Introduction to Juvenile Delinquency - Youth and the Law

• NCJ Number: 94470
• Author(s): J T Carey; P D McAnany
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 415 pages
• Sale Source: Prentice Hall
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This text discusses and synthesizes the following delinquency topics within a law and society framework: causation, the juvenile justice system, community delinquency prevention-control programs, and legal issues related to delinquency.

Abstract

The material is organized around four major themes: (1) the interaction between juvenile law and specific popular and theoretical notions about adolescence, (2) the possibilities of a better fit between theories of delinquency and policy/practice, (3) the unintended institutional and personal consequences of ambivalent attitudes toward juveniles, and (4) the feasibility of integrating official and unofficial modes of dispute settlement. Attention first focuses on how popular perceptions of delinquency are related to the structural position of youth in American society, followed by an overview of the evolution of delinquency law, the assumptions upon which it is based, and likely future developments. A chapter is devoted to the origin of the modern notions of childhood and adolescence that led to justifications for state intervention to 'protect' youth. A series of chapters summarizes the explanations proposed over the past 100 years to account for delinquent behavior and discusses how these theories have influenced both policy and daily practice of the juvenile justice system. Samples of prevention programs illustrating each theory are presented. Criteria are then proposed for evaluating theories of delinquency based on the history of prevention efforts, suggesting a developmental model of delinquency that meets the requirements of theory and effectively reduces delinquent behavior. A number of chapters discuss the societal reactions to delinquency in their institutional and community contexts, indicating how the law and popular conceptions of delinquency partly determine response. The concluding chapter explores the possibility of a future reorganized juvenile justice system operating in concert with other socialization agencies committed to including youth in the political process. A research agenda is also presented.