Juvenile Justice #2

Rather than try and form an opinion on the issue, today I decided to find more background information on the topic. I found out proposed alternatives that people think will better the the current system. I read in a time magazine article that some people think that tough systems should be put in place. Some people think places like boot camp and military training would benefit those who commit violent crimes. I feel like I can see this going the other way. If you teach children how to be violent and put them in a violent environment they aren't going to become functioning members of society. This seems to be another gray area. Another alternative that seems to be out there is the idea of a juvenile detention centers. This idea seems to integrate the teens back into society and show them, through a system of rewards, how to avoid criminal situations. However, the problem with this idea is that the teens have to come home eventually. This seems to be the problem. What happens when you "fix" someone of their problem by putting them in a remote setting? You're only going to send them back to the (probably) violent place that they came from. Statistics seem to show that Juveniles in the detention system recommit crimes about 50% of the time. This may seem minuscule compered to the 70% of recommitted crimes after adult trial, but it is still a large number. If we consider what we want the goal of juvenile justice to be, then we will realize that we want the teens to eventually become fully functioning members of society. We can't exile them from communities and expect them to fit right in. This is impossible. This is where my opinion comes into play. Putting major offenders in adult prisons and then expecting them to be better when they come out just doesn't make sense. It defeats the purpose of a "correctional facility". Jails are meant to punish, however, juveniles should be rehabilitated.