The Issues in Juvenile Justice Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Issues in Juvenile Justice - Research Paper Example Overview In order to understand, the issue of balancing between individualized and formal sanctions, it is necessary to understand three fundamental points. Firstly, it should be noted that the juvenile criminal system is large and complex, internal and external systems are divided into several complex structures and the trends of this system changes. Thus, the question whether it is possible to balance between individualized and formal sanctions? The balancing between individualized and formal sanctions is not possible for several reasons. Firstly, the literature demonstrates that the entire juvenile sanction system is diverse and vast. This indicates that the guidelines for the adoption of sanctions differ from one state to another. The aim of consistent and formal sanctions is to ensure that there is no disparity and discrimination in the juvenile system. Stinchcomb, Bazemore, and Riestenberg (2006) asserts that â€Å"The widespread belief, evident in many sentencing guidelines, is that (a) judicial discretion causes disparity and inconsistency and (b) that offense-based systems can eliminate or reduce these problems.  Both beliefs prevail despite the fact that little empirical evidence exists to support them.† Majority of the guidelines adopted by the states frequently â€Å"use offense-based criteria for determining which types of sanctions to apply†