What are the realities of juvenile crime? Determining what is considered a crime, status offense, or delinquency for a juvenile depends on their offense. There are many variables that correlate with juvenile crime statistics. The court process for a juvenile is different than that of an adult but it has many similarities as well. All juveniles do not end up in a juvenile correctional facility because depending on the crime committed they may be tried as adults and sentenced to an adult correctional facility.
Juvenile delinquency can be defined as the participation in illegal behavior by minors typically under the age of seventeen. These acts are not called crimes, but rather referred to as delinquent acts because if the individual was an adult it would be criminal. A status offense is an activity or action prohibited to certain people and most often applied to offenses committed by minors. These actions or activities can range from the purchase, possession, and consumption of alcohol and tobacco, truancy, or running away from home. These acts are not in violation to any law for an adult because an adult can legally purchase alcohol and tobacco products.
In the United States there are roughly seventy-three million individuals under the age of eighteen. Nationally on any given day roughly fifty-seven thousand juvenile offenders are held in residential placement facilities which is according to a survey done on October 26″, 2012. Law enforcement agencies made 1,319,700 arrests of individuals under the age of eighteen in 2012 (“Estimated Number of Juvenile Arrests, 2012,” n.d.). Out of those arrests for violent crimes seven hundred were for murder and manslaughter, 2,500 for forcible rape, 21,500 for robbery, and 36,300 were for aggravated assault.
The total number of arrests for property crime was 295,400 and those categories include burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson. The other 963,200 arrests made ranged from other types of assault, fraud, vandalism, and vagrancy. Most notably there were 140,000 arrests for drug abuse violations and 77,800 for liquor law violations. Females accounted for twenty nine percent of all the arrests and white youth accounted for sixty-five percent of all arrests. It is important to know that just because the juveniles were arrested for the delinquent acts or crimes they are accused of does not mean they were found guilty of the act or sentenced for it.
There are many variables that correlate to the crime statistics of juveniles. Failures in school such as poor academic performance, attendance and dropping out can reduce an individual social skills that are gained in school, Problems at home such as parental criminal activity, neglect, or abuse can also cause a juvenile to become a delinquent. Juveniles that have a substance abuse problem whether it is using or selling can have an effect on them when they are arrested or cause more delinquency. Juveniles that suffer a trauma whether it is being bullied or abuse may also be at risk for becoming delinquents. Gang membership or affiliation especially at an early age is a major problem for a juvenile.
Gangs in general are associated with criminal activity and when a juvenile becomes part of one they are at a very high risk for not only performing status offenses but criminal acts as well. Poverty level and living arrangements are a factor that is related to the chances of a youth committing an act of delinquency as well. When a juvenile has one of these factors it does not guarantee delinquent or criminal acts but simply increases the likelihood of committing one. Sometimes juveniles just want to test society or parental limits and often have strict rules put in place to prevent them but this can sometimes give juveniles more of a reason to break them.
Juvenile and adult courts work in two different ways. The terminology used in juvenile court is different than what is used for adult court proceedings. When a youth is in court they not called a defendant but rather a minor. Juveniles do not have a trial they have jurisdictional hearings and instead of a sentencing hearing they have a dispositive hearing. When an adult is in court they have a right to a trial by a jury of their peers, but no such right exists in juvenile court.
If a juvenile wants to take their case to a trial it is heard by a judge or bench officer who performs similar duties to a judge. If a juvenile is being held in a juvenile correctional facility they cannot have an adult post bail to get them out, the court decides whether or not the youth should be released. Parents or legal guardians are often asked questions about their child’s behavior and the response of the guardian may determine the role the judge plays when the court decides how to handle the child.
Juvenile court hearings are closed to the public, this means the general public is not allowed inside the juvenile court during a hearing with the exception of a very serious or violent offense. Since there is a heavy emphasis on privacy during juvenile court hearings there is no media coverage, witnesses may only testify but not stay after they are done, and no transcript of the case is created. The juvenile court procedure is quick and informal. The judge takes an active role in the fact finding process and while adult trials may last weeks or months, juvenile’s hearing typically are completed in hours.
When a juvenile is being tried as an adult there are many disadvantages but there are a few advantages. In an adult court juveniles will have the right to trial by a jury. This can work in their advantage on occasion because the jury may be more sympathetic to a minor that has committed a crime than if it were an adult. In an instance where jails are overcrowded the court may be inclined to speed up the process of a juvenile’s case and impose a lighter sentence. One of the main disadvantages of a juvenile being tried in an adult court is they are subject to more severe sentences, including life sentences.
Adult courts do not have a wide range of punishments that are available in juvenile court such as counseling or imposing curfews so the judge may be forced to send them to jail. Effects a juvenile could face when sentenced in an adult court is becoming a career criminal. Their mental state could change if sentenced to jail or prison for a period of time and when released commit more delinquent or criminal acts. Ironically, being sentenced to serve time could give a juvenile more reason to commit more crimes. While incarcerated a juvenile may become affiliated or join a gang which will further enhance the feelings of wanting to commit crimes.
Many juveniles who are subject to the juvenile justice system are not getting the attention to their education they need. The juvenile facilities are not paying enough attention to those who have learning disabilities and emotional and substance abuse problems. These children who are locked in a facility are not being properly educated and then sent back out in to society with the same problems they came in with. If the juveniles are not being educated when they are locked up, how are they supposed to learn and possibly change their behavior?
The effects of juveniles being tried as adults only further the problems they are having and end up committing more delinquent acts and status offenses. The juvenile and adult courts work in different ways such as keeping a juveniles proceedings private and not making them have a trial in front of a jury. Delinquency is the participation in illegal behavior by minors and a status offense is the behavior such as possession of alcohol, truancy or vagrancy. One issue the juvenile justice system faces is the ability to properly educate the juvenile delinquents. Without the proper education juveniles will keep making the same mistakes, and that is the reality of juvenile delinquency.
