Juvenile Justice System Essay Sample

Background

The juvenile justice system (JJS) was originally both a rehabilitative and preventative approach, emphasizing the needs and rights of children over the appeal to punish them. Under The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, the ultimate goal of juvenile justice was to divert youth from the formal, punitive processing of the adult justice system. This, in turn, resulted in the use of community-based programs rather than large institutions (Underwood & Washington, 2017). Today, juvenile facilities can be divided into detention centers, which hold juveniles during the pre-adjudication phase of a case and correctional centers, where post-adjudication juveniles have been placed by court order as one of the options available to the court to deal with serious juvenile offenders (Hovey et al., 2017). It has been recognized for some time that juveniles involved with the criminal justice system have high rates of substance abuse and psychiatric disorders. It has also been noted that the criminal justice system has been an essential vehicle for accessing services for some youth. However, in general, the system has not been seen as effective in addressing the service needs of youth in detention. Many detained juveniles in need of care do not receive services. With both overcrowding and many mentally ill youth in detention centers, episodes of injuries, suicides, and other adverse health effects are increasing (Desai et al., 2006).

Micro Level Intervention 

The prevalence rate of youths with mental disorders within the juvenile justice system is consistently higher than those within the general population of adolescence. Estimates reveal that approximately 50 to 75 percent of the 2 million youth encountering the JJS meet the criteria for a mental health disorder (Underwood & Washington, 2017). The most recent study that assessed psychiatric disorders specifically among youths, was conducted in the Cook county juvenile detention center, by using diagnostic psychiatric assessments. The study used random sampling and found that substance use disorders were the most prevalent, followed by anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorders, and affective disorders. It was also found that significant differences in the rates of disorders varied by gender, race, and age (Teplin et al., 2021).

Currently, our JJS cannot support and provide sufficient mental health services for detainees. These shortcomings have led to high recidivism rates and ultimately have failed to rehabilitate youth in a vital way (Hovey et al., 2017). Research indicates that our institutions may further harm the mental health of children and teens. A lack of resources and training has led to poor treatment methods, especially for those with mental illness or substance use problems. For example, roughly 35% of juveniles in detention centers have been forced into isolation. This can cause profound psychological damage, depression, hallucinations, panic attacks, cognitive deficits, obsessive thinking, paranoia, anxiety, and anger of incarcerated youth whose brain is still developing.  We cannot use the systems commonly found in our adult prisons (Thompson, 2016).

Mental health disorders are more complicated and challenging to treat in young people than adults. In addition, because adolescence is a unique developmental period characterized by growth and change, disorders in teens are more subject to change and interruption. Therefore, ongoing assessment and treatment are essential (Thompson, 2016).

Social workers can positively and indirectly impact the juvenile justice system. Social workers can respond appropriately to any individual or family experiencing difficulties by working alongside but independently from the juvenile justice system. They can help proactively identify and respond to families where children are at risk, wherever possible by enabling those families to address the root causes of presenting problems. 

Mezzo Level Intervention

Plenty of factors impact the delinquency of a juvenile. Of these factors, family dynamics have been established to have a significant impact on juvenile delinquency. Common subfactors within this family level of impact are parental attitudes, degree of family cohesion, physical violence, and uninvolved parenting (Mwangangi, 2019). Research shows that the ideology of parents tends to stick with their children. For example, if a parent steals, the child is likely to think that is a good behavior, or that it is okay to do (Tedx Talks, 2018). It has also been found that family cohesion has remarkable effects on juvenile delinquency, as research shows that juveniles that have an intact and cohesive family have a significantly smaller number of instances of arrest than those with non-intact family cohesion degrees (Marripedia, 2017). In order to intervene at a mezzo level, family therapy would be beneficial to the families of juvenile delinquents, as well as the emphasization of the importance of stable family relationships and involved parenting. 

Macro Level Intervention

In exploring the relationship between mental health and the JJS, it is necessary to understand the implications of policy. Being that policy is a broad topic, we will try to narrow down our discussion to a few points. These points will include discussion of current policy and its role in the JJS as it pertains to mental health, and policy change ideas, including the social work implications that come with.

Looking at the main role of the JJS in relation to mental health, the implication of policy seems to vary based on the stage of processing a youth offender is in. The first defense for juveniles with mental health disorders are mental health courts (MHCs) (Fox, Kortright & Watsman, 2021). Mental health courts can present in two different ways, one before booking and one after booking. The role MHCs take before booking are known as co-response models (Foxet al., 2021). This model utilizes mental health providers instead of police when responding to calls and directs individuals to mental health providers rather than arrest. The post-booking form of MHC is the diversion of sentencing. MHCs send individuals to community-based mental health treatment as an alternative to a jail or prison sentence (Fox et al., 2021).

Another, quite shocking policy that impacts youth with mental illness in the JJS is one that describes the age that a child can be tried as an adult, as well as the prerequisites of said adjudication. In Wisconsin, a child can be tried as an adult as young as 10 years old. A 17 year-old child is also automatically tried as an adult in the state of Wisconsin (Eisenberg, M., 2020). These policies are important to know because the way that a social worker intervenes changes and is dependent on whether the juvenile is tried as an adult or as a child. The policy is dependent on the crime, however, a new policy should be put into place in the macro sense, because these are still children, and as it was mentioned earlier, a lot of behaviors are learned.

Reflecting back on MHCs, there are many adolescents who do not screen into these diversion programs and end up in the justice system, despite their mental health. It has been documented that the mental health services provided to youth in the JJS are often inadequate or unavailable (Swank, 2016). Policy change needs to include adequate services, proper models of care, and professionals with effective experience, training and practice (Underwood & Washington, 2016) to better serve those who struggle with mental illness in the JJS.

When discussing how to advocate for juvenile mental health in the JJS, one thing to keep in mind is the media portrayal of juvenile delinquency. It is highly common for the media to portray juvenile delinquency in a light that exaggerates fears within the community, creating faulty perceptions of the children involved in the crime, reinforcing punitive processes within the JJS (Webb, 2017). The largest way to create societal change surrounding this topic is to advocate for the improvement of media portrayal of juvenile delinquents to change their status in society. After all, research has shown that recidivism rates sit at about 50% for juveniles that are institutionalized without receiving treatment (Swank, 2016).