Juvenile Offenders in the United States

Juvenile Crime Treatment of Offenders

Introduction to Juvenile Offenders

The juvenile justice system tries to treat and rehabilitate youngsters who become involved in delinquency. The methods can be categorized as community treatment, residential treatment, nonresidential community treatment, and institutionalization.

In most instances community treatment involves placing the child on probation. When the child is not believed to be harmful to others, he or she is placed under the supervision of an officer of the juvenile court and must abide by the specific rules that are worked out between the officer and the child. In some instances community treatment also takes the form of restitution, in which the child reimburses the victim either through direct payment or through some form of work or public service.

Residential treatment generally takes place in a group home where the juvenile is provided with psychological and vocational counseling. Other forms of residential treatment include rural programs such as forestry camps and work farms. Youngsters placed in nonresidential community-based treatment programs do not reside at the facility. Instead they live at home and receive treatment from mental health clinics or similar services.

Institutionalization is the most severe form of treatment for juvenile offenders. The child is incarcerated in a secure facility and denied freedom to come and go in the community. The institution is responsible for the child’s counseling, education, recreation, room and board, and other daily activities.

No specific treatment has been proven the most effective form. Effectiveness is typically measured by recidivism rates-that is, by the percentage of children treated who subsequently commit additional criminal acts. The recidivism rates for all forms of treatment, however, are about the same. That a large percentage of delinquent acts are never discovered further complicates this measurement. Thus, an absence of subsequent reported delinquent acts by a treated child may mean nothing more than that the child was not caught.” (1)

Resources

Notes and References

• Information about Juvenile Offenders in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia

Guide to Juvenile Offenders

Violent Juvenile Offenders in relation to Crime and Race

Violent Juvenile Offenders is included in the Encyclopedia of Race and Crime (1), beginning with: A violent crime is defined as a crime in which the offender uses or threatens to use violent force upon the victim. These include willful homicide, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. In many communities across the United States, the number of juvenile offenders has become an important issue, posing problems for juvenile authorities and the public. Youth in Black and Latina/o communities are often depicted as the predominant perpetrators of violent crimes. This section examines and compares the rates of violent offenses and reviews structural explanations of juvenile violence among communities. Although juvenile violence occurs at many different ages, the average age of a juvenile’s first court appearance is 14. Behavior problems are known to develop around age 7, and crimes are committed around age 12. Of the various types of violent crimes, murder is the most severe form of all violent crimes.

Resources

Notes and References

1. Entry about Violent Juvenile Offenders in the Encyclopedia of Race and Crime

See Also

Victims of Juvenile Offenders in the Criminal Justice System

Juvenile Offenders in the Criminal Justice System

This section covers the topics below related with Juvenile Offenders :

Juvenile Justice

Juvenile Delinquency

Resources

See Also

• Juvenile Justice
• Juvenile Delinquency