In fact, juveniles often commit crime because of family abuse, peer pressure and gangs, etc. It shows that they just want to stand out and tell others that how strong they are and how mature they are. Of course, their silly behaviour has already revealed their immaturity. Moreover only people aged 18 or above can be considered as adults and they are allowed to vote, to drive, to drink and to smoke. All the others below 18 are forbidden to do such activities as the society believe that they are not mature enough to think sensibly and work independently. Youngsters are considered as minors since they are still in the process of growth and their moral values are easily influenced by the society. All the above show that the society do not treat juveniles as adults in general. So how come we try them as adults when they commit crime?
As mentioned above, juveniles have gone astray mainly because they lack parental guidance and love and so they are influenced by friends to commit crime. What the juveniles need most is treatment and rehabilitation which help them to develop positive thinking so that they won’t continue to be a risk to society. Furthermore, with proper treatment and counseling, juveniles can be reformed. Once they are released from rehabilitation centres and re-enter the society, they will be able to find a job. Their future will not be seriously affected by their misbehaviour as they are still very young. However, if longer sentences and tougher penalties are given to juvenile criminals, the influence made on their future will definitely be greater, which is against the principle of helping the juvenile criminals instead of punishing them. Hence, juvenile criminals should only be sent to rehabilitation centres which treat the causes of youth crime and rehabilitate the juveniles.
In addition, many studies show significantly higher recidivism rates for youths tried in adult courts than those tried in juvenile courts for the same crime. It is probably due to the poor environment of adult prisons and violent adult criminals kept in the prisons. As the juveniles are easily influenced by others, they are likely to imitate the negative behaviour of the adults in prison. Moreover the influence on the growth of juveniles is also greater since they are more likely to be sexually assaulted and beaten by others. Thus they will be scarred for life.
All the above show that the juvenile justice system is far more effective than that of the adult in preventing recidivism and it is also more suitable for juvenile criminals. As a result, I believe violent juvenile criminals should not be tried as adults.
