Conflict Theory Of Juvenile Delinquency

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In most states juvenile delinquency are criminal acts committed by minors’ ages 10 to 18 years old, the crimes are categorized as status offenders or delinquent offenders. Offenses committed by status offenders can only be committed because the offender is a minor, such as running away from home, truancy and underage drinking. (Mooney, pg 115) then there are delinquent offenders whose offenses would be a crime if they were committed by an adult. Depending on the nature of the crime, minors are tried in a juvenile justice system or can be transferred to the adult justice system. According to the Campaign for Youth Justice, it is estimated 1.7 million youths are in the juvenile justice system with 100,000 cases being heard in juvenile court annually. Currently, it is estimated that 70% of the youths arrested are boys and 30% are girls, although African-Americans make up only 17% of the total youth population, they are 30% more likely than white youth to face harsher sentences and be transferred into the adult …show more content…

Additionally the Conflict Theory holds that social order is maintained by dominance and power rather than consensus and conformity.” What Marx refers to is in our society we are defined by social classes: Capitalist (very wealthy), Bourgeois (middle-class) and Underclass (poor). In applying the conflict theory to juvenile delinquency we need to look at how disproportionately poor minority youths are ending up in the juvenile justice system and how class bias by police and court system prejudice contribute to another form of suppression of a disadvantaged

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