Juvenile Incarceration Case Study

There is no doubt that the role of the judicial system is to ensure that justice prevails. In fostering justice, the judicial system must be designed in a manner that it administers punishment to those who commit a crime. In this case, those accused of committing crimes are put on trial, typically in family court and a verdict is given as to whether they are innocent and or guilty. Various research has been conducted and pointed out that juveniles tend to take a longer period to comprehend their actions when incarcerated as a result of the differences in emotional responses and or reaction compared to adult offenders. Emotional outbursts may be manifested in young adolescents under incarceration and ultimately defeat the goal of the judicial …show more content…
Indeed, the role of the juvenile judicial system is to better the child, and or teenager by being incarcerated. In this case, one would have to look at the juvenile as a person that can change their ways and get back to normal lifestyle. However, this may prove to be difficult. The child may have to go through different emotional reactions, reactions that would result to increased levels of bitterness, or anxiety. Based on biological considerations, adolescents tend to prefer getting recognized and attention when they do something whether it is right or wrong. In this case, incarceration would be good enough to bring down much of their ego and so is the resentment and anger. If this persists and goes to extreme levels, the individual may evade reform and instead get to crime as a way of justifying their ego. By doing this, such a person would be letting out their emotions in an out of …show more content…
Studies have shown that the feeling of being locked up in an enclosure for long periods of time can have major psychological effects making it impossible for them to overcome their experience. Statistics have shown that the majority of juveniles have been diagnosed with mental instability as a result of the conditions they are exposed to in correctional facilities. The psychological trauma of being incarcerated has long lasting effects of the mental state of the juvenile (Menihan, 2015). Even though consequences of juvenile incarceration vary widely based on individuals and period of incarceration, research has shown that the process causes major psychological harm to the affected individuals. Empirical research and evidence from successive studies has confirmed that the psychological effects of juvenile offenders are substantial. This stance has been supported by literature that has further concluded that the mental defects of juvenile offenders are immense especially if the affected individuals are very young. It is important to appreciate the fact that a prison experience is like no other. Lack of privacy has been pointed out as one of the major causes of psychological instability among juveniles. Lack of privacy has been specifically pointed out by many juveniles as one of the conditions that have had a debilitating effect on their mental stability (Shulman &

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