Punishment Or Rehabilitation.

Hmm ,this is one topic that I have thought about alot of times, seriously I can't say that these kids won't change but what if they get worst as they become adults, well I guess that's why there are two types of prisons, for adults and minors, and there's a reason for this separation, and it is no coincidence that at some point in society's history, it was decided that a child who commits a crime should not be placed in the same system as an adult who commits a crime. This decision was made somewhere along the line, I'm willing to guess that I think it is worth thinking about why.

Let's get the hard news out of the way first, and that is some of these minors carry out crimes which are not small, It's not always an adolescent who stole something or got into trouble, We sometimes are talking about real, serious, violent crimes, with real victims, real trauma, real consequences, and in those moments it is comprehensible to treat them like an adult, it's a natural feeling of anger, and that's a real anger.

However here is where I stand

A child's brain is, in fact, not fully developed, this is no way to excuse themselves for bad behavior, It is just how science has said it, A teenager's part of the brain that makes decisions, understands consequences and controls impulses is still developing, That is, a 15 year old who commits a crime is doing so with a different level of understanding than a 30 year old who commits the same crime, Does it make the crime more real? No, Does it make the victim's experience of pain less real? Absolutely not, However, it does imply that the way of correction should be somewhat different.

That is why the juvenile system exists, not to indulge young criminals nor let them off the hook but to correct them while there is a chance to do so. To say you did something terrible and there are consequences but we are not going to throw you into an adult prison at sixteen and watch you come out at twenty something having learned nothing except how to be a more effective criminal, Because, after all, this happens a lot of the time, Adult prisons are not a place of rehabilitation. They are places where it is survival of the fittest and a young person throw into that kind of place can be overwhelmed by the system.

Now should some minors be tried as adults? I believe there are cases that are so egregious such that the juvenile system is lacking in ability, I believe those discussions are needed, They should, however, be on a case by case basis, carefully thought out and not a blanket policy as society is angry and wants someone to pay.

The real question underneath all of this is what do we actually want to achieve. If the goal is punishment then yes, try them as adults, throw the full weight of the law at them and feel satisfied that justice was served, but, of course, if the goal is a safer society, if the goal is fewer victims in the future, then the smarter investment is in figuring out why a child got to the point of committing a serious crime in the first place, maybe the situation at their home, the conditions in their surroundings, what was lacking for them, whats lacking for society....

Children are not likely to become criminals in isolation, Something usually went wrong somewhere long before the crime happened.

Not every “minor” is going to change, I'm not saying that, A few will deteriorate into adulthood, no matter what system is used to manage them, I believe it's never a decision to make lightly, however, to write off a 15 year old completely and choose to give him or her the same treatment as an older adult.

They are still kids. That has to mean something.

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