Criminal justice Essay

While each state may have its own principles of the justice system, it is evident that there is a very vast difference between the juvenile justice system and the adult criminal justice system. The juvenile justice system’s underlying principle is that the youth are inherently different from the adults in as much as their development is concerned. Hence, in the juvenile justice system, its primary goals are to rehabilitate and protect the youth offender. On the other hand, in the adult criminal justice system, it considers deterrence, not rehabilitation as its primary goal. It also believes that the punishments and sanctions of the offender must be proportionate with the offense. Therefore, the graver the offense, the harsher the punishment should be. In terms of court proceedings, the adult criminal justice system entails that the proceeding and court records be made public. This is one of rights of an adult offender. Yet, in the juvenile justice system, court proceedings are confidential and limitations are placed on the access of the court records and proceedings in the belief that these youth offenders can still be rehabilitated and if their rehabilitation and records are made public, these might cause harmful and unnecessary shame and dishonour to the youthful offender. But both the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems allow parole to be given to the offenders. For youth offenders, parole combines surveillance with activities to reintegrate the juvenile into the community while the adult criminal justice system is primarily based on surveillance and monitoring of illicit behavior. â€Å"Juvenile Justice: A Century of Change. Washington DC: Office of Juvenile Justice, 1999. ) Lastly, both of these criminal justice systems are similar in a way that both allow detention of its offenders. They just vary in purpose because in the juvenile justice system, an offender may be detained for his own protection and the community’s protection as well while in the adult justice system, the defendant has the right to apply for bail.