Exploring Juvenile Delinquency
Assignment 1: Case Study-Social and Legal Definitions of Delinquency
In Module 1, you learned about the various legal and social definitions of delinquency. Definitions of “juvenile” and “delinquency” are defined by law which varies by state and has changed over time. For example, some states lowered the maximum age for juvenile court during the 1990s based on the notions of “Adult crime, adult time” while some places have stricter juvenile record confidentiality systems. From a social definition, “the term juvenile delinquency is used to describe a large number of disapproved behaviors of children and youth. In this sense, almost anything the youth does that others do not like is called juvenile delinquency.” (Morris and Hawkins)
Exploring Juvenile Delinquency
Select a specific example(s)/case(s) of juvenile delinquency/crime (i.e., cases provided in the module or you are welcome to include other cases as well). Describe the details of the case(st you selected including the juvenile(s), crime, location, and time period. How is the case described in the sources covering this case? (e.g., what type of language is used to describe the juveniles and the crime? Next, critically evaluate the case considering the following questions: APA.
Exploring Juvenile Delinquency
- How young is too young to be held accountable for a crime committed as a juvenile? Explain your reasoning.
- In what ways do we think juveniles are different from adults? What are the implications of these differences in responding to juvenile crime (e.g., confidentiality of sealed juvenile records)?
- When is a person no longer considered a juvenile?
4. What factors impact our definitions (social and legal) of “juvenile” and “delinquency”? Is it the circumstances of the crime, a person’s age, other characteristics of the perpetrator, or something else? What defines a case as a “tragedy” or a “crime”? the juvenile perpetrator as a “victim” or “villain”?