Juvenile Delinquency

JUVENILE

DELINQUENCY

THE JUVENILE LAW

Juvenile law deals with the laws, rules, and regulations for
individuals who are under the age of 18 years and, in some
instances, 21 years of age. The court deals with Juvenile Crime,
Juvenile Delinquents, and Juvenile court. However, it is not
limited to the court proceedings; it also addresses foster care,
child support, custody, visitation, parental rights, and health care
for rehabilitation for specially-abled children, neglected children,
and children who face drug addict parent issues at a very young
age.
The Juvenile law also takes care of children who face sexual
abuse, require a name change, hidden identity, teens dealing
with pregnancy or abortion, school attendance, and much more.
The law studies the child’s background and helps determine how
the parent or the guardian is responsible for their behavior or
condition.
The juvenile cases are handled by the juvenile court, which is a
special court. They deal with juvenile delinquents, incorrigible
youth, status offenders, abandonment, abuse, or neglect. The
court is considered a civil court and not a criminal one because
the trials involve minors who commit a delinquent act rather than
a crime. If the judge condemns a minor with a crime, the juvenile
is treated as a ward of the court. This can mean revoking a
license, paying a fine, community service, getting counseling, or
rehabilitation for status offenders.

TYPES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

There are two types of Juvenile Delinquency, are

Delinquency Offense

For crimes that would be considered a crime an adult has
committed, it is a delinquency offense. For some severe crimes
such as murders, rapes, burglary, even children will be tried as
adults in the trial. On the other hand, when children are tried as
juveniles, the parents have to pay the court costs.
Juvenile delinquency is serious crimes committed by minors. They
may include the sale and consumption of dangerous drugs,
property crimes, murder, etc. The court treats the crime as an
adult. However, the court puts an extra effort to understand why
the minor was pushed into committing the crime in the first place.
The process is known as the Delinquency prevention and
intervention effort.

Juvenile Delinquency Early Detection and Intervention

Early detection and intervention help in preventing the “cradle to
prison’’ pipeline. Hence early intervention prevents early
childhood-onset behavior such as withdrawal symptoms,
depression, withdrawal due to abuse & torture. Such children
cannot handle the crowd and feel discomfort when in a public
environment like school and playgrounds. Research has proven
significantly that prevention is better than cure through the
process of early detection and intervention in Juvenile
Delinquency.
Early detection helps improve minors’ social behavior in juveniles,
preventing them from being severe antisocial offenders as they
grow to be adults. It allows youth to be delinquent offenders in
the future, putting them at risk for crimes such as drug abuse,
victimization overall, all increased physical and mental issues.

Status Offense

A status offense is the opposite of Juvenile Delinquency. It is a
minor crime, but it wouldn’t be considered a crime if it had been
an adult.

Following are the status offenders’ characteristics.

Age

In the year 2013, the case rate for status offenses has increased
with the age of Juveniles. Hence higher the age, the more were
the chances for status offenders.

Gender

For the total number of cases accounted for, males dominate the
total number by 58%. Therefore males have had a higher rate of
offenses than females. The only case where females account for
more status offense cases more than male is runaway cases.

Race

Truancy made up for most of the petitioned status. Compared to
black juveniles, white males had committed more status offenses
when underage drinking and run-away cases. On the other hand,
black juveniles have a higher rate of ungovernability and curfew
violations .offenses

Neurological

Neurological behavior shows that most offenders include low
intelligence, inability to delay gratification, aggression, lack of
empathy, and increased restlessness. Other behavioral disorders
rooted since childhood include aggressive and troublesome
behavior, language delays, and lack of emotional control.

Psychological

Juvenile delinquents usually show signs of psychological
disorders; six to sixteen percent in males and two to nine percent
in females show conduct disorder. Juvenile delinquency
examples may include psychopaths, antisocial personality
disorder. Research has shown that conduct disorder may develop
in childhood and manifest when the child turns into an adult.

Process of Juvenile Delinquency

The two kinds of cases that a juvenile court faces
Dependency cases

Where the parents or guardians are accused of abuse towards the
child

Delinquency cases
The child is accused of committing a crime such that if he/she
were an adult, it would be treated as a criminal offense and tried
in a criminal court.
Juvenile court proceedings are much more informal compared to
an adult criminal prosecution. Formal charges are only placed
when the crime is

1. Serious
2.The minor is an older one.
3.The minor has a history of behavioral issues.
4.The family of the child can no longer control the behavior of

the child.

Summary

If you or someone you know have a child with a juvenile
delinquency case, you can always seek help from an attorney
specializing in juvenile cases. A child may face various types of
juvenile delinquency charges, which might adversely affect the
child’s future. There might be a case where a child doesn’t intend
to commit a crime but is caught in the legal hurdle at any given
point in time. Attorneys are known to handle cases that cause the
least pressure on the child and the family.