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.
Juvenile delinquency is the violations of the criminal law by any minor. Minors are considered to be anyone under the age of eighteen, or in some states, under the age of seventeen or even sixteen. When a minor commits a crime that would have been a serious case if committed by an adult, they are considered a “juvenile delinquent.” The Lionel Tate case is one where the crime was acted upon by a minor. Lionel Tate was merely twelve years old when he murdered a young six-year-old girl whom his mother was babysitting.
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.
The juvenile justice system is a system created to handle minors who are convicted of crimes to separate them from adult court. The justice system has many problems with racial discrimination amongst juveniles. The four theories explain the reasons sociologists explain why they believe such discrimination against other race happens. The strain theorists believe strain and stressful things on racial discrimination among juvenile delinquents are the reason why there is an increase in juvenile delinquency. The control theorists idea is that people with low levels of control especially in racial situations are more likely to have an increase in delinquency.
I’m not proud to admit that I’ve also participated in minor delinquent behavior, but luckily escaped without getting caught in the act. There also seems to be areas where delinquency is extremely high with numerous violent incidents. Living in Anchorage, Alaska specifically, there are multiple incidents every month. This article was very informative and had a lot of suitable propositions for resolutions. Although the research resulted in a number of reasons for delinquent behavior, I think their study wasn’t broad enough to say that those reasons are the only range of causes for young adults to act out.
Two theories that can be compared are the Social Learning Theory and the Labeling Theory. When comparing these two theories we can use the juvenile crime of stealing to see how the theories are similar and different. The social learning theory basically states that crime like other behaviors is learned. The other theory, labeling states that certain things or children aren’t necessary deviant until society labels them as so. These two theories also have positives and negatives pertaining to how effective they are in the causes of juvenile delinquent behavior.
Another theory that many other people favor to believe causes juvenile delinquency is the social control/social bond theory. The social control/social bond theory was created by Travis Hirschi (Bates & Swan, 2018). Hirschi theory disagrees with Sutherland’s theory. Hirschi theory believes juvenile delinquency is not a learned behavior (Bates & Swan, 2018). Instead, Hirschi believes that delinquent activities is a given and we all are capable, and willing participants in delinquency (Bates &Swan, 2018).
Juvenile Justice Issues In today’s society the youth generation seems to be facing some problems that there is no solution for. Juveniles are participating in many wrongdoing activities that they are not being held accountable for. I see many gray areas when it comes to the juveniles justice system and I strongly believe there should be changes made in order to help these juveniles be deterred from such behavior so they do not continue down a path that can affect the rest of their lives.
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.
Order maintenance gave off the impression that the community was not the authority in control, but that it tolerated minuscule actions that encourage more serious and more violent crimes. The adoption of the broke windows theory made way for the zero tolerance policy, which simply states that no matter what the circumstances are, when it comes to crimes within the streets and discipline in the schools, punishment will be applied. The broken windows theory is used as a signaling effect of urban disorder and vandalism on anti-social behavior and any other additional crimes. The theory expresses that while maintaining and keeping a watch over urban environments to help prevent small crimes such as public drinking, vandalism, and turnstile-jumping, it also helps to create an atmosphere that is lawful and in order. This theory is used to prevent and deter more serious crimes from happening.
In learning about Juvenile delinquency and theories on why delinquency occurs, I found that the choice theory was most applicable to a variety of juveniles and the reason why they choose to commit crimes. The choice theory suggests that “Juvenile offenders are rational decision makers who choose to engage in antisocial activity because they believe their actions will be beneficial”. (Siegel and Welsh, 2016, p. 58) It is my opinion, that most juveniles do have the ability to think for themselves and weigh the pros and the cons to committing a crime. I liked this theory most because I strongly agree that in the majority of juvenile delinquency cases, the act is a product of choice.
In today’s society we depend on our youth because they are faces of the future and we need the best from them. Many of our youths come from delinquent neighborhoods and are more likely to adapt to that area. The term delinquency its self is broad term because how can we classify a youth as being delinquent if they never had a chance to be successful. Most youths that are sent to detention centers are sent because how they act in the home place, school, or out on the street. But how is it possible to send a child to a detention if they are mentally ill?
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.
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. &.
