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 (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1993).
The first juvenile court was an independent court designed primarily to deal with pre-delinquent and delinquent youths between the ages of 7 and 14 years. The establishment of this court was based on the English common law known as parens patriae. This concept, when applied to juveniles, gave the court the right to become the legal guardian of all juveniles in its jurisdiction and to limit or terminate the rights of the parents. This doctrine viewed juvenile law violators as not legally culpable, and instead, in need of protection and guidance from the juvenile court. Consequently, to this day, juveniles who violate the penal code are placed under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.
Legally, a delinquent is a juvenile under the age of 18 who violates a criminal law or commits a status offense. A status offense is an act that is declared to be an offense only when it is committed by a juvenile, for example, running away, using alcohol, and immoral conduct. The legislation that defines and creates the status of being a delinquent is a state law. This definition refers to numerous types of behaviors and includes the violation of a law by young people under a certain age. A number of problems are connected with this definition.
One difficulty is that the various states arbitrarily determine by the upper legal age for juveniles. All juvenile codes observe two chronological age references: the maximum and the minimum of jurisdiction. The minimum age of jurisdiction refers to the earliest age at which a juvenile is held responsible for his.........
