Reimagining Juvenile Justice in Arizona & Beyond: From Retribution to Rehabilitation

While children and adolescents are the most vulnerable members of society, juvenile offenders face interventions that mirror the punitive and retributive nature of the criminal justice system. These interventions contribute to high recidivism rates, disproportionately impact low-income and minority youth, and result in negative collateral consequences, preventing effective reintegration into their communities. In this thesis, I devise a system based on decriminalization and sociologically-focused rehabilitation that should be applied to the Arizona juvenile justice system and beyond.