Juvenile Criminal Justice System

¶ … juvenile crime," the United States continues to promote policies that channel adolescent offenders into the adult justice system ("Juvenile Justice," 2014). The PBS production When Kids Get Life examines the ramifications of trying minors as adults for serious crimes, leading to their entire lives being spent in prison with no opportunity for rehabilitation. While the crimes in these cases are severe and do warrant punishment, clearly there are other options that should be made available for juvenile offenders.

The majority (87%) of adolescents in custody have been diagnosed with mental illness; a full 73% of youth in custody are diagnosed with more than one mental illness (Indig, et al., 2009, p. 21). Based on the evidence presented in When Kids Get Life and the vast body of literature on adolescent criminality, the juvenile justice system should be oriented more toward rehabilitation and mental health services than to incarceration.

The whole concept of adolescence is actually new, with little to no distinction between teenagers and adults given until fairly recently in American history ("Juvenile Justice," 2014). In fact, several hundred years ago, "little distinction was made in the criminal culpability of children vs. adults," ("Juvenile Justice," 2014). This means that the current state of affairs as illustrated in When Kids Get Life is nothing new. That fact does not excuse the criminal justice system from taking a giant step backwards.

Advancements of knowledge in psychology and sociology have led to an appreciation for the unique physiological, sociological, and psychological variables at play in adolescence ("Juvenile Justice," 2014). These advancements in the social sciences led to a separation of juvenile vs. adult courts. However, trying juveniles in a separate system is not in itself a solution to delinquency. In Kent v. United States (1966).

The Supreme Court found that "the child receives the worst of both worlds: that he gets neither the protections accorded to adults nor the solicitous care and regenerative treatment postulated for children," p. 1). Little has changed since 1966; children are still receiving the worst of both worlds even if they are able to take advantage of due process and other inalienable rights. While preserving the integrity of the criminal justice system and the laws embedded in the Constitution, it is necessary to envision a new method of dealing with adolescent crime.

One of the most important approaches to adolescent crime is through the mental health system. Bolstering mental health services provides the assistance needed by the youth who commit crimes, diverting those young people to psychological services instead of prison. As Indig et al. (2009) point out, both female and male juveniles in at-risk communities are not being given access to the types of services they need. At-risk communities themselves need to be provided with the means by which to eliminate the root causes of crime, including gang prevention and other services.

Interestingly, the stories covered in When Kids Get Life are not about gangs; they are about individuals who have committed heinous crimes outside of the gang context. These stories are chilling; Nathan Ybanez killed his own mother. Yet the viewer learns that Nathan's mother had been abusive. Therefore, When Kids Get Life does address child abuse as being a root cause of some adolescent violent crimes. The profile of Ybanez substantiates the evidence provided by Indig et al.

(2009) showing that 60% of the young people surveyed in custody had a history of child abuse; that number soars to 81% for young women. It is equally as heart breaking to learn of Trevor Jones, who accidentally.