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Part 1:
Overview
Juvenile Delinquency is a term used to discuss instances when children under the age of 18 commit crimes. In many cases, these children are held in correctional style facilities away from their homes. In certain states, children can be tried as adults and sent to adult prisons. For this assignment I would like to you explore the podcast series CAUGHT, which is a series of interviews with children who entered the criminal justice and are/were incarcerated. These children tell their stories and explain their experience and how the system impacted their lives.
The United States has high rates of recidivism(reoffend/recommitting a crime) among juveniles who enter the criminal justice system. Youth who are incarcerated are more likely to re-commit crimes in their lifetime than adults who are incarcerated. They are also 38% less likely to re-commit crimes if they enter ‘restorative justice programs’ instead of being incarcerated. The restorative justice model is different in that is focuses on rehabilitation:
“Often times, we’re putting folks in jail, but we’re just continuing a cycle of poverty and incarceration because people get out and they find themselves basically in the same situation that they were in prior to their incarceration,” says Norris. To make a real shift with our justice system, we need to address the systemic issues plaguing communities in need. We have to “allocate resources in the form of jobs not jails, books not bars, healthcare not handcuffs.” – Zachary Norris (How to Stop Locking up Kids)
Instructions
1. Please select an episode (there are 9 total) from the CAUGHT podcast and listen to it. After learning about one of the children’s stories, consider whether the punishment they were given (incarceration etc…) is a form of justice. Explain your stance using some information and data in the podcast, above in the overview of this assignment, or found online.
2. Select a link (from the resources section below) which explores an aspect of juvenile delinquency and write a response that addresses the following questions:
What stands out to you and is interesting?
Has it changed or added something to your perspective on the topic? If so, in what way?
Resources
Kids in Prison Germany Has A Different Approach
Juvenile injustice
What is Means to Break Free: A Tale of Detention Told in Dance
part2:
Overview
The death penalty is an issue that has been framed in different ways by both experts and activists. The death penalty has a long history in societies that pre-dates the prison system. Historically, once peoples began to obtain rights as citizens, many governments no-longer needed to rely on pain or death to deliver punishment provide justice. They could now deprive people of their rights and ability to participate in society through incarceration. However, some countries like the United States still use the death penalty as punishment for violent crime. Should we abolish the Death Penalty?
Many policymakers claim that the death penalty is fair, just, and reduces violent crime. However, there are many activists and experts who disagree and make contrary claims supported by evidence. There are many considerations when contemplating capital punishment. I have organized a few of them by theme for you.
Instructions
Review the statistical research on the death penalty as well as the philosophical arguments and demographic breakdown of who receives the death penalty.
Take a stance on the topic. Should the death penalty be allowed? Make a post that is supported with evidence where possible.
Reply to two of your fellow student’s posts offering respectful criticism or affirmation. Choose which posts you like other than your own and click the like button. For fun – the post with the most likes (which was the most persuasive will receive some 15 pts extra credit
A few Issues to Consider
Justice
Does violent vengeance = justice for victims? Should the public/state have the right to execute?
‘An eye for an eye’ does not work with other types of crime, why the death penalty?
Human Dignity
It violates international human rights. Is it an affront to humanity?
Institutional Bias/Error
An estimated 4% of death row inmates are wrongly convicted. Only about 20% are executed.
Does institutional racial bias make it an unjust practice? What about the fact that inequality is a part of all our institutions? (Tax policy, policing) Should we abolish these policies because they are unequal?
Deterrent
The death penalty does not reduce violent crime. If it prevents some crime, is it worth it?
Is the spectacle of the death penalty dangerous in that it tricks us into believing that by putting people to death we are directly addressing the social issues that produce the crime?
Cost
Death penalty cases and inmates, cost multiple times that of non-capital cases. Is it worth the cost? Should that money ($250 million) be better spent on other programs?
The death penalty is an issue about culture, justice, race, class, and punishment. One final thought to help you begin to think critically:
When we focus on the individual as if the individual were an aberration, do we inadvertently engage in reproducing the violence that we are contesting?
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