Juveniles Case

I feel that the threat of punishment deters some kids from doing any crimes, there are others that will push the envelop just to see how far they can get. And then there are some that the punishment does not affect them at all. Each case is different, one juvenile may decide for the first time to steal a candy bar. His friends are right there egging him on. Morally he may know it is wrong but his friends are there and he can not look foolish in front of them. But then the kid gets caught. The punishment already is embarrassment; the next step is the cops and then his parents and then the court. This child may not ever steal another thing in his life but other children do it more than once. These children may steal due to necessity or just the pure pleasure they get from doing something they aren't suppose too just to see if they get caught.

A General deterrence would be to put more police in areas where there is higher crime. The idea is that the more the kids see the police they will not commit a crime. This does not always work for the juveniles that are repeat offenders. A Specific deterrence would be that, given the consequences of arrest or incarceration, with it being repeated per incident, this does not deter them to not steal or rob somebody. If a store owner were to use unbreakable glass in their storefronts, they may try to break it once but after that they would move on somewhere else and try again. Situational crime prevention makes it so it is harder to do and is less profitable. If you have surveillance and lighting this helps to keep property safe due to the fact the kids see they may be seen. If you lock valuable up they can't get to them.

I think that mainly all of these deterrence help in some way with individual kids. It however does not help with all kids. The repeat offenders already know what will happen in jail. I feel that when these juveniles are in jail they should be made to follow the rules and do schoolwork, do yard cleanup or whatever to make it the least appealing place to be. This would include no television or playstation. Deterrence theories do work just not on all juveniles.