Over the years whether or not juvenile criminals should be prosecuted as adults has been a controversial topic for a long time.  This topic struck my interest because I have been interested in criminology and the justice system for a long time.  I love following cases and watching crimes shows and understanding how our system works.  This topic challenges my values because I have always thought you reap what you sow, which means you have to face the consequences of your actions.  If a kid who is, for example, twelve kills another kid out of spite, should he not get severely punished for it as an adult?  They did an adult crime, so they should have to have adult punishments. However, when furthering my research on this topic I found some though provoking statistics that made me question whether or not I am choosing the right side of this argument.  I never thought of the long lasting effects of a child going to adult jail, only the short term lesson they get by not getting off the hook so easily.  It makes me think about both sides and want to know more.  I don't have any experience with the subject, however I like to think that my morals are the right answer in this situation.  I am or may not be qualified to write about this, but I can do my research just like anyone could and state what I think is the right way to handle this controversial topic.

To help me answer my research question to the best of my ability, I will use the following three sources.  My first article is by Daniel P. Mears called, "Getting Tough with Juvenile Offenders."  In this article the author clearly is taking the side of not prosecuting juveniles as adults.  He examines many neglected explanatory factors, including links between marital status, political orientation, and the philosophy of punishment.  He talks about studies that suggest that marital status and philosophy of punishment are associated when a juvenile is being prosecuted as an adult when the offense involves any of these three offenses: selling illegal drugs, committing property crime, or committing violent crimes. He also goes into depth with analyzing and comparing how serious the crime was to what the child's home life is like.  He believes the worse the home life is for the kid then the more severe the crimes will get.  This article shows strong bias on one side of the argument.  The credibility of the author is good because he works in the justice system, so he has experience.

My second source is an article by Donna M. Bishop called, "Juvenile Offenders in the Adult Criminal Justice System."  In this article the author talks about how in most states they have instituted reforms in regards to the quickly rising rates of youth crimes.  The reforms include provisions that transfer an increasing number and range of adolescents to criminal courts to be prosecuted as adults.  This proposes that the criminal prosecution will insure more effective punishments and deterrence.  However, she clearly states how there is not any evidence that any of that is true.  Many non-threatening cases get sent to adult court and get handled poorly or are a waste of time.  There is no evidence to prove putting these provisions in effect are doing any good and achieving the purpose they have.  It seems she may be a little bias at times in the article. Donna Bishop is credible because she also worked in the justice system for a long time and specialized in juvenile cases.

My third source is an article by Malcolm C. Young and Jenni Gainsborough called, "Prosecuting Juveniles in Adult Court An Assessment of Trends and Consequences."  In this article the authors feel strongly that moving juveniles to the adult court system is a radical and unjust thing to do.  Most people involved in the system are starting to recognize that adult courts are inappropriate settings for children who are still developmentally immature and that puts them at a disadvantage at every stage in the system.  They state the growing evidence that shows the long-term and damaging consequences suffered by children who are held in adult prisons.  Putting juveniles in adult prisons has also shown there is a high chance they will commit more crimes later on.  These authors are very bias in the whole article about how wrong it is for juveniles to be held in adult prisons or be prosecuted as adults.  

My research question is arguable because it is still being argued about to this day.  There is no clear right and wrong for everyone.  Every person has their own opinion about the topic and that is why it is a good topic for arguing.  Two of the articles I found the authors are both on the same page. Authors Malcolm Young and Jenni Gainsborough feel the same way as Daniel Mears.  They all strongly feel that it is wrong to prosecute juveniles as adults.  The perspective of these articles did make me question my own stance.  I wasn't thinking about the long-term effects on the children, because I was only thinking they should get punished badly so they don't do it again.  I already changed my research question from the original.  It used to be "Should Juveniles be Prosecuted as Adults for Heinous Crimes?"  For me that seemed too much like a yes/no question and for this topic there is no clear yes or no answer. Therefore, I changed it to "when is it acceptable for juvenile criminals to be prosecuted as adults?"

