Wednesday, September 16, 2015

The juvenile probation system's revocation process is nearly identical to that found in the adult system. Is that good or bad, and why? (That is, why should juveniles be exempt from or protected by the Supreme Court decisions governing adult probation?)

The essential issue here is whether juveniles should be treated in a similar manner to adults by the probation system. The main difficulty in answering it is that not all juveniles are the same. An eleven-year-old differs developmentally from a seventeen-year-old, and probation officers need to be sensitive to these differences.
Perhaps the key issue here is that juvenile offenders often stop offending as they grow older and develop more maturity and self control. Juveniles tend to have lower recidivism rates than adult offenders, but once they are placed within the adult criminal system, their recidivism rates rise.
There are several reasons why it can be argued that juveniles should be treated differently from adults in the probation system. One of the main ones is that juveniles are still in school and that attending school full-time is crucial to giving them the life opportunities that will enable them to become productive members of society. This means that juvenile probation needs to work closely with schools and prioritize not disrupting an offender's education. Parole revocation decisions need to take into account the effect on an offender's education; missing even a few weeks of class can have a devastating effect on a student's progress.
Next, because the juvenile brain is not fully mature, juveniles are more prone to impulsive acts that do not take into account long-term consequences. This means that a parole violation in the case of a juvenile might be due to peer pressure or impulsiveness rather than an indicator of recidivism. Thus greater leniency for juveniles in the case of parole violations is appropriate given their psychological development.
Finally, because being incarcerated and introduced into the adult criminal system can reduce the chances of juvenile rehabilitation, probation standards for juveniles need to focus on rehabilitation and maintaining a consistent school and family environment and support system rather than on punitive measures. A parole violation in an adult signals something quite different than one in a juvenile.
https://online.sju.edu/graduate/masters-criminal-justice/resources/articles/improving-effectiveness-of-juvenile-justice-program

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/juvenile-court-sentencing-options-32225.html

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