NCJ Number
134932
Date Published
1992
Length
543 pages
Annotation
Juvenile delinquency is viewed in this text as a sociolegal category invented in conjunction with the juvenile court; as a label applied to youth at the end of a chain of decisions involving the public, police, and juvenile court officials; and as a form of behavior that violates legal codes, regardless of its detection or processing.
Abstract
Juvenile delinquency is discussed in the context of other dimensions of the crime problem, as part of the development of criminology in general and as a social-cultural invention. Consideration is also paid to the production of official data on juvenile delinquency and youth crime and the images conveyed by such statistics, juvenile delinquency research, ways of measuring juvenile delinquency, and the construction of juvenile delinquency as a social problem. Juvenile delinquency causes are examined, and theory and research on biological, genetic, and psychological correlates of juvenile delinquency are described. Specific social institutions and forces that explain juvenile delinquency are identified. In addition, various influences on juvenile delinquency are noted, such as families, schools, peer groups, religion, media, and communities. The text concludes by addressing socialization, deterrence, imprisonment and alternatives, diversion, restitution, shock therapy, and juvenile delinquency prevention. References, tables, figures, and photographs