Juvenile delinquency in the United States

This page is primarily concerned with juvenile delinquency in the United States. For information on juvenile delinquency in general, please see the juvenile delinquency

Juvenile delinquency

Juvenile delinquency is participation in illegal behavior by minors who fall under a statutory age limit. Most legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as juvenile detention centers. There are a multitude of different theories on the causes of crime, most if not...

page. In addition, please keep in mind that this page refers to juveniles as the actual delinquents, not as the victims. The information and statistics for juveniles as victims rather than offenders is much different.

Introduction to Juvenile Delinquency

Juvenile Delinquency refers to criminal acts committed by children or teenagers, being anyone below the age of eighteen. The crimes they commit hurt society and hurt the children themselves. There is a lot of research and debate that revolves around the problem of juvenile delinquency in the US, much of which is included below. The research is mainly focused on the causes of juvenile delinquency and which strategies have successfully diminished crime rates among the youth population. Though the causes are debated over as well, a large part of the debate revolves around the fact of punishing these criminals, and if so, how.

Causes

There are many factors that cause juvenile delinquency. Sometimes children want to test their parents' limits, or society's limits. Imposing strict rules on them might give the children an incentive to break them. Sometimes juvenile crimes occur due to the exact opposite reason, that is, a lack of rules and supervision. One example of this is that children many times commit crimes while their parents are at work or preoccupied. Mental illness and substance abuse are large contributing factors as well. 15-20% of juveniles convicted of crimes have serious mental illnesses, and the percentages increase to 30-90% of convicted juveniles when the scope of mental illnesses considered widens. Many people believe that a child's environment and family are greatly related to their juvenile delinquency record. For example, the dynamics of a family can affect a child’s well being and delinquency rate. Crime rates vary due to the living situations of children; examples of this could be a child whose parents are together, divorced, or a child with only one parents, particularly a teen mom. This is largely due to the fact that living arrangements are directly related to increases and decreases of poverty levels. Poverty level is another factor that is related to the chances a child has of becoming a juvenile delinquent. Statistics on living arrangements, poverty level and other influential factors can be found in a later section. Others believe that the environment and external factors are not at play when it comes to crime; they suggest that criminals are faced with rational choice decisions in which they chose to follow the irrational path. Another cause could be the relationships a child develops in school or outside of school. A positive or negative friendship can have a great affect on the chances of children becoming delinquents. Peer pressure is also at play. Relationships can also lead to gangs, which are major contributors of violent crimes among teens. These are just some of the causes of juvenile delinquency. For a more detailed account of each of these causes, and more, please see the references below or the juvenile delinquency

Juvenile delinquency

page.

Demographics

There are about 75 million Americans that are considered juveniles. That is, one in four Americans have the potential of being labeled as juvenile delinquents. More specifically, in 2009 there were 74.5 million juveniles in the US, which is 2 million more than in the year 2000. The population of juveniles in the US is projected to increase until 2015, at least. In fact, the Federal Interagency on Child and Family Statistics reported that the number of juveniles might reach 101.6 million by 2050. Also in 2009, the three different classifications of age groups among children, being 0-5, 6-11 and 12-17, were roughly equal. As reported in 2009 by the by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 57% percent of all juveniles are White, 15% Black, 1% American Indian, 5% Asian, and 22% Hispanic. Poverty, which is also directly connected to a child's chances of becoming a juvenile delinquent, varies by numerous factors. The poverty level of a child can vary by race and living arrangement. For instance, in 2009, Black and Hispanic children were about three times more likely than White children of being poor. Additionally, in 2010, 21% of all children were living in poverty. 13% of these poverty stricken children lived in a two parent household, 40% lived with one single parent, 43% lived with just a mother figure, 22% lived with just a father figure, and 43% of the poverty-stricken children lived with no parents at all. It is important to note that the demographic statistics mentioned above pertain specifically to juveniles, which in turn, is closely related to juvenile delinquency. Many of the demographics mentioned above change on state level; to look up state-specific juvenile delinquency rates in general, or by race/poverty level/living arrangement, visit the Office of Juvenile and Delinquency Prevention website.

Juvenile Delinquency Statistics

According to the Office for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the juvenile violent crime rate index dropped in for the second consecutive year this year, and is now 5% lower that it was in 2006. Additionally, the Children's Defense Fund also tells us that boys are five times more likely than girls to become juvenile delinquents (this statistic is further explained below). Also on the Children Defense Fund website are statistics pertaining to Black and Latino boys and their juvenile delinquency rates. 1 of every 3 Black boys is at risk of incarceration, as well as 1 of every 6 Latino boys. Traveling back to the statistics provided by the OJJDP, their website also tells us that in 2008, juveniles were the offenders in 908 cases of murder, which constitutes 9% of all murders committed that year. Also related to homicides, in the 1980s 25% of the murders that involved juvenile delinquents as the offenders also involved an adult offender. This percentage rose to 31% in the 90's, and averaged at 37% between 2000 and 2008. Interestingly enough, the time of day juvenile delinquents commit their crimes is the times they are not in school. On average, juvenile crimes begin occurring most frequently after the school is let out, peaking from 7 pm to 9pm (usually night time). Violent juvenile crimes involving a firearm follow the same peak a little later, from 8pm to 10pm. According to the OJJDP, the time of day that a crime occurs does not differ greatly on a non-school day (for example, if the children have a day off school, the crimes will not occur any earlier). These of course are just some interesting statistics pertaining to juvenile delinquency. For more statistics, I invite you to visit the OJJDP website.

The Male Phenomenon

The male phenomenon refers to the fact that a large majority of juvenile delinquents are men, or boys. In the United States, boys are five times more likely than girls to become juvenile delinquents. The statistics change when it comes to different races of boys. They are mentioned in the 'juvenile delinquency statistics' section, as well as in the 'cradle to prison pipeline' section. There are many suggested explanations to why this is so. One comes from feminist theorists who believe men and boys are naturally more aggressive than women and girls. Another theory communicates the idea that men and boys commit more crimes because of societal pressures to be masculine and aggressive. A third theory suggests that the manner in which boys are treated by their families calls for more criminal action.

Changes in Statistics

Changes in these statistics can be attributed to many fluctuations. Negative changes in the economy greatly affect all crime rates because people are more likely to find themselves in pressing situation like unemployment.Changes in population affect juvenile delinquency rates as well because changes in population translate into more or less juveniles. Shifts in population could also mean more general societal shift, like a wave of immigration. An influx of new people who are unfamiliar with the legal system could negative affect the juvenile crime rates. Other social changes, such as educational or health reforms, could have a large impact on juvenile crime rates if they create a larger population of at-risk children.

Cradle to Prison Pipeline

This term refers to the population of boys and girls who live in conditions that cause them to be channeled into the prison from birth. Though this terminology might be controversial seeing as some thinkers believe that crime is solely the failure of a rational choice decision , this phenomenon has grabbed the attention of many Americans. This pipeline, so to speak, disproportionately affects minority children living in under-served community, such as Blacks and Latinos. According to the Children's Defense Fund, 1 out of every 3 Black boys and 1 out of every 3 Hispanic boys are at risk of becoming delinquents in their lifetime. If this delinquency were to occur before the age of eighteen, the boys would then become juvenile delinquents. It is important to keep in mind that the 'cradle to prison pipeline' does not pertain only to juveniles.'Pipeline' is a term used to explain the fact that many of these people are incapable of pulling themselves off of the wrong path. The Children's Defense Fund has created a campaign to try to halt this phenomenon that is ruining the lives of so many poverty-stricken families and minorities. The campaign is called the 'Cradle to Prison Pipeline Campaign' and was launched three years ago in Washington DC, at Howard University. The program argues that the US government spends more money on incarcerated people that on each child in the public school system. Their vision is that if this budgeting were reversed, the number of juvenile delinquents would greatly decrease. The ultimate goal of this campaign is to increase support for preventive measures and resources that children need to stay on the right path. Some of the programs of this campaign include increasing early childhood education and guidance, as well as increasing health and mental health coverage and counseling. To date, many states have responded to this campaign by forming coalitions and holding conventions in which they formulate ideas and tactics to dismantle the pipeline.

Juvenile Delinquency and the Law

Below is very valuable information on legal changes that have been made in regards to juvenile delinquents. For a more thorough and detailed outline of juvenile delinquency law in the United States, please see this link.

The United States federal government enacted legislation to unify the handling of juvenile delinquents, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Act of 1974.

The act created the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is an office of the United States Department of Justice and a component of the Office of Justice Programs....

(OJJDP) within the Justice Department

United States Department of Justice

The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...

to administer grants for juvenile crime-combating programs (currently only about 900,000 dollars 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. Supporters of the system point to lower sexual assault rates when adults and children are separated.
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.
Over representation of minority youths: States must systematically try to reduce confinement of minority youths to the proportion of those groups in the population.

One of the most notable causes of juvenile delinquency is fiat

Fiat (policy debate)

Fiat is a theoretical construct in policy debate—derived from the word should in the resolution—whereby the desirability rather than the probability of enactment and enforcement of a given plan is debated, allowing an affirmative team to "imagine" a plan into being.There are different theories...

, i.e. the declaration that a juvenile is delinquent by the juvenile court

Juvenile court

A juvenile court is a tribunal having special authority to try and pass judgments for crimes committed by children or adolescents who have not attained the age of majority...

system without any trial, and upon finding only probable cause

Probable cause

In United States criminal law, probable cause is the standard by which an officer or agent of the law has the grounds to make an arrest, to conduct a personal or property search, or to obtain a warrant for arrest, etc. when criminal charges are being considered. It is also used to refer to the...

. 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.

In 1967, the United States Supreme Court decided the case In re Gault
In Re Gault
In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 , was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that held that juveniles accused of crimes in a delinquency proceeding must be afforded many of the same due process rights as adults, such as the right to timely notification of the charges, the right to confront witnesses, the...

, that established the protection of many, but not all, procedural rights of juveniles in court proceedings, such as the right to counsel

Right to counsel

Right to counsel is currently generally regarded as a constituent of the right to a fair trial, allowing for the defendant to be assisted by counsel , and if he cannot afford his own lawyer, requiring that the government should appoint one for him/her, or pay his/her legal expenses...

and right to refuse self-incrimination

Self-incrimination

Self-incrimination is the act of accusing oneself of a crime for which a person can then be prosecuted. Self-incrimination can occur either directly or indirectly: directly, by means of interrogation where information of a self-incriminatory nature is disclosed; indirectly, when information of a...

Preventing Juvenile Delinquency

An effective way of preventing juvenile delinquency and keeping at-risk children away from crime is to tackle the problem before it happens. This entails looking at the causes of crime among teens and making an effort to reduce or eliminate said causes. Some causes, though hard to eliminate, seem plausible. An example of this is improving the environment at home, through employment opportunities for the parents, educational opportunities for the children, and counseling and rehabilitation services if need be. A cause that is more difficult to eliminate is mental illness, because sometimes these illnesses are present at birth. Still, counseling and rehabilitation might aid in reducing said illness. One cause that seems almost impossible to eliminate is the rational and irrational choice idea. As mentioned above, some people believe that is comes down to a single situation in which a child must make a rational or irrational decision, to commit the crime, or to not. Those that believe that this rational choice option is tied to the very immutable nature of the person would have a hard time believing that there is any way to control the choices children make.

There are many foundations and organizations around the United States that have dedicated themselves to the reduction and elimination of juvenile delinquency. Many of these organizations spend their time and money controlling for the causes of juvenile delinquency mentioned above. Below are a few agencies that work on preventing juvenile delinquency, though this list is not all encompassing by any means. Links for these foundations and organizations can be found in the 'External Links' section of this page.

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention: Forming part of the US Department of Justice, this prevention agency is a governmental organization focuses on all types of research, prevention programs, and rehabilitation programs for juveniles as offenders and victims. Through collaboration, this organizations aims to improve juvenile justice policies and practices and create safer communities and neighborhoods. The OJJDP helps victims of kidnapping, as well as victims of sexual exploitation. Currently, the OJJDP is particularly working to prevent gang involvement/crime, girl's delinquency, and the under-aged consumption of alcohol. This foundation is important because it guides real-life policy changes that pertain to juvenile justice and juvenile delinquency.

The Innocence Project: This foundation is closely related to the juvenile justice debate mentioned above. The main goal of this organization is not to reduce juvenile delinquency, but rather, to liberate juveniles that were falsely convicted of crimes. Though this foundation is not primarily focused on juvenile delinquency, but delinquency in general, it has done a good job of freeing falsely convicted people.

Annie E Casie Foundation: This foundation does focus primarily on children. Its goal is to provide a brighter and safe future for children from under-served communities around the US. It's major initiatives include: child welfare strategy group, civic sites, family economic success, juvenile detention alternatives initiative, kids count, leadership development, and making connections. The KIDS COUNT initiative collects annual data on the well being of children all round the US and publishes state-specific as well as state comparisons. The JDAI focuses on providing a bright and healthy future as adults for children involved in the juvenile justice system.

National Gang Center: This a website that provides anyone on the web with information about the gang problem in the US. It includes research done by the NGC and FAQ's. There is also a list of resources on how to identify if your city has a gang problem and how to combat this problem. This foundation helps the people within the struggling communities be the one to solve their own gang problems.

Best Friends Organization: This organization focuses on the overall well-being of children in the US. It focuses on physical and emotional well-being. It helps children develop healthy relationships and useful skills. This organization is an example of preventing problems before they occur. Instead of focusing on the elimination of current juvenile delinquency, this organization works on creating healthy children before they become involved with crime.

External links

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