope that they might come to an agreement and a closure of the case. In this process, the man injured at the subway, and the hot dog vendor would have to give the impact of the actions of the young boys and make them understand the harm they had brought to them. After this discussion, the offenders would have to be responsible for all their actions by admitting to their actions, apologizing, and further, offer valid reasons and explanations about why they committed the offenses. For instance, the vendor might illustrate how the boys might have ruined his income by destroying the cart and stealing hot dogs. The man in the subway might show the boys how much he was affected by the injury. One of the boys might give an example of how his abusive parent might have affected his behavior. However, a mediator is needed in such a case, to facilitate peaceful interactions and safety for everyone. The mediator also should provide the necessary actions that the two parties should take to cover the damage and liabilities, as well as resolving the problem and hence a calm conclusion of the matter.
Perspective
The boys in the ‘Sleepers’ movie received a strict approach, as they were dealt with according to the state laws, which applies the contemporary justice system. I conquer with some of the measures that are used in this system, as some of them are effective when dealing with crimes. Nonetheless, I think that not all cases are as a result of mischief or the perspective of an individual to commit crimes. Some people are just misguided or others being negatively influenced by peers or childhood events that might have affected their reasoning. Therefore, I would advocate for the restorative justice system for the boys, as a way of establishing awareness of the actions they might have committed. This system might also be helpful in examining the cause of the boy’s behavior. The restorative justice system would offer the boys a chance to recognize the brutality of their crimes, to the extent of causing danger to people’s life. The system would evict them a proportional punishment, that the contemporary system would give them, and in that way, they would learn from their mistakes, and perhaps understand the consequences of their actions. This approach would be effective, as it would offer the boys a chance to rehabilitate their behavior by learning from the victim’s conversations and engagement.
Conclusion
In the present society, numerous youngsters carrying out criminal and illicit conduct is a common occurrence. Society realizes that there are juvenile crooks, and they have criminal aims. The inquiry today isn’t if individuals will carry out criminal activities, it is finding the best technique to help those juveniles reintegrate in society as gainful residents, and keeping them from turning out to be hoodlums. However, it is imperative to consider a path that leads the juveniles to a more productive adult life rather than retrenching them back into criminal life.
References
Canadian Resource Centre for Victims Crime. (2011, March). Restorative Justice in Canada: What victims should know. Retrieved April 2, 2018, from http://www.rjlillooet.ca/documents/restjust.pdf
Criminal Code. (2017, December 12). Justice Laws Website. Retrieved April 2, 2018, from http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/section-430.html
Department of Justice. (2018, January 18). The Effects of Restorative Justice Programming: A Review of the Empirical. Retrieved April 2, 2018, from http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/csj-sjc/jsp-sjp/rr00_16/p2.html#sec2_2
Canadian Resource Centre for Victims Crime. (2011, March). Restorative Justice in Canada: What victims should know. Retrieved April 2, 2018, from http://www.rjlillooet.ca/documents/restjust.pdf
McCord, J. E., Widom, C. S., & Crowell, N. A. (2010). Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice. Panel on Juvenile Crime: Prevention, Treatment, and Control. NY: National Academy Press.