Juvenile delinquency

Juvenile delinquency refers to criminal acts performed by juveniles. It is an important social issue because juveniles are capable of committing serious crimes, but most legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles.

Nature and causes

Juvenile delinquency may refer to either violent or non-violent crime committed by persons who are (usually) under the age of eighteen. There is much debate about whether or not such a child should be held criminally responsible for his or her actions. There are many different inside influences that are believed to affect the way a child acts both negatively and positively, some of which are as follows:

• Abandonment
• Social institutions
• Peer pressure

Definition and specifications

In the United States, a juvenile delinquent is a person who has not yet reached the age of majority, and whose behavior has been labeled delinquent by a court. The specific requirements vary from state to state. In the United States, the federal government enacted legislation to unify the handling of juvenile deliquents, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Act of 1974.

The act created the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) within the Justice Department to administer grants for juvenile crime-combatting programs (currently about $100 million a year), gather national statistics on juvenile crime, fund research on youth crime and administer four anticonfinement mandates regarding juvenile custody. Specifically, the act orders:

• Deinstitutionalization: Youths charged with "status" offenses that would not be crimes if committed by adults, such as truancy, running away and being caught with alcohol or tobacco, must be "deinstitutionalized," which in this case really means that, with certain exceptions (e.g., minor in possession of a handgun), status offenders may not be detained by police or confined. Alleged problems with this mandate are that it overrides state and local law, limits the discretion of law enforcement officers and prevents the authorities' ability to reunify an offender with his family.

• Segregation: Arrested youths must be strictly segregated from adults in custody. Under this "out of sight and sound" mandate, juveniles cannot be served food by anyone who serves jailed adults nor can a juvenile walk down a corridor past a room where an adult is being interrogated. This requirement forces local authorities to either free juveniles or maintain expensive duplicate facilities and personnel. Small cities, towns and rural areas are especially hard hit, drastically raising those taxpayers' criminal justice costs.

• Jail and Lockup Removal: As a general rule, youths subject to the original jurisdiction of juvenile courts cannot be held in jails and lockups in which adults may be detained. The act provides for a six-hour exception for identification, processing, interrogation and transfer to juvenile facilities, court or detention pending release to parents. The act also provides an exception of 24 hours for rural areas only.

• Overrepresentation of minority youths: States must systematically try to reduce confinement of minority youths to the proportion of those groups in the population. This policy rests on the belief that justice can be dispensed by racial category or "quota." Affirmative action for young criminals makes even less sense than race-conscious remedies for other social ills.

Theoretical Perspectives on Juvenile Delinquency and Crime

Travis Hirschi

A scholar in the field of crime and juvenile delinquency as well as other areas, has numerous theories about juvenile delinquency. A few of his most praised theories are social control theory which is any illegal behavior that occurs within the moment, not planned. In addition, self control theory, which is any behavior that uses force or fraud in pursuit of self-interest. Both are similar theories that attempt to explain juvenile delinquency and suggest that all people are naturally bad. Hirschi believes that youth in particular who use drugs and commit crime do it because they lack self-control. Hirschi believes that poor parenting and families that are unable or unwilling to monitor their child's behaviors lack self control. For these theories to play out in an effective manner, self-control would need to work before social control can work. Hirschi believes that whoever is the most conformist in society, not necessarily the smartest, will have the most self-control. Travis Hirschi is saying that too much autonomy is undesirable when dealing with interpersonal relationships among children.

Robert Merton

Merton believes that there is a serious relationship between poverty and crime. He feels that there are institutionalized paths to happiness in our society. He believes in a society of equilibrium where goals = means. A society of disequilibrium would be adaptation. Merton's Strain Theory suggests five attributes.

1. Innovation: individuals who accept socially approved goals, but not necessarily the socially approved means.
2. Retreatism: those who reject socially approved goals and the means for acquiring them.
3. Ritualism: those who buy into a system of socially approved means, but lose sight of the goals. Merton believed that drug users are in this category.
4. Conformity: those who conform to the system's means and goals.
5. Rebellion: people who negate socially approved goals and means by creating a new system of acceptable goals and means.

Ongoing debate

One of the most notable causes of juvenile delinquency is fiat, i.e. the declaration that a juvenile is delinquent by the juvenile court system without any trial, and upon finding only probable cause. Many states have laws that presuppose the less harsh treatment of juvenile delinquents than adult counterparts’ treatment. In return, the juvenile surrenders certain constitutional rights, such as a right to trial by jury, the right to cross-examine, and even the right to a speedy trial. Notable writings by reformers such as Jerome G. Miller show that very few juvenile delinquents actually broke any law. Most were simply rounded up by the police after some event that possibly involved criminal action. They were brought before juvenile court judges who made findings of delinquency, simply because the police action established probable cause.

It is well established that juveniles should be treated differently than adults because they are helpless. They have no control over the families into which they were born, the neighborhoods into which they were thrust, the schools they attended, the persons they met and associated with in the schools and community, nor the things that they learned. However, many states continue to consider juveniles second-class citizens even though conditions have improved to where juveniles are no longer considered simply property to be disposed of at will.

Delinquency Prevention

Delinquency Prevention is the broad term for all efforts aimed at preventing youth from becoming involved in criminal, or other antisocial, activity. Increasingly, local, state, and federal governments are recognizing the importance of allocating resources for the prevention of delinquency. Organizations such as the Center for Delinquency Prevention and Youth Development are working toward unifying delinquency prevention efforts. Because it is often difficult for states to provide the fiscal resources necessary for good prevention, organizations, communities, and governments are working more in collaboration with each other to prevent juvenile delinquency.

Because the development of delinquent behavior in youth is influenced by numerous factors, so should prevention efforts be comprehensive in scope. Prevention services include activities such as substance abuse education and treatment; family counseling; youth mentoring; parenting education; educational support; and youth sheltering. Although those who provide prevention services are often well educated, well trained, and dedicated, they are frequently underpaid, and under recognized for their work. Agencies that provide prevention services typically run on "shoe string budgets" and appreciate any financial help they can get from individuals, social organizations, and governments.

Bibliography

• E. Mulvey, MW Arthur, ND Reppucci, "The prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency: A review of the research," Clinical Psychology Review, 1993.
• Edward P. Mulvey, Michael W. Arthur, & N. Dickon Reppucci, "Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency: A Review of the Research," The Prevention Researcher, Volume 4, Number 2, 1997, Pages 1-4.
• Regoli, Robert M. and Hewitt, John D. "Delinquency in Society," 6th ed., 2006.
• Siegel, J Larry. "Juvenile Delinquency with Infotrac: theory, practices and law," 2002.
• United Nations, Research Report on Juvenile Delinquency. [1]
• Zigler E, Taussig C, Black K., "Early childhood intervention. A promising preventative for juvenile delinquency," Am Psychol. 1992 Aug;47(8):997-1006.
• Gang Cop: The Words and Ways of Officer Paco Domingo (2004) by Malcolm W.Klein
• The American Street Gang: Its Nature, Prevalence, and Control (1995), by Malcolm W. Klein
• Street Gang Patterns & Policies (2006) by Malcolm Klein and Cheryl Maxson
• American Youth Violence (1998) by Franklin Zimring
• Street Wars: Gangs and the Future of Violence (2004) by Tom Hayden
• Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun 1995() by Geoffrey Canada
• Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic (1996) by James Gilligan
• Lost Boys: Why Our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them (1999) by James Gabarino
• Last Chance in Texas: The Redemption of Criminal Youth (2005) by John Hubner
• Breaking Rank: A Top Cop’s Expose of the Dark Side of American Policing (2005) by Norm Stamper

See also

• Crime
• Hooliganism
• Parenting
• Separatism
• Revolution
• Rebellion
• Glen Mills Schools

External links

• Center for Delinquency Prevention & Youth Development Resources for families, providers, and community leaders.
• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
• Youth at the United Nations
• Prevention Talk Online conversations about prevention.
• CJCJ.org The Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
• NDTAC.org The National Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center for the Education of Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-Risk
• The Juvenile Justice Role Model Development Program - Florida State University
• www.PreventDelinquency.org Home of the Prevent Delinquency Project
• www.JuvenileCrime.org Juvenile crime news

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