Juvenule Crime Models

There are many issues with crime and violence in the United States, but very few are more controversial than the issue of juveniles in crime. How are juveniles getting involved in crime? What is causing America’s youth to do things that their parents should’ve instilled as morally wrong? What are ways to control and possibly eliminate these issues that affect the way we live? For the past century, criminologists have been studying juvenile related crime and a few theories have come up. These theories have, in the mid to late 20th century, been shaped into models. There are three main models dealing with juvenile crime and violence that will be gone over in pages to follow of this paper: Noninterventionist Model, Rehabilitation Model, and Crime Control Model. In this paper, the reader will see what each model discusses, and how they apply to today’s youth. At the end each model’s description, the reader will learn what I personally think about how the specific model would work. Being a recently turned 20 year-old, I feel I can give an accurate view of how, or if, the crime model would work. Living in both extremely rural(Mokane Missouri), and very urban(St Louis) has taught me a great deal about what really goes on in a juvenile’s head, and what sorts of actions would truly help to decrease crime rates among juveniles. I will give examples from the readings of chapter 13 of Making Sense of Criminal Justice: Policies and Practices, and I’ll conclude with my opinion of which model I believe works best to cope with juvenile crime.
The first crime control model is the Noninterventionist Model. This model has the idea that youths tend to adopt the habits of the labels they are given.
“The noninterventionist model is based on the premi...

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...nd they will be labeled as a criminal. In the urban environment, they can be considered “just like their family members” and have no motivation to get better because it’s what their parent, or siblings did, so why not keep doing it?
Out of all of these models, I still believe the all around best one is the crime control model. Despite being more harsh and less specific to one idea, it’s still the most effective. The other two models are specific to the ideas that youths will get better by being labeled or being rehabilitated, the crime control model uses both ideas and deters juveniles from wanting to commit the crime. The threat of being a criminal or going to prison can have an impact on whether or not they commit the crime.

Works Cited

Mays, G. Larry., and Rick Ruddell. Making Sense of Criminal Justice: Policies and Practices. New York: Oxford UP, 2008. Print