Criminal Justice System Bachelor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Criminal Justice System Bachelor - Essay Example The social-science evidence points strongly to the influence of parents as the chief underlying cause of juvenile crime. In England, 27 per cent of prison inmates had been in care and 47 per cent had run away from home as a child. But it's not just broken families. Criminal parents are much more likely to raise criminal offspring: a recent survey found that 43 per cent of prisoners had family members who had been convicted and 35 per cent had a family member who had been in jail. But family breakdown is important, especially when parents contradict each other - thereby providing no clear moral lead - or compete for affection by being lax with their children. Such conflict is more likely in disrupted families, when one parent is absent, or when a new partner or step-parent appears.[1] An answer could be found in the root causes of disrespect and irreverence. Has society targeted the reasons for disrespect and irreverence in search of an answer, or is the singular aim to "get tougher" on social malfeasance an answer in and of itself This paper will take a telescopic look at the root causes of criminal behavior in our society's youth and the legal policies that affect it. It is noted in this work that the purpose of enacting legal policies is to deter crime and reduce the rates of recidivism ("repeat offenders") that peter through the criminal justice system. On closer inspection, the ... Youths caught in the system are a portrayal of that which comes from parents and peers, or outside related or non-related other adults. Juvenile delinquency is the stuff of which intrinsically learned self-hatred (a common cause of suicide), or the extrinsic form of taking out self-hatred on others is made. Children often want others to "feel their pain" as badly as they do and therefore commit offenses on some level, whether minor or serious; or whether aimed at attacking themselves or attacking others. Sometimes, but less often, the deviant behavior reflects an attempt to close the missing relationship gaps-to get attention, or to find some comfort or solace in material "things," which they will steal. There is the situation in which the stolen item could have been purchased, but the child or older teen takes a certain delight in the rush of possibly getting caught. Adults have only to look to their own behaviors-'disrespect and irreverence of life'-to explain the root causes of juvenile offenses and ultimately juvenile crime. (Juvenile Crime, 1999)[2] In England and Wales, a minor is anyone under the age of 18, and the "age of criminal responsibility" (or defense of infancy) is age 10. When minors break the law, they are dealt with directly by the Youth Offending Team, which is overseen by the Youth Justice Board. The Youth Offending Team (YOT) is a statutory, multi-agency team that followed the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act (CDA) set up by the English Parliament. In 1998, the CDA implemented the following policies: (1) with regard to anti-social behavior "(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both; or (b) on