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Juvenile Delincquency

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Juvenile Delincquency
Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Crime Q & A Written Response 1. What is the definition of delinquency?
The definition of delinquency is, in the broadest usage, juvenile actions or conduct in violation of criminal law, juvenile status offenses, and other juvenile misbehavior. 2. What is the definition of status offense(s)?
The definition of status offense(s) is an act or conduct that is declared by statute to be an offense, but only when committed by or engaged in by a juvenile and that can be adjudicated only by a juvenile court. 3. Compare juvenile courts and adult courts.
There difference between juvenile courts and adult courts are; Adult courts use trials by jury and juveniles courts use trials by judge, adult courts carry the potential of much more serious penalties, juvenile courts use strict penalties, but won’t include adult prison terms, and adult records can be more difficult to expunge later and juvenile records may be sealed. 4. What are some variables that correlate with juvenile crime rates?
Some of the variables that correlate with juvenile crime rates include child maltreatment, alcoholism and drug use, bullying, school dropouts, depression and trauma. Other variables are single or no parent home, truancy, low or no parental supervision and gang membership. 5. What is the current trend in current U.S. juvenile crime statistics?
Two-year arrest trends showed violent crime arrests declined 2.3 percent when compared with 2008 arrests, while property crime arrests increased 1.6 percent when compared with the 2008 arrests. Arrests of juveniles for all offenses decreased 8.9 percent in 2009 when compared with the 2008 number; arrests of adults declined 1.2 percent. 6. What could be the effects of more juveniles being tried as adults?
There are actually several reasons why an adult court would be in the best interest of a minor, adult courts allow juveniles to have their cases heard in a jury trial. Large cities often



References: http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/crime/JAR_Display.asp?ID=qa05201 Schmalleger, F. (2011). Criminal justice today: An introductory text for the 21st century (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/228479.pdf .

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