Youth Justice System: Punishment vs Rehabilitation

This article discusses the debate between punishment and rehabilitation in the youth justice system. It explores the principles of justice and welfare and their impact on the sentencing of juvenile offenders. The article also examines the causes of youth offending, including psychological and social factors. It concludes with an analysis of a specific case and the assessment of risk to the community.

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The youth justice system depicts a juvenile offender as someone who is below the age of 18.In
view of this, there two considerations that are looked into when it comes to the sentencing of a
minor as they are commonly referred to. This includes the option of punishment or rehabilitation.
The two principles of justice or welfare have generated a lot of debate over the years in regards
to the sentencing of a juvenile offender
Justice
The justice model advocates for the punishment to be given to the offender to be in proportionate
terms to the crime committed. The proponents of this argue that more emphasis should be on the
crime committed rather than on the individual. The punishment meted out will be a deterrent to
the individual in committing the crime again and also to the society at large. It is believed that
once a person is punished, it will be very hard for him to repeat the crime and also it will serve as
a warning to other people that will make them afraid to suffer the same consequences. The
justice model ensures that the offender is rightfully punished for his mistakes regardless of the
age and thus the measures adopted are more on offense oriented rather than child oriented.1 The
model disputes the notion that a child is incapable of doing evil and thus proposes punitive
measures as the best way to deal with child offenders’ .It also believes that the best way to
protect children rights is by punishing them for the wrong that they have done.
1 Biggar Jr, Raymond W., Craig J. Forsyth, Jing Chen, and Tayler A. Richard. "Protective factors
for deviance: A comparison of rural and urban youth." Deviant Behavior 37, no. 12 (2016):
1380-1391.

Welfare
The welfare approach focuses more on the child needs rather than on the crime committed. The
model believes that the major thing to do is to address the needs of the child as opposed to
punishing him. The proponents believe that the crime committed by a child is more on the
economic, social and psychological difficulties that one goes through. Therefore they believe that
this will be handled better by social workers and pyschologists.it is assumed that most of these
young offenders commit a crime due to certain factors that they have been exposed to and not
out of their own way. Therefore putting them under a justice system will mean that the factors
that contributed to them committing the crime will be overlooked. The model also proposes the
offender to be offered a community punishment whereby the hours spent on community service
work will be deemed as a punishment and also as a form of rehabilitation. This approach has
however been criticized due to the fact that it seems to offer justification for every crime that is
committed. The offender may claim that he indeed committed the crime due to a particular issue
which may not be always correct.
The two principles are effective in their own ways as they seek to produce similar results by use
of different methods in dealing with youth crime. This can only be judged by how each method
will be used and how effective it will be in ensuring that the crime is not repeated.
Causes of youth offending
Psychological theory
The theory seeks to explain that the psychological behavior of a minor plays a significant role in
the determining if a crime will be committed or not.2 It is the psychology that influences the
2 Burke, Roger Hopkins. An introduction to criminological theory. Willan, 2017.

mind to design the criminal at that it wants to commit. Young offenders encounter several factors
that may shape their psychological behaviors and which may in the long run lead to crime being
committed.
Drug addiction is a common thing among the youth. A lot of the youth engage themselves in
drug taking which affects their psychological mind. Due to this they end up committing petty
crimes which would have been avoided if there was no drug addiction.
Most of the youth are enrolled in school where there are various activities being done. Also they
may encounter cruelty either by the teachers or students which creates hatred and may lead to
absconding from school. This would lead to them engaging in crime related activities as they are
disturbed psychologically
There are also other factors such as bad company, mental conflicts and adolescent insecurities
which affect the psychology of the youth and may lead them to engaging in criminal activities.
Social disorganization theory
The theory depicts that a person physical and social environment goes a long way in determining
the choice of behavior that a person makes. For the youth there are various factors in the
immediate neighborhood that directly affect their behavior and which may influence them to
engage in crime.
The lack of effective social control which in most cases result to lack of proper integration
between groups and cultural conflict best describes social disorganization. Family background
plays a critical role in determining the youth behavior and their tendency to commit crime. A
minor who has grown up in a hostile family environment may be severely affected and may lead

him to indulge in criminal acts. Domestic violence, unemployment or poverty may affect the
child thinking and eventually lead to criminal doings.3
Cultural conflicts are also a major cause of youth crime. Urbanization has created a lot of
movement of people with different cultural values that may be in conflict with one another. The
youth are exposed to different cultural values some of which promote deviant behaviors such as
drunkenness. It is this behavior that will eventually contribute to them committing crime.
The socio economic condition also leads to crime being committed. Lack of economic growth
and high poverty levels may lead to a minor engaging in crime in order to make ends meet. Also
there is the issue of peer groups that are mainly common in the neighborhood. Most of the teens
form criminal gangs in which they group together and associate themselves with criminal
activities. Gangs have contributed to a great deal of youth crime. They are taught ways and
means of committing crime within the group and also on how to protect their fellow members.
They often join these gangs in order to get what they could not if they are outside the gang. This
factor is very critical as if it is not controlled, then they may develop to be hard core criminals in
the future.
Offence Analysis
The most appropriate approach to be considered in the case of Shaun is the welfare approach.
This is because of the various factors that have been pointed out in regards to the welfare of
3 Fine, Adam, Caitlin Cavanagh, Sachiko Donley, Laurence Steinberg, Paul J. Frick, and
Elizabeth Cauffman. "The role of peer arrests on the development of youths’ attitudes towards
the justice system." Law and Human Behavior 40, no. 2 (2016): 211.

Shaun and the issues surrounding him. 4The fact that Shaun has had an estranged relationship
with his family points out to a much deeper problem than that of just wanting to commit a
criminal offence. It can be noted that right from the onset, Shaun seemed to be affected to a great
extent by the separation of his parents which led him to joining bad company in the
neighborhood. When he was sent to live with his father, Shaun felt rejected as he was informed
that he was only going for a visit which was not he case. The rejection brought more
psychological issues to him as he did not feel any attachment to his father. The issue of
overcrowding is another thing that distracted Shaun’s mind and eventually forced him out of the
place. This affects negatively a child’s mind and is one of the many contributing factors of Shaun
tendency to go back into crime. Also Shaun doesn’t have anything useful to do and just lazily
hangs around. The lack of unemployment is a critical factor that may have forced Shaun to
decide to engage in criminal activities to make a living5.
All this situations clearly demonstrate that Shaun is a disturbed fellow and who needs more of
rehabilitation than being locked up in prison. He has been arrested several times and presented
before court but every time he is out, he still engages himself in crime. This shows that it is not
that he just wants to commit the crime but he is forced by certain risk factors that will eventually
lead him to commit crime. As evidenced by the assessment given, Shaun seems to be motivated
4 Franzese, Robert J., Herbert C. Covey, and Scott Menard. Youth gangs. Charles C Thomas
Publisher, 2016.
5 Haines, Kevin, and Stephen Case. "The future of youth justice." Youth justice 18, no. 2 (2018):
131-148.

by the financial gain he would get from selling of the drugs as opposed to making full profits
from a business point of view. He is working with older people who are using him to carry out
the business and in return he gains some few cash for his upkeep. The fact that he has been
presented in court and he did not deny the charges goes to show that he is indeed aware of what
he is doing but there are some issues which affect his life and which pushes him to such crimes.
Shaun has had a disastrous childhood and all this negativity has caused him to brush shoulders
with the authorities every time. Therefore it would be prudent if Shaun can be engaged in order
to open up on his struggles and how this has affected him. A psychologist can be asked to engage
him in order to further understand how he feels and his reactions to the breaking up of the family
when he was at a much younger age. The system needs to understand actually what Shaun thinks
and relates to in order for him to be assisted in dealing with crime issues. Shaun needs to feel a
sense of belonging and the feeling of being wanted by his family and especially his mother rather
than that of rejection. 6This will go a long way in reducing the negative thoughts he has and will
realize that his family can assist him rather than going out to the streets to commit crime. Also
Shaun welfare has to be looked in terms of employment opportunities. There is need to find
something useful for him to engage in in order to reduce the thoughts of crime. Having
something to do makes someone busy and also economically empowered and therefore he would
not be able to engage in the criminal activities as he would have the money that he so badly
needed. The fact that he has several cases indicates that even in the present one, if the justice
approach is followed, there would be no meaningful change as he will still come back to the
6 Maxfield, Michael G. Basics of research methods for criminal justice and criminology.
Cengage Learning, 2015.

society and continue with his criminal activities where he left off. This is because the underlying
problems that affect him would not have been sorted but rather compounded during his stay in
prison.
Offender Analysis
There are several legal rights that one is entitled to upon being arrested by the police and taken to
the police station. Shaun had the legal right to demand for a search warrant from the police. The
fact that they forcefully entered the premises means that the police did not possess any legal
search warrant and therefore should not have conducted any search within the property. Forceful
entry is against the law and this is a legal right of Shaun that was grossly violated.
Further to this his mobile phone was immediately confiscated by the police in clear disregard of
his basic rights. The police had no legal obligation to confiscate his phone unless with a written
authority and thus it was an infringement of the right to privacy that was being enjoyed by Shaun
u until the point of arrest.7
Also in the process of being arrested Shaun was subjected to a strip search as the police seek to
prove that indeed he had drugs hidden in his body. This was a total violation of his basic human
rights as it amounted to humiliation and intimidation.in this regard, Shaun has the right to either
consent to a search or not. This is something that he is legally entitled to and which must be
upheld at all times. The police did not have any legal authority to conduct the strip search and it
was just but another case of gross violation of the law by people who are entrusted protecting
and maintaining the rule of law.8
7 Peterson-Badali, Michele, Tracey Skilling, and Zohrah Haqanee. "Examining implementation
of risk assessment in case management for youth in the justice system." Criminal Justice and
Behavior 42, no. 3 (2015): 304
8 Reddy, John. "The youth justice system in Ireland: a review." (2017).

Shaun had the legal right to ask for a lawyer before he could engage the police. This is a
fundamental right that every person who is arrested possess and therefore he should have asked
for one before giving any word to the police.in the event that he could not manage to hire one,
then one will be provided by the state to help him in dealing with the law implications that would
follow his arrest.
Also, the fact that Shaun was a minor gave him the legal right to ask for a guardian to be present.
Shaun had the right to contact his parents or legal guardian if he so wished. The police are not
allowed to question him until the parents or guardian is present. Therefore Shaun could have
decided on any of these options and kept quiet.
Assessment of risk to the community
Shaun has committed a number of offences and in all of them he has been handed some form of
sentences. All this has been done in order to try and deter him from repeating the offences but
none of this has worked. This has proved to be a great problem not only to himself but to the rest
of the communities at large. It is because of this that one is forced to do an assessment of the risk
to the community. The likelihood of an offender committing crime is always there and this forms
the basis for such an assessment.
The fact that Shaun has been a repeated offender poses a lot of risk to the community. This
shows that he would still commit crime over and over as he seeks to fulfill his own desires. The
community will therefore have to deal with the fact that there is a criminal amongst them and
thus find ways of protecting themselves from him. 9There is the likelihood that the community
9 Roberts, Paul, and Nesam McMillan. "For criminology in international criminal justice." In The
Criminology of War, pp. 3-26. Routledge, 2017

will experience levels of criminal activities from time to time with such an offender out in the
offing. Therefore the risk of criminal activities taking place in the community will be high.
Also, the community is faced with the risk of having to deal with drug substance abuse. Since the
offender is a minor, he may be able to interact with other minors and teach them on how to carry
out the drug business within the vicinity of the community. This would pull even more younger
people into drug addiction and thus create a big problem for the society. Drug addiction leads to
people not being responsible and not working at all and thus the development of the community
will be greatly hindered.
The presence of Shaun in the community despite the numerous sentencing he has received may
act as a form of encouragement to other minors. They would be encouraged to undertake
criminal activities based on the fact that they are minors and cannot go to prison. There will be
likelihood of formation of gangs that will conduct various forms of criminal activities and thus in
the end the community will be greatly insecure.10
The risk of the community area not developing is also quite high. This is due to the fact that an
insecure community would make most of the people not to want to undertake business ventures
or investments for fear of being robbed or mugged by the criminal elements in the society. This
would make people to shy away from the community and thus it would bring negative
implications on development of the local area.
10 Walker, Jeffery T., and Sean Maddan. Statistics in criminology and criminal justice. Jones &
Bartlett Learning, 2020.

Nonetheless, for offenders such as Shaun, the risk to the community need to done way much
earlier. The likelihood of him committing another crime should be assessed and the findings
incorporated in the security policy for the community. Undertaking this risk assessment enables
the community to take precautionary measures and thus be able to know on the best and most
suitable to effect control and supervision of the potential risk facing them.From the case study
mentioned here, we have been able to critically analyze the issue of offences done by Shaun and
also try to pinpoint the underlying issues that may have contributed to him constantly engaging
in criminal activities. 11Shaun has appeared before the court ten times for sentencing all which
are related to different offences that he committed.as earlier mentioned, this has been
necessitated by personal issues that have surrounded him and clogged his judgment in certain
issues resulting to him engaging in criminal activities. A damaged family system completely
disoriented Shaun and since he felt like he was despised and left alone, he resorted to engage in
crime. The lack of proper education and meaningful employment also contributed greatly to
pushing Shaun to the streets where he met other people undergoing almost the same situation
with him and together they decided to take up criminal activities. Thus it seems as if the other
judges who have sentenced Shaun have failed to look at the bigger picture when determining his
cases. They have all overlooked the fact that he had a disoriented family background which
impacted negatively on his growth. This has a great impact on the well-being of the child and
also on the kind of choices he makes as he grows up and therefore should have never been
assumed when it came to convicting him.12
11 Winfree Jr, L. Thomas, and Howard Abadinsky. Essentials of criminological theory. Waveland
Press, 2016.
12 White, Rob, Fiona Haines, and Nicole L. Asquith. "Crime & criminology." (2017).

Therefore according to the nature of the individual that is presented before court and also based
on the fact that this is not the first time that the offender is appearing in court to face criminal
charges, the only convenient and most suitable sentence for the offender will be to be placed in
confinement where a vigorous process of rehabilitation will be undertaken. A psychologist or a
psychiatrist is to allocate o him to continuously engage his mind so as to deal with the parents
separation issue and also most important the feeling of rejection from his mother. This will be
undertaken until such a time when the relevant expert may give an opinion as to the
improvement of the offender state of mind. Also I order for the offender to realize the kind of
harm that he does to the society, he will serve community work for an unspecified period which
will be subject to review in accordance with how he is responding to treatment and also how he
is cooperating in his duties.
With this sentence, I hope to have helped the offender in getting the right treatment which will
assist him in making good decision in the future and above all would help him completely reform
and stay away from criminal activities.
Bibliography
Biggar Jr, Raymond W., Craig J. Forsyth, Jing Chen, and Tayler A. Richard. "Protective factors
for deviance: A comparison of rural and urban youth." Deviant Behavior 37, no. 12
(2016): 1380-1391.
Burke, Roger Hopkins. An introduction to criminological theory. Willan, 2017.

Fine, Adam, Caitlin Cavanagh, Sachiko Donley, Laurence Steinberg, Paul J. Frick, and Elizabeth
Cauffman. "The role of peer arrests on the development of youths’ attitudes towards the
justice system." Law and Human Behavior 40, no. 2 (2016): 211.
Franzese, Robert J., Herbert C. Covey, and Scott Menard. Youth gangs. Charles C Thomas
Publisher, 2016.
Haines, Kevin, and Stephen Case. "The future of youth justice." Youth justice 18, no. 2 (2018):
131-148.
Maxfield, Michael G. Basics of research methods for criminal justice and criminology. Cengage
Learning, 2015.
Peterson-Badali, Michele, Tracey Skilling, and Zohrah Haqanee. "Examining implementation of
risk assessment in case management for youth in the justice system." Criminal Justice
and Behavior 42, no. 3 (2015): 304-320.
Reddy, John. "The youth justice system in Ireland: a review." (2017).
Roberts, Paul, and Nesam McMillan. "For criminology in international criminal justice." In The
Criminology of War, pp. 3-26. Routledge, 2017.
Walker, Jeffery T., and Sean Maddan. Statistics in criminology and criminal justice. Jones &
Bartlett Learning, 2020.
Winfree Jr, L. Thomas, and Howard Abadinsky. Essentials of criminological theory. Waveland
Press, 2016.
White, Rob, Fiona Haines, and Nicole L. Asquith. "Crime & criminology." (2017).