JUVENILE LAW
An area of the law that deals with the actions and well-being of persons who are not yet adults.
In the law a juvenile is defined as a person who is not old enough to be held responsible for criminal acts. In most states and on the federal level, this age threshold is set at 18 years. In Wyoming a juvenile is a person under the age of 19. In some states a juvenile is a person under the age of 17, and in Connecticut,New York, and North Carolina, a juvenile is a person under the age of 16. These age definitions are significant because they determine whether a young person accused of criminal conduct will be charged with a crime in adult court or will be required to appear in juvenile court.
Juvenile courts generally have authority over
three categories of children: juveniles accused of
criminal conduct; juveniles neglected or abused
by their parents or in need of assistance from the
state; and juveniles accused of a status offense.
This last category refers to conduct that is pro-
hibited only to children, such as absence from
school (truancy), flight from home, disobedi-
ence of reasonable parental controls, and pur-
chase of alcohol, tobacco, or PORNOGRAPHY.
Originally the term juvenile delinquent
referred to any child found to be within the
jurisdiction of a juvenile court. It included chil-
dren accused of status offenses and children in
need of state assistance. The term delinquent was
not intended to be derogatory: its literal mean-
ing suggested a failure of parents and society to
raise the child, not a failure of the child.
The modern trend is to separate and label
juveniles based on the reason for their juvenile
court appearance and the facts of their case.
Many states have created three categories for
juveniles: delinquents, abused or neglected chil-
dren, and children in need of services. Delin-
quents are juveniles who have committed acts
that would result in criminal prosecution if
committed by an adult. Abused or neglected
children are those who are suffering from phys-
ical or emotional abuse or who have committed
status offenses or petty criminal offenses. Chil-
dren in need of services are ones who are not
abused or neglected but are needy in some other
way. These children are usually from impover-
ished homes and require improved nutrition
and basic health care.
Generally, the procedures for dealing with
abused, neglected, and needy children are less
formal than the procedures for dealing with
alleged delinquents. The subsequent treatment
of nondelinquent juveniles by the courts is also
markedly different from the treatment of delin-
quents. Separation of noncriminal cases from
criminal cases removes some of the stigma
attached to appearance in juvenile court.
The mission of juvenile courts differs from
that of adult courts. Juvenile courts do not have
the authority to order punishment. Instead, they
respond to juvenile misconduct and misfortune
by ordering rehabilitative measures or assistance
from government agencies. The juvenile court
response to misconduct generally is more
lenient than the adult court response.
Juvenile court proceedings are conducted in
private, whereas adult proceedings are public.
Also, whereas adult criminal courts focus on the
offense committed and appropriate punish-
ment, juvenile courts focus on the child and seek
to meet the child’s needs through rehabilitation,
supervision, and treatment. Adult courts may
deprive adults of their liberty only for the viola-
tion of criminal laws. Juvenile courts, by con-
trast, are empowered to control and confine
juveniles based on a broad range of behavior
and circumstances.
History
Before the nineteenth century, children were
generally considered to be young adults, and they
were expected to behave accordingly. Children
over the age of seven years who were accused of
crimes were prosecuted in adult court. If con-
victed they could be confined in an adult prison.
By the nineteenth century, most states had cre-
ated separate work farms and reform schools for
convicted children, but some states still sent chil-
dren to adult prisons. Juveniles were not always
rehabilitated in prison. After interacting with
adult criminals, they often emerged from prison
with increased criminal knowledge and an
increased resolve to commit crimes.
In the late nineteenth century, progressive
