Question

In: Psychology

Define parens patriae and discuss its historic as well as contemporary significance in the Juvenile Justice...

Define parens patriae and discuss its historic as well as contemporary significance in the Juvenile Justice system.

What characterizes the typical juvenile offender? What are some of the causes for delinquency?

Solutions

Expert Solution

Literally “parent of one’s country,” this Latin term refers to the inherent responsibility of the government, or of the court system, to protect people who cannot protect or care for themselves. The concept of parens patriae in the U.S. legal system most commonly applies to issues of child custody and protection, though it may also be used in protecting others who cannot care for their own interests, such as insane or mentally incapacitated adults.

The evolution of parens patriae in the United States had its beginnings when early juvenile courts began to recognize as important the role of the parent in meeting the physical, emotional, and educational needs to the child. The court, it was thought, had the right to intervene in cases where the parents were unable or unwilling to provide for the child. This doctrine was expanded to address circumstances where the child was at risk for criminal behaviour. As a result, a system of rehabilitative treatment programs was developed for youth deemed at risk, with the goal being that they grow up and become productive adults. In this way, the parens patriae model allowed the court to serve as surrogate parents for wayward children.

The first juvenile court was established in Chicago in 1899. The goal of this juvenile court was to protect neglected children and rehabilitate delinquent children. Its charge was to use the parens patriae concept to protect the state’s right to officially intervene in the juvenile’s life, especially if the youth was neglected. Under this principle, the state has the power to intervene in cases if the child has not reached full legal capacity. Moreover, the state has the inherent power and the responsibility to provide these protections to children whose natural parents were not providing appropriate care or supervision. This power, which the court recognizes as inherent, has since been strengthened by legislation that defines the scope of child protection within each state. The original juvenile court’s focus was on the child’s welfare, which included dependent, neglected, abused, and delinquent children.

In subsequent years, the states have expanded the doctrine of parens patriae to include protections for other members of their citizenry. In Louisiana v. Texas (1900), the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the propriety of allowing the state to sue on behalf of its citizenry. In Georgia v. Tennessee Copper Co. (1907), Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote that individual states have recourse to the judicial power of the United States to resolve disputes between the states.

This evolution of an increasingly broad application of the parens patriae doctrine permits the state to bring an action on behalf of its citizens to protect its sovereign or quasi-sovereign interests. This sovereign interest is the guarantee of the well-being of the state’s citizenry. The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized two general categories of quasi-sovereign interests. The first is the protection of the health and well-being, both physically and economically, of the state’s residents in general. The second is the protection of the state’s interest in not being discriminatorily denied its rightful status within the federal system. In deciding whether a state can use the parens patriae doctrine in a specific claim, the Court may look to whether the injury is one that the state might address through its sovereign law-making powers and whether the conduct infringes, either directly or indirectly, on a significant portion of the population, per the ruling in Snapp and Son, Inc. v. Puerto Rico (1982).

The doctrine of parens patriae was established as a mechanism for the states to act in the best interest of children. When children are considered at risk, the state can step in and act as the parent. Over time, however, this doctrine has been expanded so that the state can act in the best interest of all citizens where the well-being of the state’s citizenry is at stake.

Following are the characterizes the typical juvenile offender

  • Non- accountability: The child would blame others for his faults in order to divert attention from his mistakes. The blame game is naturally inclined in the child's mind. Many parents see this problem as a case that the child can't control; they forget that even children can choose to cheat or steal. They are ready to accept the child's lame excuses at the expense of their mistakes. Poor parenting and even circumstances like unemployment have caused the increase in juvenile delinquency. The delinquents claim that the society is so harsh that it denies them opportunities to earn a living. This habit of irresponsibility will last in the child throughout his life. They cannot comprehend what their parents or older people tell them and dismiss everything as waste of time. They claim no responsibility for breakup of their social or family relationships.
  • Selfishness and lack of tact: They believe everything belongs to them only; that the world only belongs to them. These children demand that things be done in their own way. They don't want to tolerate other people and have no sense of respect of other people. Their main objective is to underrate and surpass other people's ideas or suggestions. These offenders do not see others as people that they can relate to; even their parents. They wittingly use others to achieve their personal desires, and demand others to do what they want. On the playground, if others don't meet their demands, they respond by quitting or making the play miserable. They only think others are there to concede to their demands and needs. The juvenile thinks that other people are there to gratify his needs.
  • Lying: they regard this as a way of living. After realizing that their parents won't trust them again, they become berated and blame them for irresponsible behaviour. Sometimes, the delinquent tries to convince his parents that he is trustworthy but it is just his way of conning them to win their trust of their parents. If they succeed, they take the trust as weakness not as sign of good faith and badly exploit it. The delinquent also believes in lying and in doing so, keeps others to be trapped in his habits and thereby gaining the upper hand.

Following are some of the causes for delinquency

  • Poor School Attendance: Poor school attendance is correlated with juvenile delinquency for a few reasons. At the most basic level, poor school attendance is a form of juvenile delinquency: truancy. In many states, such as New York, parents can face penalties like fines and jail time when their children are chronically truant.

Beyond rendering a student truant, poor school attendance can increase the student’s likelihood of becoming a juvenile offender in other ways. School provides a structured routine and without that routine, an adolescent can become unmotivated and easily influenced by destructive, antisocial messages. Put more plainly, a teen who doesn’t receive the daily support, discipline and routine that comes from attending school might internalize the idea that she does not have to conform to social expectations and can instead do as she pleases. A parent’s lack of involvement in the student’s schooling only adds to this message that attending school is not important.

Poor school environments are also one of the major causes of juvenile crime. Just like a student who does not attend school cannot benefit from the structure and discipline school provides, a student in an overcrowded, underfunded school does not have a secure, supportive school environment. Students in schools where violence and chaos are the norm can get into fights, become involved in gangs, access drugs easily and develop anti-authority attitudes.

  • Frequent Exposure to Violence: Another factor positively correlated with juvenile delinquency is a teen’s regular exposure to violence. This is one of the major causes of juvenile crime, particularly violent juvenile crime. Exposure to violence takes many forms: abuse at the hands of a parent or another household member, or witnessing domestic violence between two other household members. When an adolescent regularly faces violent activity at home, violence becomes normalized, and she might become violent toward her peers because of her fear and frustration.

Although suffering from a mental health condition does not mean that it's more likely a teen will be violent, a teenager suffering from a mental health condition who is regularly exposed to violence faces an increased risk of committing a violent offense. Suffering from depression can put a teen at risk of becoming violent against others as well as engaging in self-harm.

  • Mental and Emotional Disorders: Depression is not the only mental condition that can contribute to juvenile delinquency. Conduct disorders – disorders that drive children and adolescents to engage in violent and destructive behavior – can drive them to commit criminal offenses like vandalism and assault. These disorders, in turn, stem from a variety of factors like genetics, the teen’s social environment and brain injuries and defects. These disorders can and often do occur alongside other conditions like depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Mental and emotional disorders can push adolescents into circumstances in which they face other identified causes of juvenile delinquency, like a poor school environment. A student might be identified as needing specialized education services, but fail to actually receive them; or the student may have a parent who is uncooperative with his school’s attempts to provide these services. This isolates the teen, potentially increasing his risk of lashing out or experimenting with drugs.

  • Substance Abuse in the Home: One of the major causes of juvenile crime is substance abuse in the minor’s home. This could mean the minor herself struggles with substance abuse or that another member of her household, like a parent or sibling, suffers from addiction.

There are a few ways that substance abuse in a teen’s home can contribute to her likelihood of committing criminal acts. One is neglect from her parents because of their own addiction. A parent who struggles with substance addiction is often unable to provide his child with the support she needs and may even prioritize his addiction over his responsibility to his family, spending household funds on drugs.

If the adolescent struggles with her own addiction, the addiction can potentially drive her to steal to support her habit. Similarly, substance abuse can wear down a teen’s sense of self-worth and lead to conditions like depression – or exacerbate them. Conversely, mental health conditions can drive teens to use drugs in an effort to self-medicate, which can set them up to steal to support their drug habits and buy and possess illegal drugs. When the drug in question is alcohol, this can also drive the teenager to purchase and use a false identification.

  • Living in Poverty: Living in poverty is positively correlated with criminal activity across age groups. As one of the most common juvenile delinquency causes, living in poverty often exacerbates other factors involved in juvenile delinquency, increasing an individual teen’s likelihood of offending. For example, whether a student who suffers from a mental or emotional disorder receives an intervention and appropriate treatment in school is often determined by that student’s socioeconomic status. Wealthier students are more likely to attend well-equipped schools that have the resources to serve their needs, whereas poorer students can more easily “fall through the cracks” in poorly-funded schools.

For many teens living in poverty, juvenile crimes are committed in an effort to survive. An adolescent might feel it is necessary to steal money to afford food and household supplies, or that he needs to steal the food and supplies directly. This may be reinforced by watching a parent commit theft and other criminal offenses, such as fraud, in an effort to feed the family and pay household expenses.

Parents raising their children in poverty also frequently work multiple jobs in an effort to cover all household expenses, which can leave children and teens unsupervised for prolonged periods of time. A teen whose parent is physically and/or emotionally absent might turn to criminal activity out of anger or hurt. This could lead to the teen becoming involved with a gang in an effort to forge family relationships, which in turn leads to juvenile delinquency.


Related Solutions

What is the name of the significant Arizona Juvenile Justice case that established new juvenile justice...
What is the name of the significant Arizona Juvenile Justice case that established new juvenile justice due process procedures for the United States and what was the essential legal issue(s) of the case? Hint: the case was appealed to and decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.  
What are the steps in the Juvenile Justice process?
What are the steps in the Juvenile Justice process?
What are the six areas of risk and protective factors in the Juvenile Delinquency? Juvenile Justice.
What are the six areas of risk and protective factors in the Juvenile Delinquency? Juvenile Justice.
Criminal Justice 101: Compare and contrast the juvenile justice system and the adult criminal case process....
Criminal Justice 101: Compare and contrast the juvenile justice system and the adult criminal case process. List and explain two similarities and four differences between them.
Identify and describe sources of labels. Next, discuss how labels from the juvenile justice system can...
Identify and describe sources of labels. Next, discuss how labels from the juvenile justice system can be devastating on our youth.
You are a juvenile justice consultant creating a proposal that will be presented to the state...
You are a juvenile justice consultant creating a proposal that will be presented to the state legislature concerning the future of the juvenile justice system. Create a 10- to 15-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation, including speaker notes, detailing your proposal. Address recommendations for all aspects of the system, including: Community involvement Law enforcement Courts and sentencing Corrections
Do you think the juvenile justice system should become more like the adult criminal justice system,...
Do you think the juvenile justice system should become more like the adult criminal justice system, or should it go back to its original idea of individualized treatment? If so, for which types of offenses? If not, why not?
Do you think the juvenile justice system should become even more like the adult criminal justice...
Do you think the juvenile justice system should become even more like the adult criminal justice system, or should it go back to its original idea of individualized treatment? If so, for which types of offenses? If not, why not?
Examples of contemporary issues that is negatively impacting the delivery of criminal justice.
Examples of contemporary issues that is negatively impacting the delivery of criminal justice.
What is the contemporary relevance or significance of the declaration of independence?
What is the contemporary relevance or significance of the declaration of independence?
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT