Essay Sample on Reforming Juvenile Justice in America: A 200-Year History

Introduction

The American juvenile justice system has been in the spotlight regarding its law enforcement's treatment of minorities as the United States incarcerates more of its children and youths than any other nation. This system dates back in the 19th century when reforms efforts were made to rehabilitate young offenders i.e. in 1817; the Society for the Prevention of Pauperism was formed and later renamed the Society for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency. The first detention facility namely, the House of Refuge, was set in 1825 for the children of European immigrants. They got funding from the state government and a grant from the Hospital Passenger Fund and later secured funding per child. It's a shame how young offenders, mostly having committed minor offenses, end up being treated like adult prisoners instead of being rehabilitated properly and their fundamental rights upheld.

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The book, Burning Down the House, by Nell Bernstein, takes us through the background of events of the juvenile system and how children are treated and their vulnerability. It shows that there are 66,332 young people currently confined in juvenile facilities with two-thirds in long-term placement. Finances are no issue to hinder the expansion of these facilities as $88,000 per year on average is spent to incarcerate a young person in a state facility which is far beyond the $10,652 invested on the same in education. Even as the juvenile violent crime rate has gone down, children are locked up for minor or low-level offenses such as truancy, drug possession, alcohol possession, violation of probation and public order offenses for instance, 40% in 2010 with only one-in-four incarcerated young people charged for violent crimes (Bernstein, 2014). One in every three American schoolchildren is likely to be arrested by the age of twenty-three whereas an estimated 2 million juveniles are arrested yearly by the police (Sickmund et al., 2011).

Burning Down the House showcases the first-hand experience from formerly incarcerated youth in juvenile centers whom the author met while editing a youth newspaper in San Francisco. The author exposes the evils in the system where abuse and neglect are prevalent instead of proper rehabilitation and protection. This is the case as children are being beaten, raped, placed in solitary confinement, stripped naked, hogtied, given psychotropic drugs, and tortured in different ways that leave them traumatized. The author asks a simple question in the book, ''would this be acceptable if it were my child?'' (Bernstein, 2014, p.14).

The 2010 findings by the Department of Justice's Review Panel on Prison Rape showed that the rate of sexual abuse was higher in juvenile facilities than in adult prisons and that 12% of juvenile prisoners have been sexually abused at least once while in prison. The same report also showed that 73% of girls in juvenile detention had undergone physical and sexual abuse. Solitary confinement is still in use in Red Wing in Minnesota and OH Close Youth Correctional Facility in California (Tilton, 2013).

Youths of color from underserved communities are often predators to the system as a result of race and culture. Socioeconomic disadvantage also plays a role as they are seen to be more susceptible to crime and therefore deserve punishment. Institutional racism seems to have taken root even in legislation and confinement. The government also fails to provide a viable safety net to deal with the young offender but rather forces them to land in the system. We have cases, for example in Los Angeles, where homeless youths often end up in jail all in the name of creating a safe and sustainable society. They are first ticketed, then fined and finally jailed. This often does not create the intended "safe and sustainable society", but rather creates a hardened persona that is traumatized as they learn to adapt and survive inside youth prisons. This is because they suffer violence and psychological torture and hardly get over it (Smith, 1998).

Better rehabilitation methods can be adopted for the youth and society at large. As Bernstein argues, now is the time for a change for good of all those involved and offers strategies to help improve the system. The author suggests listening to the experiences of those youths involved to understand how positive relationships are important and promotes the use of community-based programs and services instead of prison for the youths. Therapeutic methods can be used also where kids work their families and therapists, make use of the therapist's office or are placed with trained foster families for a period of up to nine months.

Conclusion

It is devastating and mind-wrecking to go through the book and realize how young people that can be rehabilitated to serve as better citizens undergo traumatizing experiences of physical and sexual abuse and brutality leaving them hopeless, unworthy and worse than before. Petty offenders are treated as hardcore criminals and exposed to an environment that leaves then hardened as the fight to adapt and survive. The anguish, pain, and suffering in the hands of their protectors are unimaginable. It is heart-breaking that poor minority children suffer more and are treated worse than their white counterparts. Racism seems to be more applicable where black teenagers are arrested five times the rate of white teenagers and two to three for Latino teenagers. This should change and the system should be abolished or replaced with better forms of rehabilitation.

References

Bernstein, N. (2014). Burning down the house: The end of juvenile prison. New York, NY: The New Press.

Sickmund, M., Sladky, T.J., Kang, W., and Puzzanchera, C. (2011) "Easy Access to the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement." Online.

Tilton, J. (2013). Rethinking youth voice and institutional power: Reflections from inside a service learning partnership in a California juvenile hall. Children and Youth Service Review, 35, 1189-1196.

Smith, Bradford. (1998). "Children in Custody: 20-Year Trends in Juvenile Detention, Correctional, and Shelter Facilities." Crime & Delinquency. 44 (4), pp.526-543