NCJ Number
119891
Journal
Update on Law-Related Education Volume: 7 Issue: 2 Dated: (Fall 1983) Pages: 12-17,47
Date Published
1983
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Juvenile crime costs an estimated $16 billion a year nationwide, and in 1981 accounted for 43 percent of the burglaries, 29 percent of the robberies, 15 percent of the rapes, and 20 percent of the total crime in America.
Abstract
Self-report studies show that 90 percent of all young people commit at least one offense for which they could be charged. Another study shows that the majority of adult offenders were first arrested as juveniles. Get tough attitudes have led several States to change their laws to make it legal to try as adults the 13, 14, and 15-year-olds charged with certain violent crimes, and nontraditional rehabilitation programs for youths are being eliminated in favor of more traditional custodial and punitive facilities. Four strategies on teaching students what juvenile justice really means are outlined.