Juvenile Delinquency is defined as all illegal crimes committed by anyone under the age of 18. Juvenile Delinquency has been a nationwide issue for over a decade in the United States. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, in 1999, 3 years subsequent of its peak, Juveniles contributed to 16% of all violent crime arrests, with 32% of those arrests stemming from property crimes and 54% stemming from arson crimes. Nationwide, it has become easier to try juveniles in court, for example the school to prison pipeline which encourages increase police presence in school resulting in students being punished for behaving badly in the classroom. This creates a greater likelihood of these students being introduced to the …show more content…
Also, juvenile delinquency is still a problem happening today in the United States and until it is eradicated there should still be research done to learn more about it and what can be done to bring into fruition the former. Throughout the years studies have been successful in pointing out the factors that attribute to juvenile delinquency and why they have a significant impact on juveniles. However, the reason these factors exist has not been researched in depth with the intent of connecting it to juvenile delinquency. The issue of juvenile delinquency can be resolved even faster if the reasons behind the existence of these factors that attribute to juvenile delinquency are explained in conjunction with the effect they have on juvenile delinquency. This paper will identify the factors that attribute to juvenile delinquency, identify the events and environments that allow these factors to exist, and finally explain why these factors and juvenile delinquency are interrelated. Around the nation, sociologists, counselors, and psychologists have debated the factors of juvenile delinquency, and why these factors are so significant to the issue and this paper will present this …show more content…
This theory was selected instead of others because it fits the overall content in the paper that is focused on factors attributing to juvenile delinquency. With credit, this paper delves into why those factors such as the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem are essential to influencing the development of an adolescent, but also explains how these factors when disrupted can affect an adolescent’s trajectory toward
There are indication that most criminals have a juvenile records in the US, indicating that crime manifests from a tender age. Therefore, to reverse the incidence of crime, it follows that the best strategy is to reduce the criminal orientation in the juvenile offenders as opposed to hardening them and preparing them for criminal careers. The case of the Crossroads Juvenile Center demonstrates the willingness of the juvenile justice systems to make these changes on the children. References Day, S. (2014). Runaway Man: A Journey Back to Hope.
This program promotes a positive collaboration between offending youths, the justice system, and the community through the acceptance of responsibility, compliance with the disposition, and the completion of sanctions without a formal juvenile record. The intended outcome of this program is to reduce court backlogs, improve timeliness of case adjudication, cost savings, and accountability for first time, in some cases, second chances for misdemeanor offenders within the local community. Social learning theory proposes that youths learn deviance through imitation, cognitive definitions, differential reinforcement and association (Akers & Lee, 1996). Social influence theory contains conceptual elements of peer pressure, normative influence, and modeling (Maxwell, 2002).
The Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention and Protection Act (JJDPA) was established in 1974 and was the first federal law that dealt comprehensively with juvenile delinquency to improve the juvenile justice system and support state and local efforts at delinquency prevention. This paper will assess the JJDPA and summarize its purpose and implementation and enforcement. Next, there will be a discussion of the historical context of the policy; followed by a focus of the latent consequences. Finally there will be a vignette as to how this Act has affected a person or family as well as personal reflection toward the policy.
Analyzing the juvenile delinquency, this can be perceived from different mindsets. Merriam-Webster defines juvenile delinquency as conduct by a juvenile characterized by antisocial behavior that is beyond parental control and therefore subject to legal action and a violation of the law committed by a juvenile and not punishable by death or life imprisonment. Also, a crimes committed by a person is only name a juvenile if the individual is under the age of eighteen In today’s society majority of kids are not born to be criminals or defined as above as delinquents. Children usually develop these habits or lifestyles choices due to poverty, circumstances and culture.
The violent crime rate among juveniles has grown at twice the rate compared to adults in the last two decades (Levitt, 1998). This fact shows that juveniles are constantly being given a slap on the wrist for the crimes adults get sent away for and the violent crime rate would not be inclining at the rate it is if they were processed as adults. Juveniles being processed as adults would decrease the rate due to the deterrence effect. There has been a rise in juvenile arrest rates for violent crimes due to the change in law and policies for juveniles that are less harsh when compared to adults (National Research Council, 2001). Juveniles know that the punishment they will receive for a crime is not harsh which leads them to commit more violent crimes.
For a juvenile to transfer into the adult court system a juvenile must be charged as a youthful offender. Youthful offenders often pose a threat to the community and/ or have committed a violent crime. State legislation has passed youthful offender laws permitting juveniles to be charged as an adult in criminal proceedings. Oklahoma passed the Youthful Offender Act in 1998. To be charged as a youthful offender a juvenile must meet certain requirements and crimes.
Placing children and teenagers in jail results in negative effects rather than rehabilitation. The juvenile justice system in America is complex and varies from state to state, but the overarching purpose is to rehabilitate youth offenders. It processes nearly 1.7 million cases a year and overall handles most of them the same way (“Youth Involved in the Juvenile Justice System”). When those under age go to trial, their sentence often is decided by how likely they are to be rehabilitated and learn from their mistakes (“Juvenile justice”).
United States: Greenhaven Publishing. The book provides various opposing viewpoints regarding the cause of juvenile crime and how the criminal justice system should treat juvenile offenders. Each argument highlights the main risk factors for juvenile crime. For example, gang plays a large part of juvenile violence.
In order to eliminate crime, we must recognize the negligence that lies within the juvenile prison system. These major criminals often started out in the juvenile system, so if they receive the help they need as teenagers, we can curb the negative behavior and diminish
One of the biggest issues in the United States is the abuse and distribution of drugs, especially within our youths (Cox, p. 58). Thousands of juveniles are exposed to drugs (e.g., cigarettes, marijuana, alcohol) on a daily basis whether it is at school, on the streets, or at home. As they transition from being children to becoming adolescents there are many psychological and emotional changes, making them vulnerable to delinquent behaviors (Lin, Dembo, 2008, p. 33). What causes juveniles to commit deviant crimes and abuse drugs? Social interaction is believed to be the source of delinquent behavior.
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) protect children and help to prevent and control the juvenile delinquency. Not only does it improve the juvenile justice system but also they want to make sure that kids are healthy and free from violence. OJJDP promote things they can do for the youth justice system and the safety they can provide for them. They make it their mission to promote what they do to let the youth out there know that there are people that care for them and are willing to help. OJJDP was established through the Juvenile and Delinquency Prevention (JDP) by congress, amended in the public law 93-415, act of 1974.
Understanding the risk and protective factors of child delinquency is imperative in order to create and implement treatment and intervention programs. Because children’s behavior develops during the first five years, it is important to know what risk and protective factors could increase the likelihood of a child becoming a child offender (Wasserman et al., 2003). Moreover, overcoming the risk factors would help prevent the child offender from becoming a juvenile, and later, adult offender. As Wasserman et al (2003) stated, “risk factors for child delinquency operate in several domains: the individual child, the child’s family, the child’s peer group, the child’s school, the child’s neighborhood, and the media” (pg.1). As one can see, children are exposed to risk in partially every aspect of their lives.
The set of the structural-functional theories are among the most widespread perspectives on the juvenile delinquency. The group of the theories regards that the behavior of the underage delinquent is caused by the breakdown of the social process that consequently results in the increase of conformity (Thompson & Bynum, 2016). The group of theories presumably blame institutions that are responsible for the socialization of the young delinquents for the way the socialize the individuals by causing them to conform to the values of the society. One of the central theories of the juvenile delinquency is the anomie theory that is rooted in the early studies by the sociologist Emile Durkheim.
(1988). Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice and Law (3rd ed.). United States of America: West Publishing Company. Wright, W. &.
A theory that explains juvenile delinquency is the Psychological theory. This theory focuses on the personality of the offenders rather than biological or social situations. This theory easily explains juvenile delinquency when looking at the three interrelated parts of the personality- id, ego, and superego. The id is the part of the personality that is supposed to destroy aggression which usually controlled as a person grows and learns social norms and rules; however, an over aggressive person may have an under regulated id which could cause them to be violent.