Learning Resources

Please read and view (where applicable) the following Learning Resources before you complete this week's assignments.

Readings

Review Course Preview and read Course Introduction (located in the left navigation bar)

Course Text:Schmalleger, F., Bartollas, C. (2014). Juvenile delinquency. (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Chapter 1, "Adolescence and Delinquency"

Media

Interactive Module: "Historical Treatment of Children and Juvenile Justice System," Copyright (2008) by Pearson Learning Solutions. Used with the permission of Pearson Education. Boston, MA.

http://media.pearsoncmg.com/pcp/pls/pls_mycoursetools/fufillment/mct_94735_laureate/hist_treatment/index.html

Optional Resources

Websites

Website: U.S. Department of Justice. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

http://www.ojjdp.gov/

This Web site provides national leadership and resources to prevent and respond to juvenile delinquency and victimization.

Website: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Healthy Youth! YRBSS: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System.

http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/index.htm

This Web site provides survey information on health-risk behaviors prevalent among youth and young adults. The YRBSS includes a national school-based survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state, territorial, tribal, and local surveys conducted by state, territorial, and local education and health agencies and tribal governments.
Snyder, H. N., & Sickmund, M. (2006). Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report [PDF]. Graphs from Chapter 1: Juvenile population characteristics. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention .

http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/nr2006/downloads/NR2006.pdf

This PDF provides a brief overview of some of the more commonly requested demographic, economic, and sociological statistics on juveniles.

Duscussion 1

History of Juvenile Delinquency and Justice

Social responses to juvenile delinquency have evolved substantially over the last few centuries. In earlier times, juveniles who exhibited bad behavior endured severe, often public, physical punishments and possible banishment from their communities. However, as time went on, people began to realize that delinquency was not necessarily a rational choice by juveniles, but could be the result of causal factors such as poverty, dysfunctional families, or bad schools. The harsh punishments once used to address juvenile delinquency were replaced with treatment-oriented programs that attempted to target some of the causal factors of juvenile delinquency. While such programs were certainly more humane, they failed to address juveniles who committed violent crimes. As a result, juvenile involvement in violent crimes increased, which preempted the decision to try and sentence some of the most violent juveniles in the adult justice system. Contemporary social responses to juvenile delinquency include a combination of treatment-oriented and incarceration programs, many of which you will learn about in the coming weeks. In this week's Discussion, you take a closer look at historical social responses to juvenile delinquency and consider how these responses influenced contemporary perspectives and practices.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review Chapter 1 in the course text, Juvenile Delinquency, and the Interactive Module, " Historical Treatment of Children and Juvenile Justice System. "

• Focus on historical social responses to juvenile delinquency.

• Consider perspectives and practices related to contemporary juvenile delinquency and justice.

• Select one historical social response related to juvenile delinquency for use in this Discussion.

• Consider how the response you selected has influenced contemporary perspectives and practices related to juvenile delinquency.

With these thoughts in mind:

The historical social response you selected. Then, explain how this response influenced contemporary perspectives and practices related to juvenile delinquency and justice. Be specific.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources.