Introduction
The following paper will discuss the problem of sending juveniles, who commit minor violence crimes, to serve at least one month in boot camps. Unfortunately, politicians are obliged to deal with this problem as the crime rate among adolescents and children is increasing rapidly in particular states. Therefore, the governor’s decision mentioned above is to be considered and analyzed below.
Boot Camps and How They Affect Children
The governor’s decision regarding juveniles who commit various minor violent crimes (sending the children culpable of punishment to serve in boot camps) is somewhat irrational (Lambie & Randell, 2013). Boot camps are criticized by American citizens because people who work there do not use proper methods of treating and teaching children to behave. These facilities implement various military techniques when dealing with juveniles, which might cause harm to their health conditions and emotional disturbance. Many international organizations and countries criticize American boot camps because of many death cases and traumas that happened due to extreme conditions that children were obliged to face on a daily basis when living there (Lambie & Randell, 2013). Moreover, these camps do not improve children’s behaviors. In turn, juveniles become more violent and angry at everyone who surrounds them.
It is evident that the sanction discussed above might not be the best way to cope with children’s misbehaviors. The correctional organizations’ personnel often humiliate juveniles and make them work hard (Lambie & Randell, 2013). Although boot camps are not as harsh as prison, they are tougher than the army. Therefore, some parents might be discouraged by the methods their children are often treated in these facilities.
Alternative Sanctions
It would be proper to consider other punishments for juveniles who commit minor violent crimes. For instance, if children caused damage to someone’s property, they should be obliged to work at any job to compensate for the harm they did (Finkelhor, Vanderminden, Turner, Shattuck, & Hamby, 2014). Even though this method is less dangerous, it also makes young people realize the values of the objects they break (Raine, 2014). It is essential to make people pay for what they ruin. Such an approach to the problem will have a particular impact on the children’s moral principles (Bates & Swan, 2017). Perhaps, they will become more polite and cautious in their further actions.
Other Effective Sanctions
However, many other methods might be implemented to punish young people who do not follow their country’s law. For instance, after committing various crimes, juveniles might be obliged to help the police in investigating and disclosing other perpetrations that they may be aware of (Finkelhor et al., 2014). Perhaps, this sanction might require children to give their companions away. Nevertheless, this would be an effective method to stop young people from committing group crimes (Raine, 2014). Moreover, some members of certain bandit organizations might feel guilty for their behavior and will not commit illegal actions in the future.
Conclusion
It would be proper to stress that children are much easier to treat and fix their behaviors than adults. Therefore, sending criminal juveniles to serve in boot camps for one month (or longer) is not an appropriate approach to the given situation. It is necessary to make adolescents realize that their actions cause tremendous harm to other people’s lives and finances. Therefore, they should compensate all the damages that they make to other citizens’ properties. Moreover, the treatment and living conditions in boot camps make some children aggressive.
References
Bates, K. A., & Swan, R. S. (2017). Juvenile delinquency in a diverse society (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publishing.
Finkelhor, D., Vanderminden, J., Turner, H., Shattuck, A., & Hamby, S. (2014). Youth exposure to violence prevention programs in a national sample. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38(4), 677-686. Web.
Lambie, I., & Randell, I. (2013). The impact of incarceration on juvenile offenders. Clinical Psychology Review, 33(3), 448-459. Web.
Raine, J. W. (2014). Rehabilitative and restorative justice for juvenile offenders. Criminology & Public Policy, 13(1), 27-29. Web.