DB Replies on juvenile delinqency

150 Word min each & MUST INCORPORATE A BIBLICAL VERSE

4 days ago

Chuck Hart

Discussion Board Forum 8

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In comparing community probation and juvenile detention centers as it relates to juvenile delinquency, it should be stressed that both focus on incorporating treatment and rehabilitative efforts to bring about change in an individual's antisocial behaviors with the goals of reduced recidivism and conformity to social norms related to conduct and lawfulness. As it says in Ezekiel 36:26-27, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws" (Bible, NIV).

The aspect of community-based probation allows for community resources to be used to render treatment for juvenile offenders in a non-penalizing, non-restrictive fashion, which is the leading way to deal with this issue in the juvenile justice system. By using probation, which is the foundation of the system, it is used in 64 percent of dispositions handed down in juvenile cases (Siegel & Welsh, 2017). Some probationers receive intensive supervision which has mixed reviews about recidivism rates and cost reductions associated with the program. The use of electronic monitoring alleviates overcrowding and reduces costs attached to housing in a detention facility with no real noticeable differences in recidivism. The approach to using restitution seems to have some positive effects, as well as the residential programs that concentrate on relationship and skill building, therapy and counseling. The more intimate programs that center on an investment of time and one-on-one relationships appear to be cost effective and have an impact of repeat offending.       

With the use juvenile detention facilities, which can be state owned or privately operated, it provides a secure environment for treatment programs to be employed. Again, treatment and rehabilitation are the goals of these programs, however, they are administered in a restrictive venue. The effectiveness of secured corrections is to keep the community at-large protected from the more aggressive and violent juvenile offenders while providing needed services ranging from counseling to various forms of therapy (psychotherapy,  reality therapy, group, etc.) to educational, recreational, and vocational training (Siegel & Welsh, 2017). The costs of detaining and treating juveniles is expensive and while there have been successes within in a variety of programs offered, there is no one specifically identified as being the end-all and be-all for halting recidivism. Each individual responds differently to specific treatment programs, combined with their inner desire to learn from their youthful mistakes and change for the better. It is said in Titus 2:12, "It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age" (Bible, NIV).

References:

Holy Bible, New International Version, 2011 

Siegel, L. J., & Welsh, B. (2017). Juvenile delinquency The core. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. ISBN: 9781305577411.

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Noah Perkins

Noah Perkins DB Thread

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Juvenile probation compared to juvenile detention centers are not alike as one would think them to be. In my own thoughts, I think that juvenile probation centers are put into place to deter the struggling juvenile away from a life of wrong by a community effort with mentors and work training involved kind of like the quote “it takes a village” to raise a child. I have always thought juvenile detention centers as a place to punish the struggling juvenile for the wrong actions/choices they had committed. According to Patricia Mcfall Torbet author of Juvenile Probation: The Workhorse of the Juvenile Justice System says this about Juvenile probation “Probation may be used at the “front end” of the juvenile justice system for first-time, low-risk offenders or at the “back end” as an alternative to institutional confinement for more serious of- fenders” (Torbet 1996).  According to Torbet it is the most effective way to steer a teen in the right direction by using other methods of punishment aside from traditional Detention centers where it is really no different than a prison where the juveniles are under supervision. According to National Partnership For Juvenile Services defines Juvenile Detention center as “Juvenile detention, as part of the juvenile justice continuum, is a process that includes the temporary and safe custody of juveniles whose alleged conduct is subject to court jurisdiction who require a restricted environment for their own and the community’s protection while pending legal action. Juvenile detention may range from the least restrictive community based supervision to the most restrictive form of secure care” (Wayne Bear, npjs.org). Both forms of punishment are need in my book we must have one or the other probation can be used in cases of first time offenders to try to change the mindset of the juvenile. But in the case of a repeat offender there needs to be detention where they will see it is like prison and if they keep up their actions they are headed down a road of crime and maybe open their eyes.  This reminds me of 1 John 3:4 “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness” we must change the mindset of Struggling juveniles.

Works Cited: 

https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/workhors.pdf

http://npjs.org/detention/