GEMINI CRIMINOLOGY ONLINE REVIEW AND TRAINING CENTER
P E N E T E E A P
Dr. MANUEL V JAUDIAN, LLB. PhD
ETEEAP DIRECTOR
JUVENILE CRIME AND JUVENILE JUSTICE
JUVENILE CRIME:
Historically juvenile have tended toward property related crimes such as larceny, burglary,
motor vehicle theft and arson
Juvenile crime involving not only disadvantage youth urban areas, but all races, social classes
and like styles, causal factors pertaining to juvenile violence are multifarious. Many who have studied
the problem believe that much of the violence reflects a breakdown of families, schools, and other social
institutions, some juvenile offenders came from single – parent homes.
THE EXTENT OF JUVENILE CRIME:
The serious criminal events that the juvenile courts and juvenile justice system must increasingly
deal with so called status offenders.
STATUS OFFENDERS – Are acts that are considered delinquent if committed by a child but are not
considered if committed by an adult.
STATUS OFFENSE – It is possible for juvenile to be prosecuted in juvenile court and adjudicated
delinquent for a range of behavior for which adults cannot be prosecuted.
SPECIFIC BEHAVIOR ARE DEFINED UNDER A BROADER CATEGORY:
1. PINS – Person In Need of Supervision
2. CINS – Children In Need of Supervision
3. MINS – Minor In Need of Supervision
4. JINS – Juvenile In Need of Supervision
5. CHINA – Children In Need of Assistance
JUVENILE JUSTICE:
It consist of the agencies and institutions whose primary responsibility is handling juvenile
offenders. These agencies and their programs concern themselves with delinquent youths as well as
those children and youth labeled incorrigible, truant and/ or runaway.
Juvenile justice
Focuses on the needs of youth who are taken into custody, diverted into special programs,
processed through the juvenile court and adjudicated, and placed on probation referred to a community
based treatment program or placed in a group home or a secure facility.
Four types of approach to juvenile justice:
1. Some authorities still hold to the original social welfare principles of the juvenile justice
system, they argue that the juvenile court is primarily a treatment that acts as a wise parent
and individual justice to needy children who seek guidance and understanding.
2. Those with a crime control orientation suggest that the juvenile courts, parens patriae
philosophy has neglected the victims of delinquents and that serious offenders should be
punished and disciplined rather than treated and rehabilitated.
3. A third approach to juvenile justice takes the position that court processing has a potentially
adverse effect on children, who are denied some of the constitutional rights afforded adult
offenders.
4. A fourth approach advocates using the balanced and restorative justice model which calls
for accountability program development and community protection.
THE JUVENILE JUSTICE PROCESS:
Designed primarily to help the child it stresses rehabilitation not punishment or deterrence.
THE JUVENILE JUSTICE PROCESS FLOWS THROUGH NINE STAGES:
1. Referral
2. Intake
3. Detention
4. Petition and Adjudication’
5. Disposition
6. Community Supervision or Placement
7. Revocation
8. State Training School
9. Aftercare
THE AGENCIES THAT DEAL WITH JUVENILES HAVE TRADITIONALLY SERVED TWO PURPOSES:
1. FORMAL
2. INFORMAL
MORE PREVENTION TREATMENT AND DUE PROCESS FOR JUVENILE DELINQUENTS
Proponents of this view point out that most juveniles who are arrested have committed only
Minor Offenses such as status offenses, so minor, they would not even be considered illegal if
committed by adults, but once arrested they are labeled delinquent by the police and other authorities
in society and then treated as criminals.
DEFINITION OF TERMS:
1. JUVENILE – The juvenile began to be used when states passed laws establishing the legal age for
adulthood.
2. Referred to any person under the legal age of majority
3. JUVENILE DELINQUENCY – Is legally defined as any act which, if committed by an adult, would be a
crime.
4. The act, the actor, and the audience
5. JUVENILE DELINQUENT – Are underage counterparts to adult convicted criminals.
6. DELINQUENCY – Has become any act which would be a crime if committed by an adult.
7. As emotionally disturbed behavior, as persistently anti social and as behavior in an adolescent
disappointing beyond reasonable expectation.
8. PARENS PATRIAE – The legal philosophy justifying state intervention in the lives of children when
their parents are unable or unwilling to protect them.
9. A Latin term for parent of his country refers to the power of the state to act on behalf of the child
and provide care and protection equivalent to that of a parent.
10. STATUS OFFENSES – Include conduct that is illegal only if children engaged in it such as truancy,
curfew violation, runaways and incorability.
11. EMANCIPATION - A relinquishment of the care, custody and earnings of a minor child and the
renunciation of parental duties.
12. DEVIANCE- A behavior that departs from the social norm.
13. ABANDONMENT - The most common legal grounds for termination of parental rights, also a form
of child abuse in most states. Sporadic visits, a few phone calls, or birthday cards are not sufficient
to maintain parental rights. Fathers who manifest indifference toward a pregnant mother are also
viewed as abandoning the child when it is born.
14. ABUSE - Term for acts or omissions by a legal caretaker. Encompasses a broad range of acts, and
usually requires proof of intent.
15. ADJUDICATION - The phase of a delinquency hearing similar to a "trial" in adult criminal court,
except that juveniles have no right to a jury trial, a public trial, or bail.
16. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE - Any of the processes involving enforcement of care, custody, or
support orders by an executive agency rather than by courts or judges.
17. ADOPTION - A legal relationship between two people not biologically related, usually terminating
the rights of biological parents, and usually with a trial "live-in" period. Once an adoption is
finalized, the records are sealed and only the most compelling interests will enable disclosure of
documents.
18. BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD RULE - Legal doctrine establishing court as determiner of best
environment for raising child. An alternative to the Parens Patriae Doctrine.
19. BREED v. JONES (1975) - Case allowing second prosecution in adult court for conviction in juvenile
court, based on idea that first conviction was a "civil" matter.
20. CASE LAW - Law established by the history of judicial decisions in cases decided by judges, as
opposed to common law which is developed from the history of judicial decisions and social
customs.
21. CHILD PROTECTION ACTION - The filing of legal papers by a child welfare agency when its
investigation has turned up evidence of child abuse. This is a civil, rather than criminal, charge
designed to take preventive action (like appointment of a Guardian ad litem) for at-risk children
before abuse occurs.
22. CHILD SUPPORT – the act of being responsible for enforcing child support obligations.
23. CHILD VICTIMS' AND CHILD WITNESS' RIGHTS - A 1990 federal law allowing courts to take
extraordinary steps in protecting the emotional health of any child called to testify in a courtroom.
24. CHINS (CHild In Need of Supervision) - A term applied to status offenders adjudicated in juvenile
court.
25. CIVIL PROTECTION ORDER - A form of protective custody in which a child welfare or police agency
order an adult suspected of abuse to leave the home.
26. CUSTODIAL CONFINEMENT - Court order for placement in a secure facility, separate from adults,
for the rehabilitation of a juvenile delinquent.
27. DELINQUENCY PROCEEDING - Court action to officially declare someone a juvenile delinquent. A
"delinquent" is defined as under the age of majority who has been convicted in juvenile court of
something that would be classified as a crime in adult court.
28. DEPENDENT - Anyone under the care of someone else. A child ceases to be a dependent when they
reach the age of emancipation.
29. DeSHANEY v. WINNEBAGO COUNTY (1989) - Case limiting extent by which government exercises
parens patriae power.
30. DISPOSITION - Phase of delinquency proceeding similar to "sentencing" phase of adult trial. The
judge must consider alternative, innovative, and individualized sentences rather than imposing
standard sentences.
31. DIVERSION - An alternative to trial decided upon at intake to refer the child to counseling or other
social services.
32. EMANCIPATION - Independence of a minor from his or her parents before reaching age of majority.
33. EQUAL PROTECTION – A clause requiring government to treat similarly situated people the same or
have good reason for treating them differently. Compelling reasons are considered to exist for
treating children differently.
34. FAMILY IMMUNITY DOCTRINE - Legal doctrine preventing unemancipated children from suing their
parents.
35. FAMILY PURPOSE DOCTRINE - Legal doctrine holding parents liable for injuries caused by a child's
negligent driving or other actions.
36. FOSTER CARE - Temporary care funded via Federal-State pass-through and arranged by a child
welfare agency in order to allow receipt of adequate food, clothing, shelter, education, and medical
treatment for anyone raising a child that is not their own.
37. GUARDIAN AD LITEM - Phrase meaning "For the Proceeding" referring to adults who look after the
welfare of a child and represent their legal interests.
38. GUARDIANSHIP - Court order giving an individual or organization legal authority over a child. A
guardian of the person is usually an individual and the child is called a ward. A guardian of the
estate is usually an organization, like a bank, which manages the property and assets of a child's
inheritance. Guardians are usually compensated for their services.
39. ILLEGITIMACY - Being born to unmarried parents. The law assumes legitimacy via a married
mother's husband, whether or not this is the true father. Illegitimacy status limits inheritance
rights.
40. IN LOCO PARENTIS - Teachers, administrators, and babysitters who are viewed as having some
temporary parental rights & obligations.
41. IN RE GAULT (1967) – (US) - Case that determined the Constitution requires a separate juvenile
justice system with certain standard procedures and protections, but still not as many as in adult
systems.
42. INTAKE - Procedure prior to preliminary hearing in which a group of people (intake officer, police,
probation, social worker, parent and child) talk and decide whether to handle the case formally or
informally.
43. JUDGMENT - Any official decision or finding of a judge or administrative agency hearing officer
upon the respective rights and claims of parties to an action; also known as a decree or order.
44. KENT v. U.S. (1966) - Case requiring a special hearing before any transfers to adult court.
45. MATERNAL PREFERENCE RULE - Legal doctrine granting mothers custodial preference after a
divorce.
46. NEGLECT - Parental failure to provide a child with basic necessities when able to do so.
Encompasses a variety of forms of abuse that do not require the element of intent.
47. PARENS PATRIAE - Legal doctrine establishing "parental" role of state over welfare of its citizens,
especially its children. A 19th century idea first articulated in Prince v. Massachusetts (1944).
48. PAROLE - Release of a juvenile delinquent from custodial confinement prior to expiration of
sentence; sometimes called aftercare.
49. PATERNITY - Result of lawsuit forcing a reluctant man to assume obligations of fatherhood. Blood
and DNA tests showing a 98 or 99 percent likelihood are the standard. Laws vary widely in terms of
statutes of limitations and when paternity actions will not be allowed (estoppel).
50. PLEADING - In juvenile court, a plea of "not guilty" will move the case to adjudication, and a plea of
"guilty" or "nolo contendere" will result in waiver of the right to trial. State procedures vary widely
in how intelligent and voluntary pleas are accepted.
51. PRELIMINARY HEARING - The bringing of a juvenile before a magistrate or judge in which charges
are formally presented. Similar to an arraignment in adult court, and also called "advisory hearings"
or "initial appearances" in some state juvenile justice systems.
52. PREVENTIVE DETENTION - Keeping a juvenile in custody or under a different living arrangement
until the time when an adjudication can take place. Upheld in Schall v. Martin (1984), but the right
to speedy trial requires the dropping of charges if an unreasonable amount of time is spent in
preventive detention.
53. PROTECTIVE CUSTODY - Emergency, temporary custody by a child welfare agency, police agency, or
hospital for reasons of immanent danger to the child. A hearing must be held for the benefit of the
parents within a few days.
54. PSYCHOLOGICAL PARENT DOCTRINE - Legal doctrine granting custody to the parent whom the
child feels the greatest emotional attachment to.
55. RESTITUTION - A disposition requiring a defendant to pay damages to a victim. The law prohibits
making restitution a condition of receiving probation. Poor families cannot be deprived of
probation simply because they are too poor to afford restitution. Some states do not allow families
to pay restitution.
56. RULE OF SIXTEEN – (US) - Federal and state laws that prohibit anyone under age 16 from
employment.
57. STANFORD v. KENTUCKY (1989) - Case in which it was determined constitutional to execute
juveniles between the ages of 16-18, but unconstitutional if they committed crimes while under age
16. Won by a narrow majority, as in the 1988 case of Thompson v. Oklahoma which relied upon
"standards of decency".
58. STATUS OFFENSE - An activity illegal when engaged in by a minor, but not when done by an adult.
Examples include truancy, curfew, running away, or habitually disobeying parents.
59. STEPPARENT - A spouse of a biological parent who has no legal rights or duties to the child other
than those which have been voluntarily accepted.
60. SURROGATE PARENT - A parent who provided an egg, sperm, or uterus with an intent of giving the
child up for adoption to specific parties.
61. TENDER YEARS DOCTRINE - Legal doctrine that unless the mother is "unfit", very young children
should be placed in custody with their mother following a divorce.
62. TERMINATION HEARINGS - Process for legally severing the parent-child relationship. Initiated by
the filing of a petition in family court, and almost always brought forth by a child welfare agency.
Requires a finding of "unfitness" and a determination of the best interests of the child.
63. UNFIT PARENT - A temporary or permanent termination of parental rights in the best interest of
the child usually for reasons of abandonment, abuse, or neglect, but also including mental illness,
addiction, or criminal record. Poverty alone and character flaws are prohibited by law from being
indicators of "unfitness".
