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"Youth Offenders Should Not Be Dealt With More Leniently Than Adult Offenders." Critically Discuss.

“Youth offenders should not be dealt with more leniently than adult offenders.”   Critically discuss this statement.

There are many controversial issues that challenge our society in contemporary times, but one that raises much debate is youth offenders and if they should be dealt with in the same way as adult offenders.   In modern times people are no longer surprised when children commit crimes but rather than basing our judgement around personalised review of circumstances, offence committed, mental, social and intellectual factors we automatically believe that they are deviant and not likely to change.   In this essay I argue that unless the juvenile poses a genuine threat to the safety of other juveniles, the severity of their offence warrants a more severe punishment or they have a history of repeated offending where rehabilitation has been exhausted, then juveniles should not be prosecuted in the adult system.   There are many implications of transferring juveniles into the adult justice system and these need to be taken into consideration, such as, the variation in the youth and adult justice system, differences in mental, emotional and social competencies and the reason behind such behaviour.

If youth offenders are transferred to the adult court system this then alters the legal process by which a minor will be tried.     The difference in juvenile versus adult is the youth courts are based more on a cooperative method with the aim of helping the offender to understand the impact of their actions.   It is designed to correct and guide the youth so they become responsible and realise their potential to become a valuable member of the community.[1]   The adversarial process is vastly different and in this system there is a presumed assumption of competence and understanding for the defendant.   It is unfair to put a youth in the adversarial system as they may not be able to defend themselves due to their lack of psychological development and understanding of...