Jobs for jailed minors rehabilitate them
A minor commits a crime, gets locked up, is labeled with a black mark on his or her record and is punished in a way the present court system considers just.
Does jailing youth for their poor decisions, which are often associated with that minor’s living environment and neighborhood, create a catalyst for positive change?
Conversely, does this treatment further embitter them and, in turn, encourage individuals to repeat their cycles of criminal offenses?
Alternatively, could we as a society help to create and foster a productive and positive plan for juveniles to help them break this vicious cycle?
Father Gregory Boyle from Homeboy Industries has been spearheading the movement away from retaliatory efforts toward a more humane alternative approach under the premise of “jobs, not jails.”
Efforts, such as providing education and jobs, have shown significant success in addressing some of the factors that contribute to and promote juvenile delinquency and recidivism. A question we could ask is, should we continue to support this costly yet ineffective punitive juvenile justice system, or could we address the underlying factors in a less costly but more effective way instead? The future of our youth is at stake. Their fate is in your hands.
Retaliation versus rehabilitation: You Decide!
Derek Baldridge, Dahiana Guadarrama, Tiease Lee, Wesley Norvell and Sara Tousi are social work graduate students and contributing writers for the Daily 49er.
