Alternative Dispute Resolution: Juvenile Courts Term Paper

For older juveniles, though, and for repeat offenders, I do not think that juvenile court is really a very good idea. These children are old enough to understand right from wrong and start to make good choices (Anderson, 1994). They often do not worry about the consequences, because they know that they are often not punished harshly. If the punishment is not serious and/or frightening, there is no real reason for a juvenile to avoid a crime (Anderson, 1994; Widom, 1992). This does not mean that a 13-year-old boy should be tried with the same rules as a 30-year-old man, but there should be more and stronger punishment of juveniles, especially for serious crimes, where any teenager really should be tried as an adult.They are old enough to know what they are doing, but the justice system does not treat them as such, so they are unafraid of any consequences that they might endure.

Bibliography

Anderson, Michelle Lea Cherne. (1994). "The high juvenile crime rate: A look at mentoring as a preventive strategy." Criminal Law Bulletin, Vol 30(1), 54-75.

Widom, Cathy Spatz. (1992, October). "The cycle of violence.….....