Understanding Perceptions of Juvenile Offenders

Given the many changes taking place within the juvenile justice system, it is not surprising that there are clashing opinions about those changes. The development of research surrounding adolescents and juvenile offenders has grown substantially in the past few decades, but now there are many legislative changes taking place. Throughout these changes, there are several colliding opinions. Should juvenile offenders be sentenced in a more lenient fashion? Should justice policies match developmental processes for juveniles? The different stances on these issues have caused some serious public disagreement. In light of these recent events, research gauging public opinions regarding these concepts has slowly grown. In order to take a look at opinions regarding juvenile offenders and their justice treatment, in this study, I examined the differences in opinion between juvenile and adult offenders. The goal of this survey was to help gain an understanding about the public’s perceptions of juvenile offenders and how that relates to current issues with both research and policy.