Pros And Consequences Of Juvenile Delinquency

The act of committing a criminal act or offense as a minor is known as juvenile delinquency (Agnew & Brezina, 2012). Anyone under the age of 18, in most states, is considered a minor. In other states minors are even defined as anyone under the age of 17 and even 16. The age is not the only thing that makes crimes committed by minors be defined as juvenile delinquency, but also the way they are treated and viewed differs. “Until the twentieth century, there was little difference between how the justice system treated adults and children” (Ramirez, 2008). Juveniles were punished as adults and even were eligible for the same punishment as adults which included the death penalty. When the term parens patriae was developed the term delinquent child

Not being able to get the proper education can be caused by being poor. Sometimes not even being able to see a doctor or get the necessary medications because of lack of resources is another main concern. Many children can also get involved in gangs, sell drugs, and do other illicit activity because of their poor conditions. These children want to be able to prosper but without the necessary education and proper guidance they end up falling into even a worse trap. First of all becoming a delinquent is the least they aspire to do. Without the proper guidance and help and their level of immaturity they do not seem to consider or even think about consequences that follow when they do something bad. Therefore that is why in the court systems, children get the guidance and help they need first to be able to prosper in the world. Coming from a low incoming family, I personally would strive in any way possible to help my single guardian to take care of two children. Being of the oldest I had to be a role model to the youngest and be able to help provide for the family. It is said by criminologists that lower class juveniles were more likely to be arrested than higher class juveniles. Some studies based on arrest data have shown that more likely to be arrested or have police reports are those juveniles from lower class rather than those of middle class (Agnew & Brezina, 2012). It was showed by self reported surveys that there was little or no direct correlation between social class and delinquency, this report was also focused more on minor delinquent acts and it failed to examine poor individuals (Agnew & Brezina, 2012). Also living in poor conditions also leads for children to dropout of schools. “It is also well documented that schools in the United States are highly segregated by income, social class, and race/ethnicity” (Rumberger, 2013). The relationship between poverty and juvenile