Juveniles who engage in illegal behaviors and come to the attention of the authorities are considered delinquents. In 1992, more than 1.7 million juveniles were arrested for behaviors ranging from murder to loitering.
Juvenile delinquency is a complex problem, and any study of delinquency necessitates a scientific analysis of this problem. This chapter focuses on the definition, nature, and extent of delinquency in the United States. Before any meaningful analysis of juvenile delinquency can be attempted, however, it is necessary to understand how the concept evolved. (Dressler, J., 2002).
There are counseling services, for both young people and the persons who deal with them, which employ counselors, visiting teachers, home and school visitors, school social workers, and attendance officers. Further, there are those important aspects of a well-rounded instructional program--special classes or schools for handicapped, recreation programs, remedial teaching, supervised work programs, religious and ethical training, which are sometimes called "special" because they were developed relatively recently and are not yet universal. Each of these school services can make a distinct contribution to the school's total effort to prevent and to correct juvenile delinquency.
Such emphasis on the contribution of these special services should not in any way detract from the central importance of the classroom program itself. How the school is organized and what it does to challenge the interests, the activities, and the loyalties of children and youth are all important.
Guidance is a co-ordinated developmental process in which pupils, teachers, parents, administrators, counselors, physicians, psychologists, and other specialists share responsibility for the welfare of each individual pupil. In this process, each person contributes toward understanding the individual pupil and helping him to: (1) assess his own abilities, interests, and needs; (2) become acquainted with and utilize resources and facilities in the school and community which may.......
