Free Female Juvenile Offenders Program Essay Sample

It has been shown by research findings that women offenders have a higher likelihood to commit minor sexual, emotional, and physical abuse, and suffer from prolonged mental illness as compared to their male counterparts. Women are less likely to commit violent offense, and have a higher likelihood of benefiting from relationship-based and nurturing programs. Researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers have recently begun to focus on the increasing number of female juveniles getting into the juvenile justice system. In the state of Illinois, there are some gender-specific programs meant to assist the female offenders, and financially, these programs depend on the Anti-Drug Abuse grant sponsorship that is allotted by the federal Government. Faith in Transition (FIT) is one of the programs that have been established to prepare female juvenile offenders to leave the Illinois Department of Corrections, or IDOC. This program is among various programs found in the Decatur Correctional Centre and it offers a number of services including employment assistance and training job skills, treatment of substance abuse, and assistance in getting affordable accommodation.    

By combining community based elements and facility, the goal of FIT is to end the oscillation of victimization, addiction, and dependency that many juvenile female inmates were subjected to prior to being immured. The FIT program also helps in addressing specific offender needs in areas of sexual abuse, victimization of self and other people, low self esteem, parenting, child care, prostitution and exploitation, mental and physical health, anger management, domestic violence, and assertiveness training. The program aims at decreasing the rate of recidivism among the juvenile female offenders by getting rid of the possible obstacles that bring about the same behaviors that made them incarcerated. FIT is also committed in promoting social reintegration, revitalization of family ties, and restoration of the juvenile female's sense of self worth. Juvenile females who want to be assisted in reconnecting with their communities, including involvement in various activities to benefit their families and other community residents, are provided with transitional housing.

Juvenile female offenders with problems of drug abuse are put in recovery homes to ensure that they desist from abusing drugs altogether. A primary goal of the FIT program is to offer a continuous care between immurement and release, finally closing those gaps that could bring about recidivism. Financial obstacles have been found to be the greatest challenge experienced by women after they have come out of prison. The FIT program ensures that the juvenile females are aware of many other alternatives used to generate income instead of the illegal opportunities such as prostitution and shoplifting. It has been found that female delinquents experience mental problems at a higher frequency than their male counterparts and this idea is very important for the FIT program to offer effective prevention strategies that should aim at meeting the mental health needs of juvenile females to avoid the development of prolonged behavior problems. As the juvenile female offenders with mental health problems enter the juvenile justice system, those cases that pose the greatest risk to community safety are carefully considered. Female offenders show a greater likelihood to prolonged support long after they have been directly involved with the juvenile justice system.   

According to Wormer, gender bias negatively affects the way in which female delinquents are processed. This idea has been adopted by the FIT program, therefore ensuring that the problems of juvenile female offenders are addressed in an effective manner to reduce recidivism rate. It is understood that in patriarchal societies, juvenile females develop criminal behaviors because they are exposed to exploitation, oppression, and discrimination. Little has known regarding juvenile female offenders in the juvenile justice system within the state of Illinois. Therefore thorough research is necessary to obtain enough data so that the level of female delinquency can be determined conclusively.

 

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