Major Topic in Juvenile Delinquency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Major Topic in Juvenile Delinquency - Essay Example However, it can be said that the system has been fairy effective in controlling juvenile crimes and rehabilitating youths. The juvenile justice system comprises of formal and informal institutions, while the juvenile justice process consists of the procedures that are followed in processing juvenile cases. This paper discusses the history of juvenile justice, the juvenile justice system, which collaborates with the juvenile justice process to administer justice to juveniles, and the juvenile justice process. Keywords: Juvenile, Youth, Child, Justice, Juvenile Justice, Juvenile Justice System, Juvenile Justice Process Introduction Youth crime is a very serious problem to the society. Early youth crimes included runaways, loitering, bullying, and other minor offenses. This has however changed with youths turning violent and committing crimes as serious as assault, robbery, murder, rape, and drug trafficking. In recent years, youth crime has been on the rise affecting many nations world wide. In the United States, millions of juvenile arrests are conducted each year for crimes ranging from violence to minor crimes. According to Cole and Smith, â€Å"in a nation with 74 million people younger than age 18, about 1.6 million arrests of juveniles occur each year , 74,000 of which (just over 4.5 percent) are for violent crimes† (2010, p. 604). ... Institutions and procedures were thus established, in order to conduct justice for juveniles with focus on their welfare. The institutions and procedures established are referred to as the juvenile justice system and the juvenile justice process respectively. The juvenile justice process is therefore a philosophy that underlies the juvenile justice system. From this, it is clear that both institutions and procedures collaborate to administer juvenile justice, and no entity can exist on its own. Martin points out that â€Å"the juvenile justice system is composed of institutions that have been organized to manage established procedures as a way to achieve justice for all juveniles† (2005, p. 4). The institutions are divided into formal and informal organizations, and constitute of community-based programs and agencies, juvenile corrections, juvenile courts, and the police. The juvenile justice process on the other hand, â€Å"refers to distinct procedures established to assure the fair administration of youths under the law† (Martin, 2005, p. 4). These procedures have to conform to the institutions established to administer juvenile justice. The juvenile justice process in conducted in a friendly way, with the primary aims of identifying the youth’s problem and seeking a treatment plan to control and ultimately eliminate the problem. The juvenile justice process involves the police interface, intake and screening at the court, pretrial procedures, transfer to adult court, adjudication, disposition, and corrections (Cole & Smith, 2010). History of Juvenile Justice The issue of juvenile justice has been around for many