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Three Categories Of Juvenile Crime

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Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, or youth crime, is participation in illegal behavior by minors (juveniles) (individuals younger than the statutory age of majority). Most legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as juvenile detention centers, and courts. A juvenile delinquent is a person who is typically under the age of 18 and commits an act that otherwise would have been charged as a crime if they were an adult. Depending on the type and severity of the offense committed, it is possible for persons under 18 to be charged and tried as adults .

In recent years, the average age for first arrest has dropped significantly, and younger boys and girls are committing crimes. Between 60-80% …show more content…

Types of juvenile delinquency
Juvenile delinquency, or offending, can be separated into three categories: delinquency, crimes committed by minors which are dealt with by the juvenile courts and justice system; criminal behavior, crimes dealt with by the criminal justice system, and status offenses, offenses which are only classified as such because one is a minor, such as truancy, also dealt with by the juvenile courts.

According to the developmental research of Moffitt (2006), there are two different types of offenders that emerge in adolescence. One is the repeat offender, referred to as the life-course-persistent offender, who begins offending or showing antisocial/aggressive behavior in adolescence (or even childhood) and continues into adulthood; and the age specific offender, referred to as the adolescence-limited offender, for whom juvenile offending or delinquency begins and ends during their period of adolescence. Because most teenagers tend to show some form of antisocial, aggressive or delinquent behavior during adolescence, it important to account for these behaviors in childhood, in order to determine whether they will be life-course-persistent offenders, or adolescents-limited offenders. Although adolescent-limited offenders tend to drop all criminal activity once they enter adulthood, and show less pathology than life-course-persistent offenders, they still show more mental health, substance abuse, and finance problems, both in adolescence and adulthood, …show more content…

When considering these statistics, which state that Black and Latino teens are more likely to commit juvenile offenses it is important to keep the following in mind: poverty, or low socio-economic status are large predictors of low parental monitoring, harsh parenting, and association with deviant peer groups, all of which are in turn associated with juvenile offending. The majority of adolescents who live in poverty are racial minorities. Also, minorities who offend, even as adolescents, are more likely to be arrested and punished more harshly by the law if caught. Particularly concerning a non-violent crime and when compared to white adolescents. While poor minorities are more likely to commit violent crimes, one third of affluent teens report committing violent crimes.

Ethnic minority status (that is, experience as non- White) has been included as a risk factor of psychosocial maladaptation in several studies (e.g., Gutman et al. 2003; Sameroff et al. 1993; Dallaire et al. 2008), and represents a relative social disadvantage placed on these individuals. Though the relation between delinquency and race is complex and may be explained by other contextual risk variables (Holmes et al. 2009), the total arrest rate for black juveniles aged 10–17 is more than twice that as of white juveniles (National Center for Juvenile Justice 2008)(p. 1474

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57). Research shows that delinquency and youth violence have been on the rise over the decade growing in epidemic proportions since 1993 (Hoyt & Scherer, 1998). Delinquency means for one to break the law and does not have to involve any form of criminal activity in one doing so. However, it is known that antisocial behavior, delinquency, and violence share common roots and similar consequences according to Mcwhirter et al. (2013). Violent crimes committed by youth has escalated by youth victimized by youth violence doubling the in juvenile arrests for violent crime by 2010, and fueled anxieties about future crime wave as the juvenile delinquents mature into adults (Hoyt & Scherer, 1998) with female delinquency making its mark up the ladder according to research.

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The state of delinquency among juveniles is a persistent and pervasive American social problem. According to a 1985 study conducted by Hawkins, Juvenile crime represents over 40% of the total arrests for major crimes, including burglary, rape and murder. This rate of juvenile incarceration mirrors that of adult incarceration. This segment of the population which has been ignored by both the written law and society has created great social and economic costs. This pattern of juvenile delinquency and crime must be addressed.

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The federal government’s “War on Crime” by the Johnson administration in the 60s made way for tougher law enforcement and surveillance (Hinton, 2015). However, with this came the separation of children and adults in the criminal justice system; then the separation of juvenile delinquents from status offenders. As mentioned, status offenders are different from juvenile delinquents because they had broken rules which apply to only children. Meanwhile, juvenile delinquents are youths under the age of 18, who committed offenses that would be punishable to adults as well. By the late 1960s, there became a growing concern that juveniles involved in the court-based status-offense system, were not getting their best interests met (Shubik & Kendall, 2007).

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In most instances the juveniles who are arrested for crimes are either at the wrong place at the wrong time or usually with a group of people who are doing the crimes. Many juveniles are forced into the criminal lifestyle from the area that they live in and around. Through these environments and areas of livings, most juveniles have learned and adopted to defy authority and

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The education children receive in predominantly black neighborhoods is often sub-par, with high dropout rates. Subsequently 65% of state inmates have not completed high school. Another major issue is job opportunities; in major cities with a high black population the ability to obtain and keep a decent paying job is difficult and therefore crime is one of the only solutions. More than 50% of inmates earned less than $10,000 a year, were unemployed, or part time (8E p. 17). The close correlation between black Americans and crime is explained as

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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.

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Within the urban communities, negative perceptions are magnified. Adolescents are more prone to be a product of their environment, especially those whose parents are incarcerated. Because of this trend adolescents are being incarcerated at an alarming rate and sentenced to adult facilities. Lambie & Randall (2013) states, the United States have imposed harsher penalties on serious young offenders, and have consequently increased rates of incarcerated youth and made it easier for youth to be treated and incarcerated as adults within the justice

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Adolescent-limited offenders make up the majority of criminals but commit less crime and usually quit criminal behavior as they mature into adulthood. Sampson and Laub’s age-graded theory is more

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It may seem that the juvenile criminal justice system is too lenient, but preventive and rehabilitative approaches can be utilized to minimize juvenile aggressive conduct; they have been proven to be effective through a study executed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Steenson 246). Through this research, it is evident that the measures taken by the juvenile criminal justice system are effective against violent delinquents. The help designated for juveniles is intended specifically for youth. Furthermore, some would argue that there is now a greater probability that juveniles will commit major and fatal crimes. Yes, it is true, but according to scientific studies, punitive methods used in adult court have minimal to no impact on adolescents incarcerated as adults, and the percentage of repeat offenders is higher in several states (Scialabba).

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African Americans who were born in the 1970s and grew up during the American prison boom, the chances they are going to serve time in state federal prison if they dropped out of high school is about 70%, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Currently, 1.2 million (1 in 9) African American children have a parent who is incarcerated, and there’s evidence that kids who experience parental incarceration have behavioral problems and low achievement. This creates the risk that incarceration becomes an inherited trait, and recidivism induces. The underlying issue is how the U.S. criminal justice system marginalizes African Americans relative to other ethnic groups. There has been an incredible increase in arrests and incarceration over the past four decades, mostly from the war on drugs.

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However, racial bias also plays a role in the juvenile justice system. When looking at the population of detention centers and training schools, black males are four times more at risk of being a part of this population than white males are (Leiber & Fix, 2019). Going back to the 1990s, 41% of juveniles in detention centers were black (Leiber & Fix, 2019). In 1995, 68% of the detention centers population was made up of minorities (Leiber & Fix, 2019). These juveniles who were minorities were also more likely to be sent to an adult court (Leiber & Fix, 2019).

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Although substance abuse is common throughout all classes of society, it is emphasized that minority groups are more likely to be targeted for crime associated with illegal substances. Also, they are more likely to be seen as outcasts and as a result are given harsher punishments than their counterparts from higher classes. For example, it is commonly thought that racial minorities and the lower class suffer from a higher statistic showcasing those with addictions. Furthermore, it is often thought that minority youths are more likely to become involved in selling drugs as a

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Annotated bibliography Childress, S. (2016, June 2). More States Consider Raising the Age for Juvenile Crime. Retrieved from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/more-states-consider-raising-the-age-for-juvenile-crime/ More states are considering to raising the age for juvenile crimes before being tried as adult because young offender's mental capacity. The idea is to cut the cost of incarcerate young offender in adult prison and ensure offenders to receive proper education and specialized care to change their behavior. Putting children in adult prison does not deter crime.

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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.

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(1988). Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice and Law (3rd ed.). United States of America: West Publishing Company. Wright, W. &.

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