Five Ways We Can Reform Young Offenders

by Daphne Holmes

While instances of crimes committed by young (under 21) offenders seem to be in slight decline, the violent nature of those crimes is on the rise, and the age of the offenders seems to be getting lower, according to a report by the Australian Jesuit Social Services, titled Thinking Outside: Alternatives to remand for children. The response on the part of most countries’ governments and school districts has increasingly been to handle these young offenders’ crimes by means of the criminal justice system. While such a response is indeed understandable, it has not to date proven particularly effective, so we must look beyond the immediate knee-jerk reaction to youth crime if we hope to see the trend reversed.

Who are the young offenders?
In the above mentioned report, it is noted that a significant majority of youths who are processed by the criminal justice system "have been victims of abuse, trauma, and neglect, with high rates of drug and alcohol abuse, child protection involvement and school exclusion. Mental health issues and intellectual disability are also prominent.” It is also noted that minority children constitute a much higher percentage of offenders than their ratio within the overall population. While the report was based in and focused upon the situation in Australia, it documents a trend that is consistent with findings in other countries, as well.

Healing the disease, rather than putting Band-Aids on the symptoms
Before the discovery of penicillin during WWII, the standard treatment for syphilis was to cauterize the chancres that appeared on the infected individual’s skin. The process was effective in making the surface lesions disappear, but had absolutely no effect upon the underlying disease. The result was that the disease continued to progressively undermine the body’s integrity and function, even as the patient appeared to be healthy, until such time as the disease began to manifest in more debilitating fashion, and ultimately caused the individual’s death. Dealing with young offenders must go beyond the similar approach of merely incarcerating them once they have committed infractions; especially if we hope to cure the underlying disease and reverse the trend. The challenge is in defining the underlying problems, and implementing a means for minimizing the contributing factors. Here are five ways we can begin doing that.

Identify root causes – We have already established accurate profiles of young offenders. What remains is to identify the immediate environment that contributes to the young person’s inclination to offend. That environment includes the immediate family, the school, the peer network, media to which young children are subjected, and even society as a whole.

Increase parental responsibility – Increasingly, parents who find themselves devoting more and more time to basic survival needs, as well as those who tend to focus more upon their own desires than the well-being of their children, are delegating the upbringing of their children to the school systems, peers, and the technological products that children seem to favor. Barring parents’ taking prominent and appropriate roles in their children’s guidance, it is inevitable that the children (whose job it is to make mistakes in judgment as they learn) will run afoul of the guidelines for appropriate conduct.

Set clear boundaries as to children’s rights – Particularly during the baby boomer generation, a widespread attitude of entitlement arose. The boomers wanted to have everything their parents had achieved, but didn’t have the commitment to sacrifice that the “Greatest Generation” had so exemplified. So when the boomers and subsequent generations started having children, that sense of entitlement only grew deeper. Children have the right to safety, adequate food and shelter, an education, and to a sense of security within family structures. They do not have a right to the latest fashions, hottest tech toys, or to rewards gained without requisite efforts or accomplishments. By eliminating a false sense of entitlement, we can reinforce the children’s sense of responsibility for their actions, which will greatly diminish the inappropriate viewpoints that so often result in criminal behavior.

Be proactive in eliminating the precursors of criminal behavior – From family services organizations to school districts and gang task forces, more attention must be paid to the circumstances that lead children to engage in antisocial behavior - especially when that behavior rises to the level of criminal activity. At some point, we need to recognize that our growing obsession with political correctness is robbing us of our ability to actually guide our children toward behaving appropriately. Our children deserve honesty, respect, and – until they abuse it – our trust. Those who would harm our children need to have their access to children removed by whatever means are available within the framework of our societies. Those who teach our children must be thoroughly qualified and allowed to teach with discipline, but browbeating and belittlement must be curbed. Those who are charged with ensuring our children’s well-being must be held to the highest standards, but allowed to do their jobs without fear of retribution for their appropriate efforts. And those older children who might exert a negative influence upon the younger ones must be taught that their actions have real consequences.

Discard the entire notion of “zero tolerance” – Life is rarely black and white, so diverse circumstances demand different responses. Treating a child like a criminal for doing something that is childish only confuses the child. Placing a child into a criminal justice system designed to handle adults serves only to teach the child how to be a good adult criminal. While some youth-committed crimes are admittedly horrific and deserving of real punishment, we must endeavor to look beyond the immediate behavior and address its precursors as well as reacting to the crime. And in those cases where a youth commits a particularly heinous crime, prosecution and punishment must still be structured around the immature perspectives of a child, rather than those of a hardened adult criminal.

These are, of course, not the only steps that need to be taken to reverse the trend drawing younger children to increasingly violent crimes. There are legislative and logistical elements that must be addressed as well. But until we treat the underlying disease of youth crime alongside its symptoms, that disease will continue to fester and grow. leave comment here

Author: Daphne Holmes contributed this guest post. She is a writer from ArrestRecords.com and you can reach her at daphneholmes9@gmail.com.