Juvenile Delinquency Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Juvenile Delinquency - Assignment Example These experimentations usually lead them to engaging in at least one illegal demeanor like drinking or disobeying their parents. Some minors get caught and penalized for their illegal behavior while others remain unpunished. It leaves an impression as to what delinquent behaviors are punishable and forgivable? Sadly, its legal definition does not provide a clear distinction as to who are being caught and freed for engaging in illegal behavior. Response to Question #2: Different states have different age limits that help them determine whether an offender will be subjected to a juvenile court jurisdiction or to the jurisdiction of adult court. On average, once individuals reach the age of 18, they already are considered adults and therefore get tried in an adult court jurisdiction. The main concern here, however, is that it is difficult to quantify the level of maturity and cognitive capability of a person. Indeed, an individual can be 18 years old but it does not mean that he/she alr eady has the mental capacity and maturity of an adult. Another problem with using age as the fundamental determinant of adulthood is that it generalizes the social and psychological development of all youths. It fails to look at the differences of young individuals, specifically differences in their experiences, rate of development, and learning ability. Response to Question #3: The very system of juvenile justice varies in different states hence it is a great challenge to provide a description of it that would apply nationwide. The lack of uniformity in juvenile delinquency law in different states in America makes it difficult to standardized juvenile justice practices in the country. Consider that every state has different age definition of who can be considered juveniles. In addition, each state has its own way of handling or preventing certain juvenile behaviors because of people’s differences in their social, political, and economic circumstances. In some states, for ins tance, shoplifting is already a violation of the law and therefore merits a certain punishment. On the contrary, other states which are more tolerant about their juvenile delinquency law might have a different response to a person who commits the same offense. Moreover, although the law on juvenile delinquency is already in situ, local officers within juvenile justice still have their freedom to choose how to respond on a certain juvenile behavior. Response to Question #4: Since the subject of juvenile delinquency mainly concerns about the youths’ present life and future, the public throughout time fundamentally perceives it as an important social and political problem that needs to be looked closely and addressed. Most people believe that juvenile crime incidences are rapidly increasing and, therefore, need to be taken care of in tougher ways. Although the public’s perception is almost always unsupported, they are able influence juvenile justice in one way or another. Normally, the insights of the public about juvenile crime leads to a certain change in the way local governments respond to delinquency problem. Response to Question #5: Based on the UCR information provided in the text, juvenile