The quality of life a child goes through is highly dependent on the community that they grow up in. Some contributing factors to juvenile crimes are peer pressure and family abandonment. These circumstances have the potential to lead to substance abuse, which correlates positively with criminal activity.  

The youth poverty rates in counties like St. Francis are as high as 46% on the poverty scale. A study shows that in the bottom of the ranked counties on the poverty scale, children tend to drop out of school, are more likely to get pregnant at a young age, suffer food insecurity, and commit crimes. Residents are aware of this imbalance of poverty vs. crime and are pushing lawmakers to establish more programs to help youth offenders before they turn to a life of crime. 

Some Arkansas state citizens are pushing for reforms in the juvenile justice system that they consider outdated and archaic. They are urging the state to find alternatives for crimes committed by youths. Incarceration, isolation, and youth prisons only psychologically damage the youths they intern. Instead, they’re opting for community-based correction programs outside the justice system. 

Some believe that establishing more programs like Casework-Juvenile and Services for Older Youth or Former Foster Youth will improve their lives and prevent them from committing crimes. 

However, others believe punishing crimes justly and fairly from a young age would lead to a more peaceful society in Arkansas in the long term. According to retribution theorists, it is important to punish youth offenders to discourage them from committing crimes in the future or as adults.

They believe offenders should be incarcerated to physically keep them off the streets to keep the public safe while preventing them from committing other crimes in the future. The good of the many would outweigh the freedoms taken from the few that break the law. Psychological counseling, education, and basic needs would be met in jail. 

So the debate question is should Arkansas prioritize creating more programs to prevent crime, or punishing youth crime?