Juvenile Delinquency

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

or refer them directly to
their parents. But in other communities, the police may refer such children to
a juvenile court, where they may officially be declared delinquents. Crime
statistics, though they are often incomplete and may be misleading, do give an
indication of the extent of the delinquency problem. The FBI reports that
during the early 1980's, about two-fifths of all arrests in the United States
for burglary and arson were of persons under the age of 18. Juveniles also
accounted for about one-third of all arrests for larceny. During any year,
about 4 % of all children between the ages of 10 and 18 appear in a juvenile
court. The percentage of youngsters in this group who are sent to court at
least once is much higher. A third or more of those boys living in the slum
areas of large cities may appear in a juvenile court at least once. Girls are
becoming increasingly involved in juvenile delinquency. Today, about one of
every five youngsters appearing in ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

CITE THIS PAGE: