Question.3110 - Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you: Provide Part I: Revision of A Problem Exists (3-4 pages) Revise, using feedback from the professor and classmates, your Persuasive Paper Part I: A Problem Exists. Develop Part 2: Solution to Problem and Advantages (3-4 pages for 6-8 pages total) Include a defensible, relevant thesis statement clearly in the first paragraph. (The thesis statement may need to be modified to reflect added information and purpose of this part.) Explain a detailed, viable solution that supports your thesis. This should be one or two (1-2) paragraphs. State, explain, and support the first advantage (economic, social, political, environmental, social, equitable, ethical/moral, etc.) to your solution. This should be one or two (1-2) paragraphs. State, explain, and support the second advantage (economic, social, political, environmental, social, equitable, ethical/moral, etc.) to your solution. This should be one or two (1-2) paragraphs. State, explain, and support the third (and fourth if desired) advantage (economic, social, political, environmental, social, equitable, ethical/moral, etc.) to your solution. This should be one or two (1-2) paragraphs. Use effective transitional words, phrases, and sentences. Provide a concluding paragraph / transitional paragraph that summarizes the proposed solution and its advantages. Develop a coherently structured paper with an introduction, body, and conclusion. Use one (1) or more rhetorical strategies (ethos, logos, pathos) to explain advantages. Support advantage claims with at least three (3) additional quality relevant references. Use at least six (6) total for Parts 1 and 2. Your assignment must follow these formatting guidelines: Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length. Note: Submit your assignment to Connect Composition Plus and to the designated plagiarism program so that you can make revisions before submitting your paper to your professor. The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are: Recognize the elements and correct use of a thesis statement. Recognize the use of summary, paraphrasing, and quotation to communicate the main points of a text. Analyze the rhetorical strategies of ethos, pathos, logos in writing samples and for incorporation into essays or presentations. Correct grammatical and stylistic errors consistent with Standard Written English. Prepare a research project that supports an argument with structure and format appropriate to the genre. Revise drafts to improve clarity, support, and organization. Recognize how to organize ideas with transitional words, phrases, and sentences. Incorporate relevant, properly documented sources to substantiate ideas. Write clearly and concisely about selected topics using proper writing mechanics.
Answer Below:
Introduction Criminal activity among the adolescents is on the rise and has become a cause of concern for society and regulators. “The Justice Department estimates that about 10 percent of all homicides are committed by juveniles under the age of 18. Nearly every year, the FBI arrests more than 33,000 young adults under the age of 18 for offenses” (Khan, 2010). This increasing tendency among juveniles has called for immediate attention among society members. Many argue that juveniles should be let off without being indicted similar to adults. They prescribe correctional programs as the suitable means of correcting criminal tendencies among juveniles. However, this argument does not hold much water as, such correctional program suffer from some serious deficiencies. Primary among them is that these correctional programs do not provide deterrence to stop or curb criminal activity. Often, juveniles who have committed heinous crimes like murder and rape escape from being punished under the soft laws made for them. Strict adult laws should be applied against adolescents to deter criminal activity among juveniles. Solution To deter and curb criminal activity and tendencies among the juveniles, the most viable solution is to install a legal system wherein, crime and not age of the criminal decides the level of punishment. As such, juveniles should not be let off just because of their age. Letting them off because of their age might be counter-productive as they might feel emboldened to commit more crimes. On the contrary, if the legal system allows for trail of juveniles under strict adult laws, it shall act as deterrent and has the potential to reduce criminal activity among juveniles. It is seen that “harsh sentencing acts as a deterrent to kids who are considering committing crimes” (Reaves, 2001) Having softer treatment for juveniles does not make them responsible for their actions. “Light sentences don't teach kids the lesson they need to learn: If you commit a terrible crime, you will spend a considerable part of your life in jail” (Reaves, 2001). This solution also ensures equal treatment of criminals irrespective of their age. It serves as an important means wherein, all criminals are treated on par and age plays no deciding role to increase or decrease the severity of punishment. The law should focus on the crime and not the age of the criminal. “The end result of a heinous crime remains the same, no matter who commits it. Our justice system depends upon holding perpetrators responsible for their actions” (Reaves, 2001) and age should not play any significant role in deciding upon a punishment. Based on these arguments, kids who are becoming sophisticated and advanced because of increased media influence should be subjected to strong adult laws for trial of crime committed by juveniles. First advantage: Deterrence of crime The primary advantage of the solution to try juveniles as adults in cases of heinous crimes is that it creates a strong deterrence in the society. Juveniles are made aware that they are likely to be held responsible for their actions and they would not be let off easily. Strict rules assist in instilling a sense of responsibility among the juveniles for their actions. Indictment of juveniles with adult laws plays an important role in reducing the sense of protection that the kid might feel while committing a crime. As such, the society is likely to develop an increased sense of deterrence as juveniles are made aware that there criminal activities shall not be condoned off owing to their young age. Juveniles often suffer from a sense of defiance which emanates from the sense of protection from law for crimes committed by them. The defiant attitude of the juveniles is likely to be curbed if they are treated equal to adult criminals. To instill a sense of discipline and reduce criminal tendencies among them, it is important that strict laws are put upon them when they are tried in court, especially for serious crimes. (Sukhia, 2005) When a kid knows that the penalty for crime is stricter, he or she is less likely to commit a crime. This deterrence is necessary for reducing criminal tendencies. Stern laws and punitive actions which matches punishment meted out to adult criminals make them question about the after effect of their actions. “Some youths are even known to commit crimes without thought because they know they cannot be tried as adults.” (Estudillo). It is a generally accepted tendency among children, that they are less likely to commit a mistake, if the punishment for it is very high. “Knowing the strict consequences for their actions helps children to put a crime in perspective; no child wants to spend a large part of their life in prison” (Lakesideschool.org). This acts as a strong deterrence among young offenders as they are likely to become aware of the severe consequences of their crime and are then less likely to commit crimes. Awareness of the strong consequences is an important aspect and “being aware that a sentence can reach this severity, forces children to think through the aftermath of their actions” (Lakesideschool.org) Second advantage: Equality before law Having equal treatment of the juveniles and adults also provides the advantage of keeping everyone equal in the eyes of the law. Equality before law is the second advantage which the solution of the paper provides. It is important to understand that crimes like murder or rape are heinous and unpardonable acts of violence irrespective of the age of the criminal. Equality in the eyes of the law need to be maintained at all costs in order to establish a strong legal system. Having to parallel system in terms of one set of court for the adults and another set of court for the juveniles creates a sense of unequal treatment. This unequal treatment can be removed if juveniles are tried under the same courts as any other adult offender. For maintaining equality of judicial system age should not be a deciding factor for punishing offenders. “Justice demands that heinous crimes, regardless of the age of the accused, be dealt with to the full extent the law provides”(Cole & Smith, 2007). Equality before law establishes strong judicial system that further provides deterrence to criminal activity. This equality places the focus of punishment on the crime and not on the age. This is an important consideration while attempting to reduce juvenile crime rates. When juveniles are treated on par with the adults in the legal system, it is likely to “make them understand the consequences of their action, and also deter them from committing any further crimes, knowing full well that they are not given any special consideration because of their age factor.” (Buzzle.com). As such, it is critical to put juveniles on trial under laws meant for adults and remove distinction between offences on the basis of age in order to make the legal system equal for all. Third advantage: Removing failure of juvenile courts Juvenile court system has not been particularly successful in reducing the flow of criminal activity among adolescents. As such, another advantage of having same set of rules and courts for both juveniles and adults is that, it shall create the advantage of getting rid of the juvenile court systems. The juvenile court system has not been able to control the heavy rise in the criminal activity among juveniles. The lack of clarity in the legal standards that are to be applied by judges in juvenile court has been a major lacuna of juvenile court system. There has “been absence of legal standards to inform and control decisions made by the juvenile court judges” (Fagan & Zimring, 2000). In this light it is also necessary to note that the juvenile courts suffer from other failures like its inability to have a standardized criterion while deciding upon waiver of juvenile crimes. Juvenile courts have not been adequate to perform its task to reduce criminal activity among juveniles. As such, removal of juvenile courts by having singular court system for both adults and juveniles is a better option. (Fagan & Zimring, 2000). Juvenile courts suffered from the “failure of the system to deliver the treatment it promised while at the same time denying juveniles the procedural rights provided to adult criminals defendants” (Scott & Steinberg, 2009). As such, the solution offered in the paper provides the advantage of the removing the juvenile system of court which has been unable to perform its functions adequately. (Scott & Steinberg, 2009) Fourth advantage: Ethical and moral justice When juveniles are left without major punishment even for crimes like murder and rape it creates an ethical and moral dilemma for the society. Having a single set of law for both adults and juveniles removes this dilemma and creates a sense of ethical and moral justice. Juveniles who have committed murderous crimes cannot be regarded as mere children and let off. Their crimes do not warrant them to be treated as kids as they have committed crimes like an adult. As such, it is ethical and morally correct to punish them in equality with adults. Ethical norms call for full and strict punishment of the juveniles and letting them off on account of their age can be considered as unethical. There should not be any distinction between criminals on the basis of their age as it is likely to pose an ethical question. Morally, a society should treat offenders equally and should not have any form of prejudice on the basis of age. (Sukhia, 2005) This ethical and moral dilemma is taken care of by the solution prescribed by paper. As such, to maintain ethical and moral justice it is necessary to have equal treatment of juveniles and adults for crimes committed by them, especially serious crimes like murders. (Sukhia, 2005) Conclusion Strict adult laws should be applied against adolescents to deter criminal activity among juveniles as they have the advantage of providing deterrence of criminal activity among juveniles. Adolescents are more likely to be deterred from committing criminal activity if they are aware of strict laws which are on par with adult offenders. This solution also provides the advantage of putting all offenders irrespective their age on the same platform and brings equality of law for all. The third advantage of the solution is that it does away with the juvenile court system which has been unable to perform its task adequately. The fourth advantage of the solution is that it solves the ethical and moral dilemma in the society and brings about ethical and moral justice in the punishment of crime in the society. It is therefore, imperative that in order to reduce criminal tendencies among juveniles, strict adult laws should be applied against them. References Khan, H. (2010). Juvenile Justice: Too Young for Life in Prison?. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/life-prison-juvenile-offenders-adult- courts/story?id=11129594#.UZ707KIwdqE Reaves, J. (2001). Should the Law Treat Kids and Adults Differently?. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,110232,00.html Sukhia, K. W. (2005). Juvenile Crime. Greenhaven Press. Estudillo, M. (n.d.). Juveniles Should Be Tried as Adults in Certain Circumstances. Retrieved from http://www.gale.cengage.com/pdf/samples/sp740776.pdf Lakesideschool.org, (n.d.). Children Should be Tried as Adults. Retrieved from http://ogop.lakesideschool.org/usenglish/e200cdebates/2012/03/05/children-should-be-tried-as- adults/ Cole, G., & Smith, C. (2007). Criminal Justice In America. Cengage Learning. Buzzle.com, (n.d.). Should Juveniles be Tried as Adults?. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/should-juveniles-be-tried-as-adults.html Fagan, J., & Zimring, F. (2000). The Changing Borders of Juvenile Justice: Transfer of Adolescents to the Criminal Court. University of Chicago Press Scott, E., & Steinberg, L. (2009). Rethinking Juvenile Justice. 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