Juvenile Delinquency

The characteristics of these offenders and the crimes they are committing are also changing over time. Demographically the juvenile female offender is most likely coming from a single parent home and may have been physically or sexually abused at some point in her life. She will also most likely be under the age of 15 and even more likely to be a woman of color, African-American young woman comprise almost 50 percent of all young women in secure detention, while Hispanics make up 13 percent (Bergsmann, 1994). In 1996, females represented 57 percent of the arrests for running away. In 1996, females represented 15 percent of juvenile arrests for violent crimes, while arrests of boys for violent offenses declined by 9 percent (Snyder, 1997). Aggravated assault, the most frequent of the violent offenses committed by juveniles, represented 20 percent of all arrests for juvenile females, while declining for boys by 10 percent (Snyder, 1997). In considering these changes it is still important to note that girls are still arrested more often for status offenses it is becoming more evident that girls are engaging in delinquent behaviors more often

Juvenile Delinquency is the participation of illegal behavior by a minor who falls under a statutory age limit. A delinquent is a minor who commits a crime or a status offense. A status offense is conduct that is illegal only because the child is under age i.e. smoking cigarettes (Senna 10, 20). The cases of Eric Smith, Lionel Tate, and an unidentified NJ child are similar only because, they are guilty of killing another child, but the Criminal Justice System treated and punished them very differently. In August 1993 in Savona, New York 13 year old Eric Smith killed 4 year old Derrick Robie. Smith lured Robie into the woods and strangled, beat with large rocks, and sodomized Robie. Smith was questioned by police and kept changing some

Female youth, under the age of 18, encompass one of the fastest growing divisions in the juvenile justice system. In past years, female youth arrests accounted for 670,800 arrests, or a total of 27%, during 1999. During 1990 and 1999, their arrests increased over males in most offense categories and overall increased 83%. In 2006, the FBI statistics indicated that aggravated assaults decreased for both boys and girls, but in the category of simple assaults, boys again decreased but shockingly the girl’s

Juvenile delinquency describes the antisocial behavior of many different types of youth who are in trouble, or who are on the brink of trouble with the law. In general terms juvenile delinquency means different things to different people. By law, a juvenile delinquent is a person under the age of eighteen who is

Juvenile delinquency has become a controversial issue within the Criminal Justice system. In the United States, juvenile delinquency refers to disruptive and criminal behavior committed by an individual under the age of 18. In many states, a minor at the age of 16 to 17 ½ can be tried as an adult. Once the individual reaches adulthood, the disruptive and criminal behavior is recognized as a crime. However, the criminal justice system has divided juvenile delinquency into two general types of categories that has brought upon controversial issues of inequality and corruption. Yet, putting young individuals in juvenile detentions facilities seems to open the door for them to commit more crimes in the future. Therefore, under certain circumstances juveniles should be tried as an adult.

Through reading and research, it has become clear that incarceration does more harm than good for the those in the justice system. By being incarcerated, the inmate is being separated from family members, becomes socially distant from society, and has the influence of violent offenders. To house the inmate in a correctional center costs simnifically more than to treat the offender through probation. It is our God given duty to hold those accountable for their actions while providing them the tools and treatments needed to become who God intended them to be (Fischer 2016).

According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention a component of the U.S. Department of Justice the rate of arrests for juveniles over the past few years is declining, and in some cases it is declining dramatically.

Juvenile delinquents experience family aggression and violence frequently which can lead to psychological issues of antisocial behavior. Violence within the home is the leading cause of injury to women with the shocking statistics of between 2 million and 4 million women are being battered in their homes yearly. This results in approximately 3.5 million children witnessing this type of violence in their homes. With so many children experiencing witnessing this chronic violence there are certain development effects it has on children, including; truncated moral development, pathological adaption to violence, and identification with the aggressor (McWhirter, 2013).

make 16% of the youth population ages 10-17 in the U.S. 47% of the same crime index

Juvenile delinquency continues to be a problem, a problem that endangers almost every American. Juvenile delinquency has the potential to considerably damage the health and well-being of families and communities. Therefore, there is a clear and urgent need for strategies and scientific study for understanding the nature, extent, and causes of law violations committed by juveniles as well as the construction of methods of control.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s cities up north were growing because of the industrial changes as well as the influx of immigrants and African Americans migrating from the southern states. Due to the Industrial revolution in major U.S. cities like Chicago were eager to hire new workers since the economy was running on all four cylinders “So we saw some of the largest waves of immigration the U.S. has ever seen, mostly from European countries like Germany, Ireland, Poland, and then Italy, Eastern Europe, and in-migration of African Americans from the rural south up to the north and northeast for these manufacturing jobs.”(Cullen 2014). Since the change in industry brought new jobs to Chicago, it also brought a new generation of crime.

When a juvenile commits an act that would be criminal if committed by an adult, the juvenile is determined to be delinquent. Delinquent acts may include crimes against persons, crimes against property, drug offenses, and crimes against public order. Delinquency prevention efforts seek to redirect youth who are considered at-risk for delinquency or who have committed a delinquent offense from deeper involvement in the juvenile justice system (Deling, 2014).

Juvenile delinquency is a social issue in the United States today. Juvenile delinquency, is when “a violation of the law is committed by a juvenile and is not punishable by death or life imprisonment” (Juvenile Delinquency). The juvenile system is different from the adult system in many way and most juvenile delinquents are from the age of ten to the age of seventeen (Juvenile Delinquent). Once the delinquent or anyone is at the age of eighteen, they are considered to be an adult. Therefore, in the justice system they are tried as an adult. There are many different reasons why a child would commit crime, such as mental and physical factors, peer influence, home conditions, neighborhood environment and school conditions. Teens are greatly influenced by the interactions and surroundings they are around. Their behaviors can result from the parent and/or their peer influences. Parents play a great role in the child’s life and a teen’s peers also play a strong role in how the teen behaves when the parents are not insight. This research will examine links between the social environment of teens and how it influences the teens actions and behavior which leads them to commit an offense.

What is a Juvenile? A juvenile is a person who has not reached his or her 18th birthday. Juvenile delinquency is the violation of a law of the United States committed by a person prior to reaching 18 years of age, which would have been a crime committed by an adult (office). There are many residential programs put in place all over the country to help these youths that are coming in and out of the Criminal Justice system. Once these Juveniles come out of jail, or get released on bond, they sometimes do not have a stable place to go to and live. As these youths are leaving the jail facility there are a wide variety of residential programs to help them get back on their feet. These residential programs include Out of home placement in an institutional or camp like setting, or they might be eligible for an alternative placement, such a community confinement. (programs)

A traumatic childhood may predispose a child to violence against themselves or against others, in adolescence or adulthood. This information is and has been off the records, but so far no known relationship between the magnitude of traumatic experiences and different forms of violence at puberty. A study published in Pediatrics, which involved 136,549 U.S. students between 12 and 17 has been commissioned to evaluate this relationship. The researchers sought to determine six adverse experiences for which they had passed the boys in childhood and physical and sexual abuse, witnessing abuse or problems at home by alcohol or drugs taken by a relative. Then he saw the violent behavior at puberty: crime, harassment, bullying, dating violence,