Abstract:
This thesis is a critique of the juvenile justice system through an exploration of three court cases. The Bulger case in England, the Crucifixion killing in America, and the Trondheim case in Norway serve as a backdrop for the identification of recent trends in juvenile justice, specifically in the United States. Although the cases appear similar, their resulting convictions and outcomes are starkly different. This variation in endings gives life to the second part of the study where three themes are identified in the treatment of each case. In the first section, the idea of criminal responsibility is explored using psychological research on the moral reasoning of children. The second segment identifies rehabilitation as a viable option for treating most juvenile offenders as compared to harsher punishments seen in recent years. The final section explores the influence of media on the juvenile justice system and the resulting outcomes in legislation fro the false portrayal of juveniles in the press. These three sections work together to establish a critique of the juvenile justice system as seen through the eyes of children and their advocates who have been through the process.
