Community-Based Justice: Its Impact on Young Offenders
Introduction
Background
Young (2017) posits that a sharp increase in youth delinquency between 1980 and 1990 necessitated the need for punitive measures. This can be attributed to a progressive decline in youth delinquency between 1990 to 2017, this is a 41% decline[1]. This notwithstanding, youth prison In the United States has become unsustainable. According to what Virginia Secretary of Public Safety, Brian Moran, said “The longer they stay, the more we spend on them, the worse they are when they get out”[2] . Across the USA, the approximately 50000 young adults incarnated across 696 correctional facilities cost the taxpayers money estimated at 21 billion UDS per year[3]. These are monies that could be channeled to other development areas such as health insurance and infrastructure.
Problem statement
This justifies the need for Community-Based Justice, which is a more effective alternative to juvenile incarceration
Hypothesis
- The need for Community-Based Justice can be attributed to evidence of systemic maltreatment and failures associated with juvenile incarceration.
H2. Community-Based Justice Model success is attributed to guiding evidence-based principles.
Literature Review
Outcomes of Juvenile Incarceration
Adolescents and early adulthood incarceration are associated with worse mental and physical outcomes during adulthood. Even when the relationship for key health social determinants and baseline health is held, the outcomes remain the same for incarcerated adolescents. In an era where youths are incarcerated in large numbers, incarceration has significant health outcomes with individuals facing disproportionately high risks of mortality and morbidity, especially when the individuals are faced with social vulnerabilities[4]. The juvenile justice system, created to rehabilitate young offenders, has become increasingly punitive and harsh. Based on Richard, substantial evidence on mistreatment among the youths on juvenile correction facilities have shown that since 2000, there continues to be systemic maltreatment in these facilities with juveniles, in more than 29 state in the US, reporting to be victims of sexual abuse from staffs or inmates as of 2012[5]. Juvenile mistreatment is the main undoing in juvenile justice systems. With the increase, juvenile justice systems no longer protect inmates, in turn, resulting in psychological distress and fear of the individual’s safety, it, therefore, goes to show that regardless the type of institution used during incarceration, juvenile incarceration ought to be the last resort when correcting adolescents[6]. In addition to fear and psychological distress, juvenile incarceration has additional harmful consequences. It exposes adolescents to poor human capital development opportunities and weak socialization as well as further offending and victimization[7]. The case worsens when the adolescents undergo unnecessary incarceration making juvenile incarceration the lesser of the two evils.
The Need for Professional Help
Based on the effects attributed to juvenile incarceration, a need for professional help arises in juvenile justice systems. With the support in place, the justice systems will be able to minimize, if not entirely prevent, youth incarceration by addressing the critical social and behavioral health determinants. By incorporating the help of pediatricians, the juvenile justice system will be able to mitigate possible downstream effects attributed to juvenile incarceration health outcomes[8]. Borrowing from the 2011 policy statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics, involving professional help in the justice systems would make it possible to actively advocate for the reduction of the number of confined youths through putting forth several actions for the pediatrics to improve the justice health of the involved youths[9].
Community-Based Justice
Community-based justice approaches are more developmentally appropriate when handling juvenile offenders and provide a better option for juvenile justice systems. In addition to upholding the standards for human rights, they can address the young offender population’s unique needs. When working with adolescents, there is a slippery slope attributed to impulsivity and distinctive rebellion. Unmonitored, the youths will never understand the value of the right choices resulting in responsible adults[10]. Some of the working community-based methods comprise an alternative to detention (ATDs) and alternatives to incarceration (ATIs).
Community-Based justice guiding principles
According to Berman, the core principles in a community-based justice system are enhanced information, community engagement, collaboration, individualized justice, accountability, and outcomes[11]. Through enhanced information, community-based justice systems work from the notion that better information coupled with better staff training, about the community and not just about the defendants, plays an essential role in improving the decision made by attorneys, judges, and associated justice officials. Community engagement sees to provide neighborhood groups and citizens an active voice about justice based on the recognition neighborhoods are victims of crime. Through collaboration, courts are uniquely positioned to engage various community organizations, government agencies, and people to improve the safety of the public[12]. Individualized justice enables community courts to see to combine help with punishment rather than merely reproducing business as usual. Accountability facilitates community courts an opportunity to send the message that every criminal behavior affects the safety of the community. Lastly, outcomes, community courts move far beyond standard measurement units used in evaluating court performance through the active collection and data analysis.
Bibliography
Aaron Kupchik. 2007. The Correctional Experiences of Youth in Adult and Juvenile Prisons, 24
JUST. Q. 247, 265.
Barnert, Elizabeth S., Rebecca Dudovitz, Bergen B. Nelson, Tumaini R. Coker, Christopher
Biely, Ning Li, and Paul J. Chung. 2017. “How Does Incarcerating Young People Affect Their Adult Health Outcomes?” Pediatrics. 139 (2): e20162624.
Berman, Greg. 2010. Principles of community justice: a guide for community court planners.
New York, NY: Center for Court Innovation. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/pdf/CCI_CommunityCourtPrinciples.pdf.
Fagan J, Meares T L. 2008. Punishment, Deterrence and Social Control: The Paradox of
Punishment in Minority Communities. Ohio St. J. Crim. L. 6: 173, 201–05.
Jeffrey Fagan and Aaron Kupchik. 2011. “Juvenile Incarceration and the Pains Of Imprisonment.” Duke Forum for Law & Social Change. 3 (1): 29-61.
Smith, Charisa Esq. 2013. “Nothing About Us Without Us! The Failure of the Modern Juvenile
Justice System and a Call for Community-Based Justice,” Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk, 4 (11) Available at: http://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/childrenatrisk/vol4/iss1/11
Schiraldi, V., Western, B. and Bradner, K. (2015) Community-Based Responses to Justice-Involved Young Adults. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c8e74cd94d71a16ff94b536/t/5d25662f5d47300001022c3c/1562732080432/Community-+Based+Responses+to+Justice-Involved+Young+Adults.pdf
Young, Susan et al. “Juvenile delinquency, welfare, justice and therapeutic interventions: a global perspective.” BJPsych bulletin vol. 41,1 (2017): 21-29. doi:10.1192/pb.bp.115.052274
Peace, M. (2016). Counting the Cost of Youth Imprisonment. https://ifstudies.org/blog/counting-the-cost-of-youth-imprisonment
The Annie E. Casey Foundation (2015). Maltreatment of Youth in U.S. Juvenile Corrections Facilities. Retrieved from http://www.aecf.org/m/resourcedoc/aecf-maltreatmentyouthuscorrections-2015.pdf
[1] Statista), 2020. Number of serious violent crimes committed by youth aged between 12 and 17 years in the U.S. from 1980 to 2017*(in 1,000s). accessed on 21st July 2019 https://www.statista.com/statistics/477466/number-of-serious-violent-crimes-by-youth-in-the-us/#:~:text=U.S.%20%2D%20number%20of%20serious%20violent%20crimes%20by%20youth%201980%2D2017&text=In%202016%2C%20there%20were%20about,17%20in%20the%20United%20States.
[2] Schiraldi, V., Western, B. and Bradner, K. (2015) Community-Based Responses to Justice-Involved Young Adults.https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c8e74cd94d71a16ff94b536/t/5d25662f5d47300001022c3c/1562732080432/Community-+Based+Responses+to+Justice-Involved+Young+Adults.pdf
[3]. Peace, M. (2016). Counting the Cost of Youth Imprisonment. https://ifstudies.org/blog/counting-the-cost-of-youth-imprisonment
[4] Barnert, Elizabeth S., Rebecca Dudovitz, Bergen B. Nelson, Tumaini R. Coker, Christopher Biely, Ning Li, and Paul J. Chung. 2017. “How Does Incarcerating Young People Affect Their Adult Health Outcomes?” Pediatrics. 139 (2): e20162624.
[5] The Annie E. Casey Foundation (2015). Maltreatment of Youth in U.S. Juvenile Corrections Facilities. Retrieved from http://www.aecf.org/m/resourcedoc/aecf-maltreatmentyouthuscorrections-2015.pdf
[6] Jeffrey Fagan, and Aaron Kupchik. 2011. “Juvenile Incarceration and the Pains Of Imprisonment”. Duke Forum for Law & Social Change. 3 (1): 1-38.
[7] Jeffrey, & Aaron, 2011, p. 23.
[8] Barnett et al., 2017, p. 7.
[9] Aaron Kupchik. 2007. The Correctional Experiences of Youth in Adult and Juvenile Prisons, 24 JUST. Q. 247, 265.
[10] Smith, Charisa Esq. 2013. “Nothing About Us Without Us! The Failure of the Modern Juvenile Justice System and a Call for Community-Based Justice,” Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 11. Available at: http://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/childrenatrisk/vol4/iss1/11
[11] Berman, Greg. 2010. Principles of community justice: a guide for community court planners. New York, NY: Center for Court Innovation. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/pdf/CCI_CommunityCourtPrinciples.pdf.
[12] Berman, 2010.