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, see juvenile delinquency. In addition, although the term juvenile delinquency often refers to juvenile as both the victims and the aggressors, this page only refers to juveniles as the actual delinquents. The information and statistics for juveniles as victims rather than offenders is much different. For information about juveniles as the victims of violent attacks, see trafficking of children, child abuse, child sexual abuse, or prostitution of children.
Introduction to Juvenile Delinquency.
Juvenile Delinquency refers to criminal acts committed by children or teenagers, specifically anyone below the age of eighteen (or 17 in some States). Common sentiment on this issue is that the crimes they commit hurt society and hurt the children themselves. Much research and debate revolves around the problem of juvenile delinquency in the US. 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 and controversial as well, much of the debate revolves around the punishment and rehabilitation of juveniles in a youth detention center or elsewhere.
The Rise of Juvenile Delinquency in the 1950s.
Ever since the evolution of radios and television they gave us the ability to project music, sports, news, etcetera, the world has been able to tune in to what is happening halfway across the world from their location. The 1950s boomed with increases in income, scientific and medical increases, entertainment, and a tremendous media increase starting with the portable radio. After World War II, couples who had put off having children either before or during the war finally had the chance to start a family and live normal lives. Hence, the baby boom initiated the start of a very busy decade. After the first portable radio came out, media rapidly increased. People could advertise themselves to people all around the country and even to people driving in their cars. This media evolution gave birth to a whole new way of living for the generations to come and for the first time ever there was a generation gap. Media was reaching everyone and molding people's lives like never before. Anyone could access comical, frightening, romantic, or sarcastic information, movies, music and so on with the click of a button. A rise in juvenile delinquency was one of the main causes of the baby boom and media increase. Teenagers could access more information at their age than any other generation. As a result, teenagers witnessed crime, murder, stealing, cheating, lying, and so on to be "cool" like how they saw in the media. This led to a high rise in juvenile delinquency because more children and teens were implanted with the thought that carrying out bad actions was okay. Lead has also been linked to juvenile delinquency , it was added to gasoline from the 1920s through 1979, however it was not widely understood to be neurologically harmful in minute amounts until the 1950s. For further information on this topic, and more, please see the references below or the juvenile delinquency page.
Causes.
There are many factors that cause juvenile delinquency. Children whose parents have been incarcerated are far more likely to show delinquent behavior than their peers. Sometimes children want to test their parents' limits, or society's limits. Some people believe that imposing strict laws such as curfews will cause a drop in juvenile delinquency rates, but sometimes imposing strict rules merely give the children more of an incentive to break them. However, sometimes juvenile crimes do in fact 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 after school and while their parents are at work or preoccupied. Statistics that are mentioned below explain the peak hours of juvenile crime rates and conceptualize this very cause. Additionally, mental illness and substance abuse are large contributing factors. 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. Also, many people believe that a child's environment and family are greatly related to their juvenile delinquency record. The youth that live in lower income areas face high risk factors. Farmer et al.’s study demonstrates the different types of risks these individuals face. The youth can be put into three categories, which are single risk, multiple risks and no risk. The risks depend on the specific traits these youth portray. Farmer et al. state, that multiple risks are a combination of aggression, academic problems and social problems while a single risk is only one of those factors. 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 parent, particularly a teen mom. This is largely because 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. According to Bolland et al., the level of poverty adolescents face determine their outcome. These teens feel as if they don't have some type of future ahead of them, so they commit crimes, dropout of school or increase the teen pregnancy rates. 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. Finally, another cause could be the relationships a child develops in school or outside of school. A positive or negative friendship can have a great influence on the chances of children becoming delinquents. Peer pressure is also at play. Relationships and friendships can 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 page.
Recent Statistics.
Demographics.
There are roughly 75 million juveniles in The United States as of 2013. That is, one in four Americans have the potential of being labeled as juvenile delinquents (because they are considered juveniles). More specifically, in 2009 there were 74.5 million juveniles in the US, which was 2 million more than in the year 2007 which was 72.5 million due to sexual child abuse. 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. If the juveniles delinquency rates were to increase with the population, or even plateau, this would translate into thousands of more juvenile delinquents. 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 Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 57% percent of all juveniles are White, 10% 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 (and other factors which are not mentioned here). 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. These statistics show that poverty levels increase as the child lives with fewer parental figures. 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 (OJJDP) website.
The juvenile violent crime rate index dropped for the second consecutive year in 2010, and is now 5% lower that it was in 2006. Additionally, the Children's Defense Fund communicates 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 says 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.
The time of day juvenile delinquents commit their crimes are the times they are not in school. On average and on school days, juvenile crimes peak after school is let out, and declines throughout the rest of the afternoon and evening. On non-school days it increases in the afternoon through evening, peaking from 7 pm to 9 pm (usually night time), after dark. Curfews have been used to curb juvenile crime, typically the hours of 10 pm to 6 am, but only 15% of such crimes occur during curfew hours, while most (63%) juvenile crime occurs on school days. In recent years, the opportunity for after-school activities for children have decreased as public schools have deteriorated, at the same time city parks and recreational facilities have suffered funding cutbacks, both factors have left high-risk environments for kids during those hours. This suggests that funding of after-school programs and activities for juveniles would be substantially more effective at combating juvenile crime than curfews.
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. Moreover, there are many suggested explanations as to why it is that boys commit more crimes than girls. One comes from 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. The crime rates vary across boys of different races. They are mentioned in the 'juvenile delinquency statistics' section above, as well as in the 'cradle to prison pipeline' section below, but to review, African-American boys are more likely to become juvenile delinquents than White and Latino boys. Latino boys are more likely to become juvenile delinquents than White boys are. One clear way to explain this difference in crime rates among different races of boys is by looking at their poverty rates.
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 negatively 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 prison from birth. The pipeline suggests that there are factors such as a lack of parental supervision, poverty, and a lack of education that makes these people helpless and unable to change their situations. Though this idea might not be appealing to those that believe crime is solely the failure of a rational choice decision, this phenomenon has caught 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, and therefore at risk of being sucked into this pipeline in which prison is the only option at the end of the tunnel. Of course some people that are affected by the pipeline commit crimes and are imprisoned when they are older, say 20. However, if the delinquency cause by the pipeline were to occur before the age of eighteen, the boy/girls would then become juvenile delinquents. Keeping in mind the existence of the male phenomenon, one can safely say that the pipeline affects more boys than girls. The Children's Defense Fund has created a campaign to try to halt the spread of 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 in 2008 in Washington DC, at Howard University. Howard University is a historically black university. The campaign argues that the US government spends more money on incarcerated people than 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 this campaign includes 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 and juvenile delinquency. For a more thorough and detailed outline of juvenile delinquency law in the United States, please see the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention website.
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 (OJJDP) within the Justice Department 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:
One of the most notable causes of juvenile delinquency is fiat, i.e. the declaration that a juvenile is delinquent by the juvenile court system without any trial, and upon finding only probable cause. 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", that established the protection of many, but not all, procedural rights of juveniles in court proceedings, such as the right to counsel and right to refuse self-incrimination.
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. These changes would not only promote a more positive environment at home, but would also work towards pulling at-risk families out of poverty. Another possible change could be the interaction of the community these adolescents live in. The involvement of neighbors could decrease the chances of violence among these communities. In Craig Pinkney's TedTalk speech, “The Real Roots of Youth Violence”, he states that people do things to be heard and seen in their communities. 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 the negative effects of these illness, such as irrational and violent behavior. One cause that seems almost impossible to eliminate is the rational and irrational choice idea. As mentioned above, some people believe that all crime comes down to a single situation in which an individual 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 and eliminate the causes of juvenile delinquency.
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 below.