NCJ Number
88637
Editor(s)
S C Farkas
Date Published
1983
Length
123 pages
Annotation
Juvenile crime is not increasing, as the public has been led to believe, but juvenile violence and repeat offenses are increasing. Seven noted journalists from across the country examine serious juvenile crime in their States and nationwide.
Abstract
Their stories appeared in newspapers in Maryland, Missouri, Idaho, Tennessee, and Virginia. They cover the entire spectrum of violent juvenile crime issues: repeat offenders, discrepancies in treatment (especially for girls), jail and detention center conditions, adequacy of reform schools, and home environments. Together, they provide an unsettling picture of the problems violent juvenile offenders face in obtaining adequate treatment and the difficulties case workers and jail administrators face in housing and reforming them. The articles highlight the different treatment accorded black and white youths, as well as societal and family reactions to female delinquents. Many violent adolescents are marked by poverty, parental mental illness and alcoholism, and child abuse; juvenile counselors find them difficult to reach and hostile. There are some success stories, however; and reporters attempt to underline why one youth succeeds where another fails. A psychologist's report on juvenile processing in the District of Columbia is included.