NCJ Number
131773
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 82 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1991) Pages: 132-140
Date Published
1991
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Knowledge about and research into juvenile delinquency prevention in the United States is not adequate; the rates of juvenile crime and violence are intolerably high and must be brought under control.
Abstract
Congress believed that delinquency prevention was, in the long run, more important than seeking rehabilitation methods. Thus almost 20 years ago it enacted the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) which has since fallen far short of hopes and expectations. There was partisan debate over which Federal department should manage the JJDPA; finally it was housed in the Department of Justice. Studies suggested that there are multiple paths to delinquency; that delinquent behavior is an active, rather than passive, element in the causal system; and that family interventions should begin early in children's lives before peer influences naturally become predominant. Poverty, child abuse and neglect, broken families, drug abuse, drug addiction at birth, homelessness, and hunger all contribute to the problem. Studies on delinquency prevention are important, however we must also study macro-level, social forces that also impact juvenile crime. 31 footnotes