Over the past week I’ve viewed multiple films based on varying degrees of criminal activity and punishment of youth. Three themes that I’d like to discuss for this post are whether the courts should punish based on age, based on the crime, and/or whether to take into account the perpetrator’s socio-economic background.
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It’s difficult to comprehend the level of brutality associated with the youth depicted. The result is a court system having to on one hand demand justice for a violent offense and yet on the other side there is a need to clarify as to whether the child can understand the totality of the crime committed in order to justify the sentencing.
Coming from a Social Work perspective, biological, psychological, social and spiritual aspects of a person are accessed in order to get a full representation of a client. Empathy is employed by the social worker and self-determination is considered a key role in a strength based intervention. Aligning this with a violent act and becoming empathetic for someone who’s committed a criminal act can be difficult to maneuver.
The courtroom offers little room for social banter to “get to know your defendant.” The judge has to make a detrimental decision that’s going to change the child’s life forever. One could argue that the child has created that change by committing a selfish act and causing harm to another person, but if the defendant acted negligently because of brain development then from a biological and psychological perspective it’s an injustice to not include in the sentencing a term we call in Social Work, “Best Practice.”
I agree that when an injustice occurs that the court should rectify with proper punishment. That squares with me. When I hear two fifteen year olds sexually assaulted and then brutally murder a twenty year old single mother, leaving behind her child to be raised by her grandmother, I can honestly say I want those kids punished to the full degree the law allows.
What I have concerns about is what is appropriate punishment for a fifteen year old? For me it’s far less disturbing to incarcerate an adult for life because there is an expectation of reasoning associated with being a certain age. There is an expectation that when an adult commits a crime they are in control of their faculties. I have an issue with sixteen year olds being placed in a facility with twenty five year olds. According to the article juvenile inmates placed within adult facilities reported higher instances of physical altercations within the adult populations (Kapuckik, 2007).
If the general public is required to protect children and we have an enforcement agency with laws and courtrooms set up to protect children from sexual and physical abuse why is the prison population different? Does the fact that a child commits a crime punishable by law make the child no longer part of the juvenile population?
Viewing the incarcerated youth at the Arizona juvenile facilities I was able to understand the references of Kupchik’s article. Kupchik stated during evaluation of the juveniles placed within juvenile facilities that an advantage it offered was a more understanding staff (Kapuckik, 2007). There was a level of compassion and fairness that was viewable (Juvenile Corrections Facilities, 2005). Having the peer support and smaller population allowed a level of containment and closeness that is unattainable at the adult facilities.
I know there’s no easy answer to this problematic and growing trend among youth. I appreciate being exposed to this subject matter while within a class room setting. This information has been incredibly beneficial and eye opening.
Films for the Humanities and Sciences."Juvenile Correction Facilities" 2005. Online video clip. Arizona Universities Library Consortium. FMG Video On Demand. Accessed on 07 July 2010. http://digital.films.com/play/ BURGYK
Kupchik, A. (2007). The correctional experiences of youth in adult and juvenile prisons. Justice Quarterly, 24(2), 247-270 .
Interesting post! I appreciated that you provided some clear citations for the materials.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there are several points which could use some improvement. First is the integration of the course materials. While you make mention of the Kupchik article in the 6th and 8th paragraph of your post, there's very little detail in terms of specific findings and cases that were pulled from the article. For example, while you mention that Kupchik's article discussed the presence of more understanding staff at juvenile facilities, you didn't include the other examples and findings he explores when discussing how juveniles in adult facilities tend to use services such as counseling and career opportunities more so than in juvenile facilities. This is an important part of the findings that could have been explored more explicitly in the post
Secondly, I also would have liked to see more connections made between the article findings and the film more clearly. While I appreciate that you bring in external cases and link these to the social work perspectives, an important part of the assignment is demonstrating your understanding of the findings and cases presented in the course materials. For future posts, be sure you are linking more specific examples and illustrations from the course materials.
A good post, I look forward to reading more from you as the summer session progresses!