1) The document discusses the history of treating adolescents and juvenile delinquency. It describes how adolescents were treated more like small adults in the past but are now seen as requiring protection and special legal status. 2) High-risk youth for delinquency are described as experiencing multiple problems like abuse, poverty, and substance abuse. They often engage in interrelated problem behaviors. 3) Key terms like juvenile delinquency, adolescence, and status offenses are defined. Status offenses are illegal for minors but not adults, like truancy, and their handling is discussed.

1. Bartollas/Schmalleger, Juvenile Delinquency, 9e
Chapter 1
Adolescence & Delinquency
Class Name,
Instructor Name
Date, Semester
© 2014 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
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2. © 2014 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
Compare the treatment of adolescents in the past to the treatment of
adolescents today.
Describe the youths most likely to become delinquent and their
behaviors.
Define the terms juvenile delinquency and adolescence.
Describe status offenses and how they are handled.
Summarize the treatment of delinquents.
1.6 Summarize the three themes of the text.

3. Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
Compare the treatment of
adolescents in the past to the
treatment of adolescents in the
future.
1.1

4. Treatment of Adolescents
Today’s concept of childhood is a relatively new
phenomenon.
4
Legal
Protections
for Juveniles
Children’s
Rights
Movement
Compulsory
Education
Laws
Childhood
Labor
1.1

5. 1.1 Treatment of Adolescents
Past Behavior
• Children were treated as small
adults.
• Children were expected to
work at a young age.
• Education was considered to
be of minor significance.
• Adolescent girls were
expected to marry and raise a
family.
• Parents had minimal emotional
attachment to their children.
• Children were punished as
adults.
• Children had few rights.
Current Behavior
• Adolescence is seen as
preparation for adulthood.
• Employment, if expected, is
after school or on weekends.
• Education is compulsory.
• Adolescent girls are
experiencing growing equality.
• Parents have a high emotional
investment in their children.
• Children are protected by the
state and are separated from
adults.
• Special legal protections exist
for children.
5

6. Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
Describe the youths most likely to
become delinquent and their
behaviors.
1.2

7. High-Risk Juveniles
1.2
The population of children in the United States is
increasing and becoming more racially and ethnically
diverse.
Juvenile
• A youth at or below the upper age of juvenile court
jurisdiction in a particular state.
7

8. © 2014 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
1.2
Problem Behaviors
Leading to Delinquency

9. 1.2 High-Risk Juveniles
• High-risk juveniles often experience multiple difficulties:
– Frequently socialized in economically stressed families and
communities
– Often have history of physical abuse and sexual victimization
– Typically have educational and vocational difficulties
– Are prone to becoming involved in alcohol and drug abuse
9

10. High-Risk Juveniles
1.2
• Adolescent problem behaviors are interrelated:
– Involvement in one problem behavior is generally indicative of
some participation in other socially undesirable behaviors.
• High risk youth tend to become involved in behaviors
that contribute to unintentional injury and violence:
– Not wearing a seat belt
– Carrying a weapon
– Drinking and driving
• Delinquency is one of the problems with which almost
all high-risk adolescents become involved.
10

11. Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
Define the terms juvenile delinquency
and adolescence.
1.3

12. Juvenile Delinquency Defined
1.3
Juvenile Delinquency
• An act committed by a minor that violates the penal
code of the government with authority over the area
in which the act occurs
• The juvenile court codes in every state define what
constitutes juvenile delinquency and the conditions
under which the state can legitimately intervene in a
juvenile’s life.
12

13. Adolescence Defined
1.3
Adolescence
• The life interval between childhood and adulthood;
usually the period between twelve and eighteen
years
– This term did not exist prior to the 1930s.
– Within this period, youngsters experience many biological
changes and develop new attitudes, values, and skills that will
carry into their young adult years.
13

14. Juvenile Court Intervention
The courts can have jurisdiction in relation to three
categories of juvenile behavior.
14
Delinquency
Neglect Dependency
1.3

15. 1.3 Juvenile Court Intervention
Juvenile Court Intervention
• Delinquency
– When a youth has been accused of committing an act, which
would be considered criminal, if they were an adult
– When a youth has been accused of committing a status
offense
• Dependency/Neglect
– If a court determines that a child is being deprived of needed
support and supervision
15

16. Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
Describe status offenses and how
status offenders are handled.
1.4

17. Status Offenders
1.4
Parens Patriae
• A medieval English doctrine that sanctioned the right
of the Crown to intervene in natural family relations
whenever a child’s welfare was threatened
• Under parens patriae, the state assumed the parental
role over juvenile lawbreakers.
– The philosophy of the juvenile court is based on this legal
concept.
17

18. 1.4 Status Offenders
Besides committing many of the same crimes as adults,
juveniles can also be arrested for status offenses.
• A status offense is an offense that is illegal for
underage persons but not for adults.
– Status offenses include curfew violations, incorrigibility, running
away, truancy, and underage drinking.
– In some jurisdictions, children in need of supervision are also
known as status offenders.
18

19. 1.4 Status Offenders
Why do status offenders behave the way they do?
• Status offenders often place the blame for their
problems on parental figures.
• The parents of status offenders often view their
children as defiant, demanding, and obnoxious.
19

20. 1.4
Status Offenders
Should status offenders be separate from
delinquents in terms of institutional
placement?

21. 1.4 Status Offenders
Deinstitutionalization of status offenders
• The removal of status offenders from secure detention
facilities
The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP)
Act of 1974
• A federal law that established a juvenile justice office
within the then existing Law Enforcement Assistance
Administration to provide funds for the prevention and
control of youth crime
– Requires status offenders to be kept separate from delinquents
in secure facilities, in order to receive funding
– Violations of this requirement are not uncommon
21

22. 1.4
Status Offenders
Should the juvenile court have jurisdiction
over status offenders?

23. 1.4 Status Offenders
Decriminalization of status offenses
• Some states have removed the juvenile court’s
jurisdiction over status offenses.
– It is unlikely that this will be a widespread movement.
23

24. 1.4
Status Offenders
Child Welfare
System
Juvenile
Justice
System
vs.

25. 1.4 Status Offenders
Crossover Youth
• Juveniles in both the child welfare and delinquency
systems
– Many of these youth experience co-occurring mental health
and drug and alcohol abuse problems.
25

26. Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
Summarize the treatment of
delinquents.
1.5

27. 1.5 Treatment of Delinquents
History of societal responses to juvenile
delinquency into the United States
The Reform
Agenda
Era
The Social
Control &
Juvenile
Crime
Era
The
Contemporary
Period
The Juvenile
Rights
Era
The Houses
of Refuge
Era
The Colonial
Period
The Juvenile
Courts
Era

28. 1.5 Treatment of Delinquents
Delinquent behavior takes place in a social context.
• It is within this context that social and structural
conditions influence:
– The development of delinquency
– The definition of delinquency
– The reform and punishment of delinquents
– Policy decisions about preventing delinquency
28

29. © 2014 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
1.5
The Social Context of Delinquency

30. Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you should be able to complete the following Learning Outcomes
Summarize the three themes of this
text.
1.6

31. 1.6 Three Themes
Delinquency
Prevention
Three
Themes
Delinquency
Across the
Life Course
Delinquency
and Social
Policy

32. 1.6 Three Themes
Delinquency Prevention
• Resiliency: The capacity to regain personal power
and develop a strong core sense of self in the face of
poverty, severe family hardship, and community
devastation
– Youth can learn resiliency when they live in environments that:
1. Offer caring and supportive relationships,
2. Hold high expectations for behavior and attitudes, and
3. Provide opportunities for meaningful participation.
32

33. 1.6 Three Themes
Developmental Life Course Theory
• A framework suggesting that four key factors
determine the shape of the life course:
33
Timing of Lives
Human
Agency
Linked Lives
Location in
Time and
Place

34. 1.6 Three Themes
Developmental Life Course Theory
• Holds that human development and aging are
lifelong processes, and that people are rational actors
who make decisions as they go through life
– The choices can be influenced by turning points that change or
modify the strength of social ties.
– Crime is more likely to occur when an individual’s ties to the
wider society are disrupted.
34

35. 1.6 Three Themes
Delinquency and Social Policy
• Asks what can be done to improve the quality of
young people’s lives
• Provides ideas for effectively treating and controlling
youth crime
• Social programs based on evidence derived from
research are evidence-based.
– The two basic tools of social science are research and theory.
35

36. © 2014 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
1.1
The history of responses to juvenile misbehavior displays a
pattern in which society has removed authority from the
family and given it to juvenile authorities while simultaneously
growing dissatisfied with the official handling of juvenile
crime.
The legal context for dealing with delinquency stems from the
early philosophy of parens patriae and provides for the juvenile
court to become a substitute parent for wayward children.
Historically, the task of the juvenile court has been to reconcile
the best interests of the child with the adequate protection of
society.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
1.2
Adolescents most likely to become delinquents are high-risk
youths who are involved in multiple problem behaviors.
Characteristic problem behaviors include school failure and
dropout, teenage pregnancy and fatherhood, and drug use and
other forms of delinquency.

37. © 2014 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
1.3
1.4
1.5
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Juvenile delinquency refers to an act committed by a minor that
violates the penal code of the government with authority over the
area in which the act occurs.
Adolescence is the life interval between childhood and adulthood;
usually the period between twelve and eighteen years.
Although they sometimes commit the same crimes as adults, juveniles
may also be apprehended for status offenses, behaviors
that would not be defined as criminal if adults engaged in them.
Although the public is child-centered, there is a growing concern
about serious juvenile crime, and a “get-tough” attitude
has come to characterize recent public awareness.

38. © 2014 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
1.6
One of the book’s themes, the social context of delinquency,
focuses on the environments in which young people find
themselves and considers how these contexts influence the
likelihood of delinquent behavior.
Another theme is delinquency across the life course, which
examines the extent and causes of delinquency as well as the
methods to control it.
A third theme is delinquency and social policy, which
looks at the process of proposing and enacting means by which
youngsters in our society can realize their potential and lead
productive and satisfying lives while ensuring safety and security
for all.
CHAPTER SUMMARY