Troubled Teens Resources

Can violent juvenile offenders be rehabilitated? If there were enough schools for troubled teens, military teen boot camps and rehabs - not to mention funding - could you actually extract the killer from the teen who murdered a family, or the juvenile rapist who slit the throat of their victim?

That debate is ongoing, with one side insisting that violent juveniles can be rehabilitated, the other side stating that returning these youths to society, at any time, would place innocent people at risk.

The comments following the article excerpted below paint a clear portrait of how deeply divisive the issue of violent teens is.

“According to a new report produced by the Equal Justice Initiative (a non-profit group dedicated to helping prisoners denied fair treatment by the system), American prisons are home to 73 inmates locked up for life for crimes they committed when they were 13 or 14. Bump that age limit up three years and we have 2,225 prisoners locked up for the rest of their lives for crimes they committed when they were 17 or younger.

These crimes aren’t minor — and the nature of our violent culture is an entirely different story — but some of the children confess under duress or, worse yet, are developmentally disabled. They languish in lockdown, without hope.

But are they proof that these children can’t be rehabilitated, that they can’t benefit from help and that they are beyond redemption?”
(source)

When does teen crisis intervention end and adult punishment begin? There is ongoing debate within the halls of juvenile justice as to appropriate sentencing for violent teen offenders. There is growing concern that as teen violence is perpetuated by adolescents at younger and younger ages, that sentencing needs to be adjusted to reflect the seriousness of their crimes.

The same debate seems to be ongoing in Europe as well. Their various systems of juvenile justice may differ from America’s but they have been as seriously impacted by teen drug abuse, binge drinking and teen crime as we have. They also seem to have the same factions contending for the final word on the matter.

One side contends that it is unjust to force a teen offender into an adult system that offers little in the way of education or rehab.

Allowing defendants under 21 to be tried and sentenced according to juvenile law lowers the chances of repeat offenders by providing judges with more leeway in issuing appropriate sentences, he said.

“In general law you have fines, probation and jail sentences,” Sonnen said. “In juvenile law there is a much wider palette of options.”

Opponents feel that truly violent teens need punishment, not coddling.

“This week, Beate Merk, Bavaria’s justice minister and a member of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) renewed criticism that cases such as the juvenile prison torture and murder showed that young offenders were also guilty of serious crimes which weren’t sufficiently punished with a ten-year prison sentence.

Offenders between 18 and 20 who are convicted according to juvenile law should thus get a tougher maximum sentence, Merk said.”

(source)

One can’t help but side with those who wish to meet extreme violence with adult cures. Especially where a long juvenile record indicates the juvenile has zero respect for the law. When young teens witness their peers getting light punishment for serious offenses, it only perpetuates the problem.

The consequences of rampant teen age drug abuse reach deeply into the community, spawning an underground economy manned by thugs and the source of endless violence. Drug deals gone bad, turf wars, and drive-by shootings occur on a daily basis in almost every American city. The tragedy is that so much of this bloodshed is committed by teens.

Teens that the public is not permitted to identify because of their age. The question becomes, are we protecting teens or are we protecting murderers? Increasingly there is concern over the new level of brutality teens are now participating in.

This past summer, there were several incidents in Jersey City of teenagers committing violent “wolf pack” attacks… it was reported that a group of girls robbed and attacked a woman in her 20s as she was walking …they pulled her hair, dragging her to the ground.

On Aug. 25, five young persons were responsible for several beatings, including an attack on a Vietnam veteran, which the juveniles also videotaped.
[…]
In June, a woman in her forties was attacked…by a 16-year old male in such a manner that she needs to wear braces and to have a year of reconstructive work on her teeth and jaw.”

These aren’t minor crimes that can be addressed with a stint in a brat camp. Do you have a right to know who these teens are? New legislation in this New Jersey city - and in many cities across the nation - will allow the public to know the names of the violent teens in their neighborhood.

“We believe that knowledge is important and believe people should know who the criminals are in their community,”

(source)

Boot camps serve a far different purpose than schools for troubled teens. They may be the last step before a teen finally ends up in prison. It’s the solution law enforcement devised decades ago in response to public out cry against violent teens.

“So law enforcement stepped up with the boot-camp solution, fashioned like a military camp. In the past, our grandfathers sent their errant boys into the service, and that practice worked… The boot-camp solution was designed as a last stop before prison…”

Over time boot camps started getting a bad rap. Some zealots in some camps took things too far and teens died. Some camps served their purpose well, actually turning teens around. But the media never said much about that.

“I see law enforcement backing away from anything but formal contact with the boot-camp-type boys.”

But what do you do with these kids who need one last chance? The public wants bad kids removed but then want those authorities responsible for their rehabilitation to wear velvet gloves. What is worse, one wonders, 2 months of hell at a boot camp or 10 years in prison.? Maybe the velvet glove public can come up with an answer but, for now, no one wants the boot camp kids.

“If law enforcement has given up on the boot-camp boys, arrest and punishment as adults could be the result.. I hope someone, anyone, will find something that will work with the boot-camp boys.”

(source)