Viewed as misbehavior alone, that is, as an individual act of misconduct of a particular boy or girl, one is not too apt to become alarmed over juvenile delinquency. Every adult in looking over his past can match most of the peccadilloes which bring children into conflict with the law. The implication of these peccadilloes, however, goes far beyond the individual act of misbehavior. That Johnny, the neighbor's son, stole some trinkets from the five-and-ten cent store, or raided the corner fruit stand, or entered an empty building and cut out the lead pipes is not important in and of itself. It is important however as a symptom of Johnny's future career. Is the particular act of misconduct merely a product of youthful ebullience which will be outgrown by process of maturation or does it mark the first step in a career of delinquency and crime?
Analysis of the careers and records of professional criminals, of men who have dedicated themselves to crime has demonstrated in all too many instances that the beginnings of their careers lie in the delinquencies of early childhood and adolescence. Criminal careers, in other words, do not spring full blown in adult life. A man who arrives at the age of maturity does not usually choose to lead a life of crime. The professional criminal, the career man of crime, embarks on his career generally by serving a period of apprenticeship as a juvenile delinquent or adolescent offender. The importance of juvenile delinquency therefore is that it is the kindergarten of crime. If adequately controlled and dealt with by the social forces in the community, many youngsters will be saved from the road which leads to the reformatory and the state penitentiary. The use of unprogressive methods and techniques in dealing with the juvenile delinquent, however, is bound to have disastrous repercussions on the statistics of crime.
Agencies Dealing with Juvenile Delinquency.
In view of the importance of juvenile delinquency therefore, it is highly desirable to know how much there is, whether it is increasing or decreasing, the types of boys and girls involved in delinquencies, the kinds of delinquent acts being committed, the effectiveness of the various agencies dealing with delinquency, such as the juvenile court, the child guidance clinic and the school system. It is difficult to answer these questions for any single community and next to impossible to answer them for the country as a whole. The United States Children's Bureau is the only agency that prints juvenile delinquency statistics on a national scale. Its last report is for the year 1937 and this indicates that for the 28 courts in which figures were available the number of delinquency cases dropped steadily from 36,902 in 1929 to 27,849 in 1936, and rose again to 31,038 in 1937. These figures however do not mean very much since they cover only cases which come before the juvenile courts. The outstanding characteristic of juvenile delinquency which makes it difficult to measure statistically is that large numbers of delinquents are handled by other types of social agencies, such as child welfare and family case work organizations, schools, police officers, etc. Court figures alone therefore do not tell the whole story of the amount of juvenile delinquency in any single community.
In a recent survey of the subject in Wisconsin, for example, it was determined that more than three times the number of cases came to the attention of various types of social agencies than came before the juvenile courts. That survey incidentally concluded that the trend of juvenile delinquency in Wisconsin during the years 1936-1940 was 'definitely upward' and that 'a serious situation exists in this state since over 10,000 boys and girls have started on lives of delinquency and crime during the last few years.'
But even when the juvenile delinquency figures are limited to cases coming before the juvenile courts, the size and gravity of the problem of delinquency still remains impressive. In 1937, 53 courts in communities containing 20 per cent of the country's population reported 45,683 cases of delinquency to the Children's Bureau. Of these cases, 38,985 or 85 per cent were those of boys and 6,698 or 15 per cent were girls' cases.
Of the 45,683 delinquency cases, 35,401 or 77 per cent were white and 10,203 or .22 per cent were Negro. The balance, or less than 1 per cent were of other races. Negro children tended to be brought before the courts more frequently than white children. This may be partially accounted for by the lack of social agencies, outside the juvenile court, to deal with Negro delinquents. Of the white children, 71 per cent were native born of native parents and 29 per cent had one or both parents of foreign birth. Children in the 14 to 15 year old age group comprised the largest proportion of the cases dealt with by the courts. Most of the boys were referred for acts of stealing or acts of carelessness or mischief. Most of the delinquent girls, however, were referred to the courts for running away, being ungovernable or for sex offenses.
Juvenile Courts.
The delinquent who comes before a juvenile court is dealt with differently than the offender who comes before the ordinary tribunal. The approach of a juvenile court is more socialized. It is less concerned with punishment for the specific act committed than with the potentialities of the delinquent as a law-abiding citizen. Its procedure is generally informal and non-public as contrasted with the public, formal procedure in prosecuting adults in a criminal court.
One of the great problems in dealing with delinquency is the age at which a minor will be subject to the rigors of the adult courts and the punishments of the ordinary criminal law. In recent years the general tendency has been to push upward the age limit which marks the jurisdiction of juvenile courts, so as to give more and more delinquents the benefit of the socialized approaches of the juvenile courts. This trend was continued in 1941, for the juvenile court age limit was increased from sixteen to eighteen years in Indiana, Maryland and New Mexico. Oklahoma raised the age limit for girls from sixteen to eighteen, leaving the limit for boys at sixteen. In Pennsylvania, however, a determined attack upon the juvenile court age limit of eighteen was made and a number of bills seeking to reduce the age limit to sixteen were introduced in the legislature, but were defeated.
Recent Legislation.
There was considerable legislation on other matters relating to juvenile delinquency in 1941. In Arizona, for example, the legislature enacted a new juvenile code which gives the Superior Court 'exclusive original jurisdiction' in all proceedings affecting neglected, dependent, incorrigible or delinquent children under the age of eighteen accused of crime. When exercising this jurisdiction the Superior Court shall be known as the juvenile court. In Indiana a specialized juvenile court was established 'in every county of the state containing a city with a population of 300,000 inhabitants or more.' Connecticut set up 'a juvenile court for the state of Connecticut,' to be held in each of the three specified districts into which the state was divided. Each district is to be presided over by a separate judge.
The marked difference between the procedure in a juvenile court and in an adult court leads to attacks from time to time on the constitutionality of juvenile court laws. One such attack was made in New Jersey in the case of State v. Goldberg (125 N.J.L. 501, 124 N.J.L. 272). There a boy of fifteen was indicted by a grand jury for assault with intent to kill and carrying concealed weapons. The boy objected to the indictment on the ground that the only charge to which he could be subjected was that of juvenile delinquency, triable in the juvenile court of the county. The Court of Oyer and Terminer, the adult criminal court, however, claimed jurisdiction to try this indictment on the ground that the juvenile court act was unconstitutional. In the case of In Re Mei (122 N.J.Eq. 125) the highest court of New Jersey had held that murder, when committed by a juvenile, must be tried in the ordinary criminal courts. However in crimes short of murder committed by a juvenile, the jurisdiction of the juvenile court was upheld. See also CRIME.
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