CJUS 550 Discussion 4-Reply 2
The below assignment has been written by another student. Please read it very carefully and reply to it by providing 200 words, apa format, at least 2 or 3 citations in addition to course textbook Schmalleger, F. (2011). Criminal justice today: An introductory text for the 21th Century (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Your work should be original work. Thanks (todd) The juvenile justice system is on the cusp of following a cycle that could return to a pre-1970’s system. Severe and detrimental crimes committed by juveniles coupled with the media presentation of crime increase are pressuring the system into the adultification process. Certainly the evolution of technology has contributed to the severity of crimes committed by youth. For example, “some researchers argue that cyber violence should be a new object of adult concern. Indeed, it has been suggested that Internet bullying has emerged as a psychologically devastating form of social cruelty with some scholars identifying cyber-bullying as a modern pervasive problem” (Cesaroni, Downing, & Alvi, 2012, p. 199). This cyber-terrorism can be more devastating and criminal with activities like identity theft. Identity theft occurred when a child created a social media page of another child and made vicious and lewd comments about an entire school population for six months before being stopped. This crime devastated the child who appeared to own the page, and disrupted her life significantly. The 8th-grade perpetrator was caught, deemed delinquent and sentenced to probation where she could not use the Internet or technology until she turned 21 years old. Juxtapose this crime with that of Gerald Gault and his friend Ronald Lewis. They were taken into custody and charged with making a lewd phone call. “Young Gault was adjudicated delinquent and remanded to the State Industrial School until his twenty-first birthday” (Schmalleger, 2011, p. 551), he was seventeen at the time. The latter occurred in 1964; the former occurred in 2010. Certainly the cyber case significantly impacted the victim, especially when compared to a single lewd phone call made by Mr. Gault. Did the punishment fit the crime? Adultification of the juvenile justice system due to media hype and public pressure will not lead to rehabilitation. Young adults transferred to adult facilities at the age 18 or 21 due to crimes committed as a child enrolls them in a highly culturized prison education system. In this system, they will learn how to become better criminals by some of the best professors of crime, long term adult criminals.
A move toward adultification of the juvenile justice system is the polar opposite of increasing efforts to prevent juvenile crime. As a prevention professional, I firmly believe that the media and public should focus more attention on juvenile prevention measures. These prevention measures not only focus on those “at-risk,” but also bystanders. “Interventions are also looking at bystanders. Some studies have shown up to 90 per cent of young people ignored wrong-doing when they saw it” (Nicol, 2012, p.3). If we have any hope of impacting juvenile crime, adult crime, and general societal safety, we need to teach young people “to do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31, NASB). We are headed down a path where people do not care about one another. “Because of the increase of wickedness the love of most will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12, NASB). As we move closer to end times, the hearts of many will grow cold towards Christ and our fellow man. Warm the hearts of America and teach that passivity breeds crime and jeopardizes the safety of all. The answer is not adultification of the juvenile justice system; the answer is preventing entry into the system by identifying at-risk behavior and initiating an intervention or diversion. Adultification is one step closer to incarcerating a minor for four years for making a lewd phone call. Do we really want to go back to 1964?
