Juveniles get involved in delinquency for many reason; a lot of the time it depends on their home lives. Females tend to lean towards substance abuse and sexual crimes more than violent crimes. What tends to make females go toward getting into delinquent behavior is how the parents treated them as they were growing up. In Davis article “At- Risk Girls and Delinquency”; when a family is trying to get control over their daughter sometimes it can have a negative effect and cause that daughter to act out or even run away (Davis, pg. 297). When a female starts getting involved in delinquency a lot of the time the risk factors are different then their counter- partners. Girls are at greater risk to get victimized than boys are since females are …show more content…
The age-of-consent campaign came about during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which was designed to protect young innocent girls from vicious men who prey on the young (Stacy L. Mallicoat, pg. 280). Before the campaign the legal limit of consent was 10 and 12 in 1885. In most states they ended up raising the age limit in 1920 to 16 or 18. They tried training females for marriage, but the juvenile system punished girls and denied them the right to express themselves sexuality. This movement forced girls who had sex outside of marriage to get a gynecological exam to make sure they are not spreading any diseases around. A lot of the time when this movement was strongly enforced, if a woman went to a trial it really used their previous sexual encounters in front of the jury/judge which also played into victim-blaming. Using this approach allows guys to feel like they can get away with rape and other violence towards females since all they are going to do is blame the intercourse on the woman tempting the guy to have sex with her. This also lets the male have more sexual freedoms than women did. More likely if a female was caught having sex outside of marriage, they were sent to juvenile detention, which on average they spent about three times longer than their male counter-part did for the same …show more content…
Mallicoat, pg. 285). With the JJDP act it officially ended institutionalization of sexually disobedient of girls, but it does not mean that the juvenile courts have not negotiated ways around this legal barrier. The modern day institutionalization of sexually rebellious girls is known as bootstrapping. Some bootstrapping involves cases that are on probation or parole for criminal offenses who are prosecuted before for a probation violation and as a result of committing status offenses like running away or truancy. The juvenile system is trying to make the practice of bootstrapping harder for courts to use, but it continues to be a fashion against girls. As it once used to be consider a criminal offense now girls are being charges as a minor acts of delinquency. Girls are always going to have a greater risks for delinquency and going to be hold to a higher standard since our society makes girls out to be the innocent gender compare to the
Savage, J. (2011). Gendered pathways from strain to delinquency. Criminology and Justice Policy Dissertation……(Savage, 2011)
Juvenile delinquency may evolve around many different factors before it becomes a problem for society to solve. Gender and family structure can be a large and underlining cause of why children enter the criminal justice system. By examining the gender and family makeup, one could better understand how to treat a troubled individual.
As the system came in contact with younger and younger individuals in the sex trade, it was merely a matter of discussion, not action. It was through advocacy efforts, lobbying, and educational propagation that the message was reaching law enforcement officers, juvenile probation officers, and judges entrusted with upholding justice (Musto, 2013). Various community partners have been sought after to be trained and educated on minor sex trafficking that there was never a choice to enter the sex trade, rather an involuntary act of coercion by a traffickers (Musto, 2013). When the shift occurred from punitive to rehabilitative hope was planted for all those children still out in the sex trade fighting for their lives would not have to fear a juvenile Policies have proven to be counterproductive due to a multitude of fundamentally inapt bases to include: exaggerated statistical information inconsistently used; lack of protection safeguards for victims; inadequate resources on various levels; discretionary provisions that are incongruously applied; criminal conjecture; rigidity towards immigrant status in the sex trade; limited sanctions placed on traffickers; lack of fiscal resources; corruptive implications; and a complete lack of safety for children being reintegrated in the community (Vance, 2011). Ultimately, proving to complicate further the rehabilitation of children traumatized by sex
Specifically, the website states, “Some young teens cannot manage the emotional, social, and psychological challenges of adolescence and eventually engage in destructive and violent behavior” . Here, the organization solidifies that the reason behind a minor’s decision to commit such offenses is because of the low tolerance levels they have for difficult obstacles, which occasionally cause them to succumb in barbaric and inhumane crimes. Although such reasons are no excuse for engaging in heinous crimes, it should not be a reason to send minors to adult prisons. Moreover, Juveniles who are tried as adults for repugnant crimes are not incarcerated with other juveniles, they are incarcerated with pure adults. For instance, the Equal Justice Initiative discourses, “Some 10,000 children are housed in adult jails and prisons on any given day in America. Children are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted in adult prisons than in juvenile facilities and face increased risk of suicide. EJI believes confinement of children with adults in jails and prisons is indefensible, cruel, and unusual…” . In this case, the website embodies the idea that children are more susceptible to sexual abuse because they are seen as vulnerable or impotent. The substantial difference not only in age but in size as well
...ing beckoned in with the 21st century. While U.S.’s JLWOP laws are inconsistent with many human rights treatises and with international law, it is more important for our policies to be based on a thorough understanding of the issue- the most essential being a separation of the processes for juvenile and adult criminal offenders. With an emphasis on rehabilitation for juvenile offenders, and the goal of encouraging maturity and personal development after wayward actions, the futures of many teens in the criminal justice system can become much more hopeful.
In the last 42 years little to no changes have been made to correct the standards that govern punitive measures towards juvenile delinquency. Today juvenile law is governed by state and many states have enacted a juvenile code. However, in numerous cases, juveniles are transferred to adult court when juvenile courts waive or relinquish jurisdiction. Adolescents should not be tried in the adult court system or sentenced to adult penitentiary's on account of: teen brains are not mature which causes a lack of understanding towards the system, incarceration in an adult facility increases juvenile crime, and children that are sentenced to adult prison are vulnerable to abuse and rape.
Females are increasingly becoming more active in the juvenile justice system and this is said to be happening at alarming rates. It is important to learn more about why and how girls commit crimes so that we may also attempt intervention in an effective manner to prevent potential offenders and rehabilitate the girls who have already committed offenses. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has produced a report that includes a review of how these girls are getting into these situations, how states are dealing with this population of offenders, the national efforts that have taken place to attempt to address the needs of the adolescent female offender including training for individuals who work with these females and a female-based continuum of care model that’s use is recommended in the development of any female program development. This population of offenders requires not special treatment but different treatment than the typical juvenile offender which has been up until recently mostly all male.
Vandergoot concludes “the goals of the youth legislation…its major objectives are reducing the use of incarceration for young offenders…the YCJA emphasizes restraint, accountability, proportionality, and discretion… it encourages use of extra judicial measures” ( Vandergoot, 2006, p30). Vandergoot determines that the objectives of the Youth Criminal Justice Act is in the interest of youth, however, she accounts for the long term effect on adolescence as well. Vandergoot concludes the emotional and social consequences as youth interact with the system. Vandergoot claims the system leaves juveniles “debased”, suffering an “assault on their self-image”, that “block or snares in the adolescent psyche”, ultimately lowering their motivation and self-esteem which advances youth to have the “they think I’m bad I’ll show them I’m bad” mentality(Vandergoot, 2006). The mentality that derives from direct encounters with the youth justice system, often damages the adolescence completely disregarding the purpose of a youth justice system.
While girls have historically made up a small percentage of the juvenile justice population, offending by girls is on the rise. Girls are the fastest growing segment of despite the overall drop in juvenile crime. Over the past two decades we have witnessed an exponential rise in the number of girls in detention facilities, jails and prisons; likewise, arrest rates for girls in almost all offense categories have outstripped that of boys over this same time per...
One of the most controlled aspects of sexuality is the regulation of who can have sex with who. Most of these regulations are laws protecting people that cannot give consent, like minors and some people with disabilities, from being exploited by others. The age of consent is a highly debatable subject. In Elizabeth Cavalier and Elisabeth O. Burgess article Too Young to Consent? the authors point out that ‘the fifteen year gap between a 55- year old man and his 40- year old wife is less significant than the three year age difference between a 18- and 15- year old’ (Cavalier and Burgess 401). The minimal age in the United State is 16, but other states have the age at 18. The origins of these Unfortunately, like most aspects pertaining to sexuality,
Girls become delinquent for many different reasons then boys based on biological, social and cultural differences in each gender. From hormones and brain development, to the child’s upbringing by families, to the way girls are expected to act in public compared to boys; a different set of circumstances exists for the reasons why girls become delinquent compared to boys. Siegel, (2007, p.174) explains this by stating. “There are indications that gender differences in socialization and development do exist and that they may have an effect on juvenile offending patterns.”
Delinquency in and of itself has been observed, studied, sifted, put into one form of statistical data or another and published for years. The question of “should girls’ delinquency be studied separately from boys’ delinquency?” can only be answered with an answer of yes. Data from every aspect of delinquency should be studied whether it be age, race, type of crime, along with gender. Without viewing all aspects of delinquency in regards to gender, any conclusions found would be biased, possibly leading to the enforcement of inappropriate laws and or treatments.
Many in the juvenile justice field have tried to understand the cause of juvenile delinquency. There are many different theories describe the cause and effect of variables and how they react. However, through much research, we have concluded there is not just one single path or journey that determines the fate of the juvenile. There are many different risk factors that build in order to increase a youth's chance of becoming an offender. This is kind of like a domino effect. Risk factors are described as the characteristics that present themselves to determine if the individual or youth will become a delinquent. These factors may include; home life, income status, gender, and social. It can either be one or all that play a part in the way the
Juvenile delinquency is a serious problem and leads to negative outcomes for youth, families, and society as a whole. Adolescents under the age of 18 who are arrested for committing a criminal act are processed through a juvenile justice system. The juvenile justice system is grounded on the principle that the youth have different needs than adults. During adolescence, youth are forming their identities and still developing mentally, physically, socially, and emotionally. Due to their early stages of development, juveniles who violate the law should be treated differently than adults.
Juvenile delinquency is one of the major social issues in the United States today. Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is when “a violation of the law committed by a juvenile and not punishable by death or life imprisonment” (Merriam-webster.com). Although we have one justice system in America, the juvenile system differs from the adult juvenile system. Most juvenile delinquents range from as low as the age of seven to the age of seventeen. Once the delinquent or anyone turns the age of eighteen, they are considered an adult. Therefore, they are tried as an adult, in the justice system. There are many different reasons why a child would commit crime, such as mental and physical factors, home conditions, neighborhood environment and school conditions. In addition, there are a variety of effects that juvenile justice systems can either bad effects or good effects. Finally there are many different solutions that can reduce juvenile delinquency. As a result, juvenile delinquency is a major issue and the likeliness of it can be reduced. In order to reduce juvenile delinquency there has to be an understanding of the causes and the effects.