Each question should be answered in one page . we have two questions so we will need two pages.
What Do You Think? When juveniles commit serious crimes should they be tried as adults?
Traditionally, when adolescents under 18 commit crimes, the case is handled in the juvenile justice system. Although procedures vary from state to state, most adolescents who are arrested do not go to court; instead, law enforcement and legal authorities have considerable discretionary power. They may, for example, release arrested adolescents into the custody of their parents. However, when adolescents commit serious or violent crimes, there will be a hearing with a judge. This hearing is closed to the press and public; no jury is involved. Instead, the judge receives reports from police, probation officers, school officials, medical authorities, and other interested parties. Adolescents judged guilty can be placed on probation at home, in foster care outside the home, or in a facility for youth offenders.
Because juveniles are committing more serious crimes, many law enforcement and legal authorities believe that juveniles should be tried as adults. Advocates of this position argue for lowering the minimum age for mandatory transfer of a case to adult courts, increasing the range of offenses that must be tried in adult court, and giving prosecutors more authority to file cases with juveniles in adult criminal court. Critics argue that treating juvenile offenders as adults ignores the fact that juveniles are less able than adults to understand the nature and consequences of committing a crime. Also, they argue, punishments appropriate for adults are inappropriate for juveniles (Steinberg et al., 2009).
What do you think? Should we lower the age at which juveniles are tried as adults? Based on the theories of development we discussed, what guidelines would you propose in deciding when a juvenile should be tried as an adult?
What Do You Think? Does marriage education work?
The Healthy Marriage Initiative really focused a great deal of attention on ways to lower the divorce rate (Fincham & Beach, 2010). One approach endorsed by many groups, called marriage education, is based on the idea that the more couples are prepared for marriage, the better the relationship will survive over the long run. More than 40 states have initiated some type of education program. Do they work?
Most education programs focus on communication between the couple; the programs provide general advice, not specific ways to deal with a couple’s issues. Because only a minority of couples currently attend a marriage education program, there is plenty of room for improvement. Several religious denominations have their own version of marriage education programs; the Catholic’s Pre-Cana program is one example.
There are numerous challenges to more extensive community-based marriage education programs. For example, in some cases, the education programs were originally developed to address poverty (Administration for Children and Families, 2010). Many couples cohabit and are less likely to attend marriage education programs even though there is little evidence that cohabitation improves communication skills between the couple (Fincham & Beach, 2010). As a result, versions of marriage education programs are being adapted for younger adults (who, if they marry while young, have a much higher risk for divorce) and for single adults (to teach them about communication skills). In addition, programs timed at key transition points (e.g., engagement) have also been developed (Halford, Markman, & Stanley, 2008).
Rather than intervene with couples before they marry, some programs target already-married couples (O’Halloran et al., 2013). One of the best known of these programs is Worldwide Marriage Encounter.
Research to date shows that these skills-based education programs have modest but consistently positive effects on marital quality and communication (Cowan, Cowan, & Knox, 2010; O’Halloran et al., 2013). Perhaps not surprisingly, couples who report more problems at the beginning of the program appear to benefit most.
These positive outcomes are resulting in a broadening of the approaches used by marriage educators to topics beyond communication. How these programs develop and whether more couples will participate remain to be seen. What does appear to be the case is that if couples agree to participate in a marriage education program, they may lower their risk for problems later on.
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