Juvenile Delinquency and the System

Once a child enters the criminal justice system, he or she may be deemed a “juvenile delinquent.”

Who Are Juvenile Delinquents?

Juvenile delinquents are minors, usually defined as being between the ages of 10 and 18, who have committed some act that violates the law. These acts aren’t called “crimes” as they would be for adults. Rather, crimes committed by minors are called “delinquent acts.”

Juveniles In the System

Instead of a trial, the juvenile has an “adjudication,” after which she or he receives a “disposition” and a sentence. However, juvenile proceedings differ from adult proceedings in a number of ways.

Delinquent acts generally fall into two categories.

The first type of delinquent act is one that would be considered a crime had an adult committed it.
- For some serious crimes, some states and jurisdictions wix will try children as adults.
- When children are tried as juveniles, parents are often required to pay the court costs for the child.
The second type of delinquent act is one that wouldn’t normally be a crime had an adult performed it.
- These are typically known as “age-related” or “status” crimes.
- The most common examples of age-related crimes are staying out past curfew and “truancy,” which is the continued failure to attend school.

70% of youth in the juvenile justice system have been diagnosed with at least one mental health disorder.

Watch the the whole film CLICK HERE

Fast Facts

In 2008, an estimated 60% of children in the United States were exposed to violence, crime, or abuse in their homes, schools, and communities. Approximately 46% were assaulted at least once in the past year and 10% were injured in an assault.

Child protective services (CPS) agencies investigated nearly 2 million reports of maltreatment involving more than 3.5 million children in 2010. More than one-third of maltreatment victims were infants or toddlers (ages 0-3) with neglect being the most pervasive form of maltreatment (62% of cases).

In 2010, there were 225 arrests for Violent Crime Index offenses for every 100,000 youth between 10 and 17 years of age. The juvenile arrest rate (ages 10-17) had fallen 55% from its peak level in 1994.

The victimization rate for non-Hispanic black youth in 2011 was more than twice the rate for non-Hispanic white youth, and juvenile males reported higher victimization rates than juvenile females.

Violent crime committed by juvenile offenders peaks during the after school hours. Nearly one-third (29%) of all violent crime committed by juvenile offenders occurs between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. In comparison, nearly the same proportion of violent crime committed by adults (26%) occurs between the hours of 8 p.m. and 12 a.m.

In 2010, juvenile offenders were known to be involved in 8% of all homicides in the United States.

From July 2010, through June 2011, there were 11 homicides and 3 suicides of school-age youth (ages 5-18) in schools. This is approximately one homicide or suicide per 3.5 million students enrolled during the 2010-2011 school year. Higher percentages of black and Hispanic students and students of two or more races reported being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property than white students.

In 2009, 22% of arrests involving youth who were eligible in their state for processing in the juvenile justice system were handled within law enforcement agencies and the youth were released. 67% were referred to juvenile court, and 9% were referred directly to criminal court.

In 2004, Cyntoia Brown was arrested for the murder of a 43-year-old man named Michael Allen. Cyntoia was a prostitute and he was her client. Film-maker Daniel Birman was granted unique access to Cyntoia from the week of her arrest, throughout her trial and over a period of six years. His documentary explores the tragic events in her life that led up to the murder, and Cyntoia's biological mother meets he daughter for the first time since giving her up for adoption 14 years earlier. The film explores the history of abuse, violence, drugs and prostitution back through three generations. As Cyntoia faces a lifetime in prison, the film asks difficult questions about her treatment by the American justice system.

The 16 Year Old Killer: Cyntoia's Story

Young Kids, Hard Time

All Crimes

By Race

In 2012, there were 3,941 arrests for every 100,000 youths ages 10 through 17 in the United States.
The overall juvenile arrest rate was 38% lower in 2012 than in 1980.

Note: Rates are arrests of persons ages 10-17 per 100,000 persons ages 10-17 in the resident population. Persons of Hispanic ethnicity may be of any race, i.e., white, black, American Indian, or Asian. Arrests of Hispanics are not reported separately.

Between 1980 and 2012, the total juvenile arrest rate decreased 59% for Asians, 55% for American Indians, 44% for whites, and 21% for black juveniles.
In 2012, there were 3,362 arrests of white juveniles for every 100,000 white persons ages 10-17 in the population. In comparison, the Asian juvenile rate was about one-third (30%) the white rate, the American Indian rate was about 10% below the white rate and the black rate was more than double the white rate.
The overall arrest rate for black juveniles peaked in 1995. For the other three racial groups, the arrest rates peaked in 1996. Between their peak years and 2011, the juvenile arrest rates declined for each racial group: the decline was 45% for black juveniles, 68% for Asians, 61% for American Indians, and 50% for whites.

Trends in the overall arrest rate followed similar patterns for female and male juveniles. For both groups, the rates increased between 1983 and 1996, and then declined through 2011. Since 1983, the female rate increased more (73% vs. 31%) and then declined less (42% vs. 57%) than the male rate.
Following a decline (35% for males and 32% for females) between 2007 and 2012, the male rate was 47% below its 1980 level and the female rate was just 2% above the 1980 rate.