Juvenile Delinquency in the United States

Abstract

The chapter discussed the treatment of juvenile delinquents, beginning with the establishment of reformatories in courts that provided minimal due process protections. The response of law enforcement to juvenile delinquency evolved as the demographics of the urban areas changed during the Great Migration of African American families and the increase in immigrant populations. Ad hoc programs, such as the Juvenile Aid Bureau (JAB), in which preventive services were delivered by police officers, were replaced by modern, organized, professional law enforcement agencies. This development coincided with “get-tough” policies against juvenile crime that resulted in the disproportionate policing of Black youth along with lengthy sentences. As a result of a growing understanding of adolescence as a distinct developmental phase, there have been attempts to modify this policy to provide alternatives to incarceration and preventive community services. Structural conditions of poor housing, lack of community partnerships with local police, and segregated community services have contributed to the oversurveillance of Black youth.