Restorative Juvenile Rehabilitation

In our American government system, we have developed a systematic based rehabilitation source, to adjust criminal behavior and reduce it. Though even with this system put in place, and these people supposedly being confined and guarded. Assault still happens in prison, Troy Erik Isaac would know firsthand, by being raped and assaulted at twelve, he was sentenced to juvenile detention for one week for a vandalism crime. On his first day there, he was raped by an older cellmate (Kasier).
Juvenile detention conceptually, could work; however, over the past decade the recidivism rates have increased. Due to the presence of systematic abuse and higher rates of committing crimes, statistics and studies have proven it’s more effective for juveniles
To avoid these problems juveniles should be sentenced to restorative justice, which is just a fancy word for community service, that is used in lieu with punishing juveniles after they have committed a crime. Restorative justice is as it sounds, is to restore; “ Restorative justice seeks to protect the community by achieving real behavior change through building competencies, engaging the community and juvenile offenders in the process, and allowing victims to define the harm caused them and seek out adequate solutions to its repair through their direct involvement in the process” (Hines). When using restorative justice, the youths come out a better person, they bring the community together and discuss what issues they have, they’re learning the skills they need to become a better person. Furthermore, if they’re being taught these skills to develop better as future adults, they’re less likely to go back into criminal behaviour, and won’t be sitting around
These community based organizations is making strides against teenagers falling back into criminal behavior. As mentioned earlier, recidivism is the rate at which a person will relapse back into criminal activity. “Within the detained adolescent population, recidivism rates tend to be higher[..] youths who are younger at first referral.”(McDaniel). The younger we are putting these children into these institutions the higher the risk is for them to recidivate. It’s easy to say well they must learn their lesson for what they have done, though perhaps citizens fail to realize that, with their surrounding environment it’s going to be easier for them to slip back into criminal behavior or even, “Other factors that significantly predict recidivism within 12 to 30 months include prior criminal history, poor academic achievement or attendance, relations with deviant peers, low socioeconomic status, large families, older siblings involved in criminal activity, out-of-home placements, and family instability.” (Aalsma). These socio-economic situations make it more likely for them to go back to doing these illegal activities, but just imagine if they had different outlets or other activities to get involved in to distract them. When compared to having a parent more involved