In Laurence Steinberg’s essay, “Should Juvenile Offenders be Tried as Adults?, Steinberg expresses a clear opinion based on the juvenile court systems. And an issue that has considerable affects on juvenile delinquents. Steinberg states that it is now very common to see juveniles. Being transferred into the adult court system without age being taken into consideration. The court systems have taken the crimes as the primary factor when trying juveniles as adults.
Although delinquents are committing serious crimes. This has also affected other juveniles that have committed nonviolent crimes. Thus creating a system that commonly transfers youths into adult court systems without hesitation. Steinberg states that this is a process that should not be taken lightly, and should be reconsidered. According to Steingburg, young adults, between the ages of 12 and 16. Are going through dramatic, emotional, physical, intellectual. And emotional developmental changes that directly affect how he or she responds to environments and situations. They are highly adaptable and are not completely aware of the consequences of their actions. They are also not fully matured in ways.
That would make them incapable of understanding the adult court system in which they would be prosecuted for their crimes. With these facts in mind, I would have to agree that the process of transferring youths into the adult court system should not be taken lightly; the juvenile court systems need to reconstruct their prosecution process, creating greater penalties and positive rehabilitation, while also protecting them from the harsh adult court systems.
Let’s begin with a brief history of the juvenile courts systems. Taking a look into the foundations of which the juvenile court systems were built. Originally, the juvenile court system was based on two factors. The immaturity of the offender, and the ability of the adolescent to change into.
An acceptable adult once he or she is given the appropriate resources and rehabilitation (Steinberg pg.596). Although these are the vital factors that should influence the process of punishing young delinquents, there is also one key point that should be considered. I think that this is the cause of the court system’s inability to establish the solution to this dilemma. That is, the fact that the juvenile court systems were established based on laws that have not been changed for a long period of time.
According to Linda J. Collier, in her essay, “Adult Crime, Adult Time”, Collier States: “I know he was formulating a judgment based on laws that have not had a major overhaul for more than 100 years”, (Collier pg.601). If the juvenile court systems do not change, then you can be certain that young offenders will continue to manipulate the court systems, and they will not change either. They commonly become repeating offenders, creating a generation of violent adolescents that grow into adult criminals.
It is not difficult to understand that an adolescent who is going through many environmental changes, along with personal changes involving brain development, may experience impulses and unexplainable emotions that make it difficult for them to deal with some aspects of life. With that said, many youths act upon their impulses without consideration of the consequences of their actions. Some actions may create a small consequence, others much greater. Although these adolescents may commit adult crimes, I feel that this fact alone does not give them a place in the adult criminal justice system. If they are not accountable for their well being, their finances, or their freedom, why should they be accountable, as an adult, for their punishment?
Don’t get me wrong, I understand the severity of the acts of violence committed amongst delinquents that involve murder and other serious violations of the law; I understand it causes tragedies, breaking the hearts of mothers, fathers, and many other family members of the victims. But, I think that the outcome of these incidents should create an alternative for the juvenile court systems rather than an epidemic of cases of young adults being transferred into the adult court systems.
The court systems can not reverse the serious crimes committed by young delinquents, but they can take a few steps towards a positive outcome; they can prevent these incidents from occurring by reconstructing their juvenile court systems. It is time for them to raise the penalties on all crimes committed by adolescents, and show them how important obeying the law is before it is too late.
Furthermore, the next step would be to create intense rehabilitation processes to rebuild our crippled youth. There may be a new generation of violent delinquents, but this means that this generation needs help now more than ever. It is time for them to assess the issues, and create alternatives. At this point, the loosely assembled rehabilitation resources, created by the current juvenile court systems, are the only hope for these juvenile delinquents. This is a disturbing factor considering the amount of stress and violence young adults are enduring in current society. Generation after generation society develops and changes consistently; the types of environments that I was exposed to throughout my youth were very different from what my mother was exposed to, and I know that she can say the same for her early years of life, when she is comparing that with her mother’s adolescence.
With that in mind, it important to realize that the developmental changes we experience when becoming adults have not changed. As youths, we all are attempting to identify ourselves and grow into the adults we seek to be. We all go through the same developmental processes, and for those young delinquents who have found themselves behind bars for an act of violence, it marks the vital time in their life where it is important for them to be handled appropriately, in hopes of creating a positive outcome. With that said, the juvenile court systems are the key determents in creating a nonviolent, productive generation, and this is whom we should turn to when looking to find an appropriate solution to the young offenders being handed to the adult court systems.
