CJ 3300- Juvenile Justice

what is Parens Patriae?

(state as parents” allowing the state to intervene in children’s lives when parents failed.

Whats the distinction from the adult system?

Emphasis on rehabilitation and treatment, not punishment.

House of Refuge

Early institutions aimed at reforming youth through discipline, labor, and moral instruction.

What reformaties did they do after the house of refuge? and what was the philosophical shift?

Later institutions focusing more on education and vocational training. as they realized it was too harsh. From punitive responses toward rehabilitative ideals.

Uniform Crime Report (UCR) strengths and weaknesses

Police-reported data; strengths = national scope, weaknesses = underreporting.

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

Captures unreported crimes via surveys.

Self-Report Studies

Provide insight into hidden delinquency. but they can lie, but most of the time they have measures for that

trends of delinquency and patterns?

Delinquency rose mid-20th century, peaked in the 1990s, declined since. Offending varies by age (peak around 16–17), gender (males more likely), and race/ethnicity.

Classical school?

Crime as rational choice; deterrence via certainty and swiftness of punishment.

Positivist School

Crime driven by factors beyond control—biological, psychological, or social.

strain theory

Delinquency from gap between goals and means (Merton)., Explains offenders experience stress from a lack of opportunity.

social learning theory

Crime learned through peers/associations.

Control Theory

Weak social bonds lead to delinquency (Hirschi).

Cultural Deviance

Lower-class culture increases criminal behavior. (BUT IT STILL DOESNT COMPLETLEY CAUSE THAT)

Labeling Theory

Being labeled as “delinquent” increases deviance.

Purpose of Punishment

Deterrence, retribution, incapacitation, rehabilitation.

Female Delinquency

Historically overlooked, but rising focus in recent decades. More likely to engage in status offenses (e.g., running away).

Power-Control Theory

Family dynamics shape gender differences in delinquency.

Feminist Pathways INTO DELIQUENCY

Trauma, abuse, and victimization linked to female offending.

Policy Implications for gender

Need for gender-specific programming, trauma-informed care, and family-focused interventions.

Comparative Trends between girls and boy offenders

Boys still commit more serious crimes, but girls’ share of juvenile arrests has grown.

Status Offense

Offense only illegal due to age (e.g., truancy, curfew).

Delinquent Offense

Acts that would be crimes if committed by adults. Ex: stealing a car

Cross-sectional study

an observational research method that collects data from a population at a single point in time to determine the prevalence of conditions or the presence of associations between variables.

Longitudinal study

a research method that involves repeatedly observing or collecting data from the same group of participants over an extended period, such as months, years, or even decades

Generally speaking, what age children are criminally liable

7 years old

Prevalence of juvenile delinquency

Most children do it once and then don't really do it again as they get older. 

Get tough policy

didn't care about procedural safeguards, just cared about increasing confinement. (This will teach them their lesson)

First contact for a juvenile in the criminal justice system

police

Term synonymous with indictment

petitions.

Justice model

proportionally punish criminals, (fit the crime, and have access to some safeguards) equality of the law

do criminals specialize in a type of crime?

NO. they dont just commit a certain type of crime. (Ex: they don't steal just cars, they might steal your laptop) opportunistic at committing crimes. Juveniles not specialize in a crime type (however it can happen serial killers and serial rapists)

Predictor of youth gun violence

 areas that have more guns (suicide #s too are related) generally through theft

general deterence

A judge that imposing a strict ruling to desist other people from doing it

specific deterrence

the idea that punishing a specific offender will discourage that individual from committing further crimes in the future

why people commit crimes (and if it is predictable or not) IN THE DETERMINSTIC VIEW.

people don't have freewill and will respond to stimuli, certain set of factors created this scenarios and now you HAVE TO commit the crime. (Chatgpt basically)

Cultural defense theory

looks at class structure ppl in poor communities are more likely to commit crime, bc they are in a deviant culture, bc you're blocked from the ‘normal group’

Early onset/ Adolescence-limited

Start offending young, commit crimes in adolescence, then stop as they mature.

Late onset

Start offending later in life, usually in adulthood.

Life-course persistent

Start offending early in childhood and continue committing crimes throughout their life.

Do juveniles female and male do drugs at different rates?

alcohol and marijunna = both the same, but for harder drugs it starts steering off for females. 

Comparing lower class to middle class females:

lower satisfactory for lower class schools, then middle and upper class schools. This can be a predictor of crime if they do worse in school

Retune activity theory

a criminological perspective stating that crime occurs when a motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian.

Triangulation

take all the data sources, from all other surveys to get the best picture by combining the info

Focused Deterrance

Crime is socially clustered. 80/20 some ppl do a lot more crime than others. Like a school project.