Juvenile Delinquency (5th Edition)

Publication of this fifth edition ofJuvenile Delinquencyprovided an opportunity to reflect on the changes in the amount and types of juvenile misbehavior and the juvenile justice responses to it that have taken place since the first edition was published 25 years ago. The cyclical nature of delinquency and the increased formalization of juvenile court procedures and juvenile justice system approaches became apparent in this examination. The first edition explored the problems of youth deviance and unlawful behavior in the United States at the close of the 1970s and the methods used at that time to inhibit, detect, punish, deter, or reduce this activity. It reported trends and developments in the amount and nature of delinquency that are still occurring, including increased similarities in the amount and types of offenses committed by males and females; involvement of younger age groups in delinquent activity; and increases in middle class suburban and rural youths' misbehavior, gang activity, and substance abuse. It was noted that treatment strategies had moved beyond the "medical model" and had begun to focus on minimization of penetration into the system, community treatment, deinstitutionalization, and the "right to punishment." The second edition focused on delinquency in the mid-1980s. The continuing narrowing of the gap between the rates of male and female offending and overrepresentation of minority group members in arrests for property crime and violent crime were important trends. Key issues were the pressures for removal of both status offenders (those who commit offenses that are unlawful only for juveniles) and serious violent delinquents from juvenile court jurisdiction, and revision of juvenile codes to formalize processing of serious offenders and mandate their referral to adult criminal courts or specialized youth courts. For other offenders, the emphasis was on diversion, community treatment, and deinstitutionalization. At the beginning of the 1990s, the third edition noted increases in arrests of juveniles for offenses related to substance abuse and substantial increases in gang activity, which was regarded as a serious threat to safety in the schools and inner-city neighborhoods. As a result of policies for separate handling of delinquent and status offenders at all levels of the juvenile justice system, the debate over status offenders had largely subsided. Increased attention was given to physical and sexual abuse as threats to the welfare of children and the juvenile court procedures for dealing with these problems became important. Firmer handling of serious offenders and more severe dispositions for habitual, serious offenders had been initiated, leading to increases in the number of juveniles held in long-term institutions. Treatment in institutions now focused on education, job skills, and preparation for return to the community rather than on the personal problems of the offenders. For other offenders, restitution, community service, and intensive probation were used. Privatization of juvenile corrections was a new trend. When the fourth edition appeared in the mid-1990s, increases in arrests of juveniles for serious and violent crimes and overrepresentation of minority group youths in these types of offenses, new surges in gang activity and expansion in the age ranges of gang members, and rapid increases in female delinquency were noted. These trends were seen as creating an identity crisis for the juvenile courts. Many states lowered the upper age of juvenile court jurisdiction so that older adolescent offenders could be referred directly to adult courts. Juvenile court procedures were formalized and there were new pressures for complete removal of status offenders from juvenile court jurisdiction. Increases in the number of abuse, neglect, and dependency cases required the juvenile courts to devote more attention to these cases. The demands for harsher penalties fPeter C. Kratcoski is the author of 'Juvenile Delinquency (5th Edition)', published 2003 under ISBN 9780130336736 and ISBN 0130336734.