Juvenile Delinquency Exam 1

criminology

the body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon

criminology includes

making of laws

breaking of laws

reacting to breaking of laws

4 key questions of criminology

why?

what?

how are laws created? why do they differ?

how are laws controlled?

crime

behavior that violates the law

2 different types of behavior

mala en se

mala prohibitum

mala en se

inherently bad

mala prohibitum

bad because it is against the law

juvenile delinquency

participation in illegal behavior by a minor who falls below a statutory age limits

status offense

behavior that is illegal only because the child is underage; every state can set their own age limits

deviance

behavior that violates social norms

social norms

expected or accepted behavior

overt antisocial behavior

vandalism, property destruction, violence

covert antisocial behavior

substance use, self harm

UCR

uniform crime report

index crimes

homicide

aggravated assault

rape

robbery

arson

burglary

motor vehicle theft

misdemeanors

simple assault

forgery

vandalism

prostitution

crime rates

standardized measure of crime

CR = # crimes/population x 100,000

cleared crimes

offender is not arrested due to either dying before arrest or fleeing to a country where we do not have extradition

advantages of UCR

• we can track trends overtime

• comparing location

• standard set of data to discuss

• provides demographic info for index crimes (characteristics of the offender)

disadvantages of UCR

• under reporting

• sources of ambiguity

  • definitions differ from jurisdiction

  • hierarchy rule

• hidden figures of crime

self-report studies

researchers get info from individuals, not filtered through the official process

why prisoners + students are surveyed about crime experience

• we know they are engaged in crime

• most crime occurs between 16-18

• they are captive audiences; we can access them easily

advantages of self-report studies

• important findings

  • hidden figure of crime

  • very little specialization in crime

• types of questions people ask

  • unlike the UCR, self-report researchers can ask any questions they want

disadvantages of self-report studies

• sampling issues

• accuracy

victimization surveys

specifically asking people about their experiences being victimized

national crime victimization survey

• 1973

• started to compare the number reported by UCR

• rotated panel design

  • household stays in the survey for 3 years, getting interviewed every 6 months, and then the household rotates out

advantages of victimization surveys

• questions asked (long term impacts of victimization)

• info about hidden figures

disadvantages of victimization surveys

• under reporting or over reporting

• sampling issues

• omission of crimes

  • victimless and white collar crimes aren’t included

  • children under 12 aren’t interviewed

  • doesn’t ask the people being interviewed about their own offending

war on drugs changes in policy practices

• focused specifically on guns and drugs

  • caused drug markets to move indoors, resulting in lower number of people involved

• zero tolerance for quality of life crimes (public drinking, squeegee men, etc.)

  • did not have impact on crime rate

• hot spots (small areas where there is a lot of crime occuring)

  • did have positive results

results of war on drugs

sentencing got harsher, resulting in prison overcrowding, replacement effect, and no decline in crime

correlates

something related to crime; does not cause it, just related

Big 4 correlates

gender

age

socioeconomic status

race/ethnicity

chronic offenders

career criminals who start early and continue through adulthood. responsible for over ½ of crime and ¾ of violent crime.

cycle of juvenile justice

1. belief that juvenile crime is high and the only option is a lot of harsh punishment

2. belief that juvenile crime is high blamed on forced choice

3. reform introduced lenient, middle group treatment

4. belief that juvenile crime is high, blamed on leniency

3 main ideas/beliefs of the cycle of juvenile justice

1. juvenile crime is exceptionally high

2. policies are to blame

3. changing policies will reduce juvenile crime

2 ideas that change in the cycle

1. the idea of juvenile delinquency

   1. what juvenile delinquency is and why it occurs

2. the idea of juvenile justice

   1. policies that reformers want to implement

5 aspects of JD/JJ that have stayed the same

1. juveniles commit more crime than any other group

2. status offenses

3. juveniles are punished less severely than adults for the same offense

4. belief that juvenile crime is higher than it was (myth of the good old days)

5. belief that the system for processing juveniles increases crime

demonic era

when the roman empire fell in the 5th century, all written legal codes were lost and the idea behind inappropriate behavior was thought of mystically and spiritually; evil spirits in the offender; blame was taken off the individual

how crime was dealt with in the demonic era

exorcisms and torture

trepanation

wergilds

william the conqueror 1066

establisted circuit courts — royal courts that travelled to hear cases

stare decisis

stare decisis

the idea that cases, decisions, and sentences are based on prior cases, decisions, and sentences

henry II 1154-1189

established more circuit courts

royal prosecutors to represent king in circuit courts

established juries

enlightenment 1600/1700s

• based on the idea of free will and rationality

• people making rational choice — individual responsibility — moving away from demonic era

• social contract

• sovereignty/authority — the little bit of liberty that we each give up allows the government to set laws

social contract

everyone agrees to give up a little bit of rights in order to promote safety

hedonism

drive for pleasure and minimization of pain

the classical school

subgroup of enlightment thinkers that apply ideas into the legal system

basic ideas of the classical school

• rationalism/hedonism — humans are rational beings who pursue their own interests

• deterrence/effective punishment

• crime stems from the pursuit of self interest in the absence of effective punishment

effective punishment characteristics in the classical school

certainty

swiftness

proportionally severe

law of criminal justice thermodynamics

if a punishment is too severe, law enforcers will be hesitant to enact it

positivism

crime is not chosen, but it is caused by forces out of the criminal’s control

2 difference between classical school and positivism

1. free will vs. determinism

   1. classical school believes you commit crimes of your own free will

   2. positivism says forces out of your control make you commit crimes

2. philosophy vs. science

   1. scientific method

2 factors that shape how society reacts to juveniles

1. when do youth become adults?

2. what constitutes delinquency? (didn’t come around until the 1800s)

social status

a phase in the life cycle at which a special set of beliefs and expectations is attached

views of childhood

how the meaning of being a child has changed over time; childhood is not tangible, it is socially constructed and has changed throughout history

no childhood (before 1400)

• children weren’t paid attention to until age 5, and then they were treated like adults

• high infant mortality rate; 2/3 of children died before age 4

• family sizes were controlled by infanticide and abandonment

sources of joy (1400)

• parents became more attached to children

• treated the same as adults, just more acknowledged

• abuse and neglect were still common

potential adults (1600)

• recognized as soon to be members of society; people responsible for this were teachers and moralists

• thought process

  • if evil children are not corrected, they’ll grow up to be evil adults

  • god fearing society

• formal education and parents were responsible for ensuring their kids were educated and away from corruption (parenting manuals)

• these ideas applied to upper/middle class younger than 12

adolescence (1800s)

• the concept o kids being potential adults expanded into teen years and applied to lower class

• formal education applied to lower and working class teens

• led to the existence of juvenile delinquency, juvenile justice system, school attendance, labor laws, etc.

traditional mechanisms for responding to misbehavior

informal social control

formal social control

informal social control

families taking care of children

formal social control

imprisonment of juvenile offenders; treating them like criminal adults

industrialization

working and lower class teens were the last to be hired, first to be fired, resulting in not being supervised and thus more crime

increasing property crime means increase in juvenile crime

urbanization

small communities formed connection and protection so when people moved to bigger cities, there was a breakdown in informal social control, resulting in less supervision of children and teens

malleability

the idea that we can change the behavior of children and adolescents; we need to positively influence them before they reach the permanent stage of adulthood

1st reform movement

moralists

pauperism

the concept of the undeserving poor disrupting the lives of the wealthy

development of prisons

quaker-started penitentiaries intended as places to reflect and practice penance in order to rehabilitate

gentlemen reformers

high class white men guided by ideas of enlightenment who wanted to stop industrialization and urbanization, concluding that pauperism was undermining their dream society

society for the prevention of pauperism

group that recommended the development of separate institutions for juveniles because punishments were limited

focused on wayward children and felt that they were a product of their families

houses of refuge 1825

alternate to criminal prisons, admitted homeless children and convicted juvenile offenders indiscriminately; civil rights and due process were not considered

poorhouses

government-run facilities providing housing for poor people

causes of pauperism and thus delinquency

• weak and criminal parents

• temptations of the street

• weaknesses in the children’s moral nature

mary ann crouse 1838

first legal challenge of houses of refuge

facts of crouse case

mother admitted her. to a house of refuge for being in danger of pauperism. father filed a writ of habeas corpus saying she did nothing wrong and therefore should not be in an institution because that is a form of punishment

holding of crouse case

PA supreme court rules that it was lawful to hold her in the house of refuge

reasons for holding mary ann crouse

1. she was being helped not punished

2. good intentions of the HoR vs. performance of the parents

3. parens patriae

4. because she is not being punished, she does not need due process

daniel o’connell 1870

case that led to the development of the juvenile court

facts of o’connell case

sent to HoR by police for potential pauperism. parents filed write of habeas corpus

holding of o’connell case

ordered that he be released

reasons for releasing daniel o’connell

1. he was being punished, not helped

2. good intentions of the parents vs. performance of the HoR

3. because he was being imprisoned, the legal bases for decision was procedural law

4. therefore, he deserved due process

impact of o’connell case

responsible for the next development in the juvenile justice system; it was no longer legal to send kids who hadn’t been convicted to houses of refuge

2nd reform movement

the progressives 1850-1920

east coast charity workers

group of upper class male philanthropists during the progressive movement who focused on social reform for juveniles

charles loring brace and homer folks

placing out

charles loring brace’s idea to try to reform children by removing them from the streets of NYC and relocating them to foster homes out west

chicago progressive reformers

progressive group that focused on the urban environment itself rather than training families how to live in it

jane addams

saw juvenile delinquency as a response to urbanization, industrialization, poverty

progressive criticisms of houses of refuge

• tempted parents to throw off responsibilities

• led children to have associations with other delinquents

• stigma of having been committed

• no individual treatment

• not preparing them for return to the environment

theoretical basis of juvenile court

new social institutions and broad powers

new social institutions

advocated for compulsory schooling and abolition of child labor

broad powers

discretion to delve into the lives of kids, monitoring everything to do with juveniles, not just the crime they commit

chicago women’s club

group that came up with the concept of establishing a separate court just for children, along with a separate process of institutionalizing children; drafted the illinois juvenile court act

illinois juvenile court act 1899

legislation that created the juvenile court

important points of the illinois juvenile court act

1. children 1st, offenders 2nd

2. caring but firm

3. focus on the offender, not the offense

4. figuring out the cause of behavior is the ultimate goal

legal model of juvenile court

chancery court

all crimes committed by juveniles are sent to the juvenile court

“best interests of the child” — children did not get due process protections because the point is not to punish

bernard’s view

juvenile court was created in response to the social threat that lower class posed to middle/upper class. the court became a paternalistic instrument of control.