Essay Sample on Technical Expertise: Reforming Juvenile System

Introduction

Application of technical expertise to juvenile kids to make them cope with life after the crime is a useful program for reforming the juvenile system. Technical skills keep the young ones busy and provide them with useful skills to help them survive life after the justice system. The implementation of technical expertise in the juvenile system will see to the harnessing of skills and utilization as well as funding the agency undertaking it through the sale of materials made by those detained, integrating juvenile children into society through behavioral modification. Just as behavior can be learned, it can be unlearned (Creswell et al., 2018). Most underage criminals get into it through the influence of their friends. Concentrating on the unlearning of such reactions to rehabilitate kids can be highly effective.

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Agency Description

The Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention is an agency that has been set up to prevent criminality in anyone below the age of 18 years. It has programs that prevent young people from committing a crime or becoming victims of criminal activities (Creswell et al., 2018). The organization was started in1974 to ensure proper treatment of the minors in the justice system. Following their mission statement, the agency seeks to create a healthy environment for children and a rare and fare interaction between children and the justice system. The leading roles of OJJDP are to prevent young criminals from getting victimized by the justice system, to react to the criminal threat from the young, and rehabilitate juveniles.

Besides focusing on what may have triggered such behavior, I am also interested in the strategies that may be applied as interventions. I have always believed that education is one of the best ways of empowering and equipping teenagers as a way of pushing them away from deviant behavior. A study by Smith et al. (2019) found out that there was a steep and increasing negative association between reduced schooling and rates of arrests by 26, individuals that had between 12 and 15 years of education and those with college training had lower rates of arrests for offending pointing to a direct correlation between education and deviant behavior, especially in the teenage years. Another study by Steele et al. (2018) analyzed various studies that focused on educational interventions and their implementation in juvenile correctional centers in introducing behavior change of the minors. By delving more profound on the interventions that have been proposed in the literature and research, I will get a better understanding of the approaches being used and in my field of study, be able to apply the strategies in offering help to those affected in my professional work.

Theories

Cultural transmission theory holds that one's community can mold their beliefs and way of life. Children brought up in native cities tend to bend more towards criminal activities. The theory will help in understanding better the reason why individual children are in the justice system and help them accordingly. The biological theory holds that some traits are inherited, and thus, a child could get into crime through the influence of inherited characteristics of criminal activities. Through the method, we understand that some actions can be deeply ingrained into a person's behavior, thus looking for suitable ways to root them out (Smith, 2019).

The U.S. Supreme court has handled many cases that involve the manner the Juveniles should be handled in the Criminal justice systems where there are instances of judgments with some with dissenting opinions. One such example was Roper v. Simmons by state. In the case, the majority opinion was that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment disallow the execution of juvenile offenders. The state cannot extinguish Juvenile life instead of allowing maturing to have the potential of humanity; however, Justice Scalia had a dissenting opinion (Smith, 2019).

According to Justice Scalia, the court had wrongly interpreted its Judgments for individuals who commit crimes by outlawing the execution of Juveniles. He had criticism for the majority when they counted non-penalty states as part of forming consensus against the Juvenile executions. He was against the concept of the country to utilize international law as a way to confirm its finding when it came to a national consensus (Smith, 2019). By so doing, they demonstrated acknowledgments of a foreign approval as opposed to the U.S. own legal opinions.

On my part, I agree with the majority. On the onset, there is a debate on the morality of the death penalty, and extending to the juveniles would not be right. The value of any prison punishment is to ensure there are proper corrective measures that have to be taken (Steele et al., 2016). Therefore, by executing somebody, the chance for correction is not going to be there. On the other hand, 18 years old is supposed to be the age of majority. The juvenile might not be in a position to make an independent decision at the time he committed the said offense; hence should be given time to mature.

References

Creswell, J.W, and Creswell, D. (2018). Research Design, 5th Edition. Sage Publication.

Smith, J.P. (2019). As Youthful Arrests Spike, Their Consequences Rise, Too. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, Retrieved from https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB10062.html

Steele, J. L., Bozick, R and Davis, L.M. (2016). Education for Incarcerated Juveniles A Meta-Analysis, Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPER), Volume 21, Issue 2 Pages 65-89. doi: 10.1080/10824669.2015.1133308