Youth Justice System: Punishment vs Rehabilitation

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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