Juvenile delinquency and

juvenile justice system

Facilitators:
Absalon, Ace Jaron A.
Villarazo, Lovejanne L.

Prof. Mayliza N. Cañas

Chapter
1
HISTORY OF JUVENILE
DELINQUENCY AND
JUVENILE JUSTICE
Learning objectives
At the end of this chapter, the students will be able to:
1. Define Juvenile Delinquency:
2. Define Domestic Violence;
3. Describe the harsh beginnings on the history of Juvenile Justice and the concept of Juvenile Delinquency:
4. Explain how the concept of childhood began to emerge in the 16th and 17th centuries;
5. Describe the impact of Industrial Revolution on the development of the concept of Juvenile Delinquency,
6. Determine the roles of the House of Refuge and the Child Savers movement in the development of Juvenile
Justice:
7. Explain the importance of the creation of Juvenile Court;
8. Enumerate some of the Individual-level Theories of Delinquency, and
9. Differentiate the Choice Theory and the Trait Theory.
10. What is Juvenile Delinquency?
What is Juvenile Delinquency?
Juvenile delinquency
- refers to the acts by a juvenile that are pre
considered as a crime if committed by an as well as to
the actions that are illegal only because of the age of
the offender. Juvenile is anyone under the age of 18,
unless otherwise specified on the laws of the specific
country. A Juvenile Delinquent, is any young person
whose conduct is characterized by antisocial behavior
that is beyond parental control and subject to legal
action.
In the Philippines, a "Child" refers to a person under the
age of eighteen (18) years. A child fifteen (15) years of age or
under at the time of the commission of the offense are
exempt from criminal liability, However, the child is to be
subjected to an intervention program. In addition to this, a
child above fifteen (15) years but below eighteen (18) years
of age are also exempt from criminal liability and subjected
to an intervention program, unless he/she has acted with
discernment. It is important to note that the exemption
from criminal liability does not include an exemption from
civil liability (RA 10630, 25013, Section 3).
What is Juvenile Justice?
Juvenile justice
refers to a system of laws, policies, and procedures intended
to regulate the processing and treatment of non adult
offenders for violations of law and to provide legal remedies
that protect their interests in situations of conflict or neglect.
In the Philippines, Juvenile Justice and Welfare System refers
to a system dealing with children at risk and children in
conflict with the law, which provides child-appropriate
proceedings, including programs and services for prevention,
diversion, rehabilitation, reintegration and aftercare to
ensure their normal growth and development.
Historical Background of
Juvenile Justice and Juvenile
Delinquency
Throughout most of history, youthful offenders
were handled under the same laws and system as
adults. While deviance on the part of young persons
has always been a fact of life, societal intervention
and participation in the handling of juvenile
transgressors has gained most of its momentum only
in the last 100-150 years.
The Harsh Beginnings
Children were viewed as non-persons until the
1700's. They did not receive special treatment or
recognition. In terms of legal proscriptions
children could be held liable for the same actions
and in the same fashion as adults. There was no
legal term of "delinquency" under which the state
could intervene with youths.
There were some major assumptions about life before
the 1700's adults (Kibin, 2022). The first assumption is that
life was hard, and you had to be hard to survive. The
people of that time in history did not have the
conveniences that we take for granted. The medical
practices of that day were primitive in comparison to
present-day medicine. The second assumption was that
infant and child mortality were high (Kibin, 2022). It did
not make sense to the parents in those days to create an
emotional bond with children. There was a great chance
that the children would not survive until adulthood (Kibin,
2003).
Children were often abandoned or released from traditional
community restraints, there are countless observers from this
period tell of bands of youths roaming the cities at night, engaging
in thievery, begging, and other forms of misbehavior. At this time
family control of children, with the father in the role of sovereign,
was the dominant model for disciplining wayward youth (Krisberg,
2005, p.20). This system was extended to those children without
families through a system of "binding out" the young to other
families. This is where poor abandoned children were apprenticed
to households for a specific period of time. This is the same as the
"apprenticeship" for the children belonging to the privileged class,
the only difference is that the binding-out system did not oblige the
master to teach his ward as a specific trade. Boys generally were
assigned to farming tasks and girls were bought into domestic
service.
16th and 17th Century
The concept of childhood began to emerge in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries. During this time, medical advancements
brought about a lengthening of the life expectancy of youths. Youths
also began to be viewed as different from the adults (Lab and
Whitehead, 2015, p.32). They were in need of protection, assistance, and
guidance in order to grow up uncorrupted by the world. This
movement was led by the clergy and scholars of the time. For them
youths who were not yet corrupted. had to be shielded from society and
trained for their future role in the society. As a result childhood came to
be seen as a period of time during which the young could receive an
education and moral training without the pressures of adulthood.
Dealing with misbehavior began to be tailored to fit
the age of the offender. For instance; in England, youths
under the age of 7 could not be held responsible for their
actions, individuals between 8 to 14 could be held liable
only when it could be shown they understood the
consequences of their actions, while youth age 14 and over
are considered adults. While these types of changes began
to recognize the importance of age in dealing with
offenders, the actions taken against the offenders
remained the same regardless of the age.
Age of enlightenment
During the colonial times and up to the first part
of the 1800's, youths were labeled as rowdy and out of
control; hence the term "wayward youth”. They were
either sent home for a court-observed whipping,
assigned tasks as farmer's helpers. Or placed in
deplorable rat infested prisons with hardened adult
offenders.
At the end of the 18th century, the Enlightenment
appeared as a new cultural transition. This period of
history is sometimes known as the beginning of reason
and humanism (Kibin, 2022). People began to see
children as flowers, who need nurturing in order to
bloom. It was the invention of childhood, love and
nurturing instead of beatings to stay in line. Children
had finally begun to emerge as a distinct group. It
started with the upper class, who were allowed to
attend colleges and universities.
Several important socioeconomic changes between 1730 and 1830
impacted the changing construct of the child:

● Urbanization decreased the average family size, making every

child previous, a "gift from God."
● The breakdown of the apprentice system meant that children
spent more time with parents.
● Increased school attendance helped to create a separate youth
culture.
● The new distinction between juvenile and adult activities lead
adults to look back on their own childhoods with wistful nostalgia.
● Reproduction and childrearing became a marker of middle-class
masculinity.
● Commentary on the American and French Revolutions postulated
a new relationship between fatherhood and the state.
House of Refuge
By the 1830's, pioneering penal reformers Thomas
Eddy and John Griscom, organized the Society for the
Prevention of Pauperism, to oppose housing youth in
adult jails and prisons and urge the creation of a new
type of institution."This led to the opening of a
separate institution for juvenile offenders in New
York City which was the New York House of Refuge
in 1825, and similar juvenile facilities in 1826 and 1828
in Boston and Philadelphia respectively.
Houses of Refuge were large fortress-like congregate style
institutions located in urban areas for youth designated as
abandoned, delinquent or incorrigible. Its aim is to shield
juveniles from the harsh conditions of prison, and children's
advocates were suggesting that juveniles under age 16 should
not be prosecuted at all (Dennis, n.d.). It is a separate institution
for juvenile offenders (Roberts, and Springer, 2011, p.3). Others
argue that the low standard of living provided in the house, in
terms of food, clothing, recreation, and general care, in
comparison to the harsh discipline given to those who violated
the rules offset the benefits received from their stay, as a result
many children ran away from the house of refuge if opportunity
presented itself."
The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution became a springboard for new social
distinctions between childhood and youth, impacting the identification
and treatment of youth for centuries to come." It contributed to the
increase in the number of families and children residing within large
cities. There was a shift from a predominantly rural society to that of an
urban society. Many large cities experienced influxes in their
population base over a relatively short period of time. As a result,
families experienced sparse housing, overcrowding, health problems,
crime, dangerous labor practices, meager wages and poor
environmental conditions among other social problems. In addition,
children were often left unsupervised for long periods of time.
As a result They turned to stealing and other
forms of criminal behavior as mechanisms of survival
and entertainment.
With the coming of the Industrial Revolution,
children were employed in factories and mines,
aboard fishing, and merchant ships, and as
apprentices to various types of tradesmen (Kratcoski,
2012, p.122). The social attitudes towards children
were slowly changing, children were seen as more
malleable and easily influenced than adults, and less
capable of rational decision making.
The Progressive Era and the Child Savers
The period from 1880 to 1920 is referred to as the Progressive Era.
It was a time of major social structural change at least in the United
states of America. It is a significant social movement that brought us
closer to the creation of a separate system of justice for children. It was
marked by extensive efforts to alleviate social problems plaguing large
cities as a result of industrialization and immigration (Hartinger
Saunders, 2008, p. 91). Wealth was becoming concentrated in the hands
of the few individuals, who sought to dominate US economic life, Labor
violence was on the rise, and the country was in the grip of a racial
hysteria affecting all people of color. The tremendous technological
advancement that was occurring during this period reduced the need
for labor.
Progressive reformers felt compelled to intervene on
behalf of the children in order to provide them with guidance
and direction to steer them from a life of crime . During the
second half of the 19th century, a group of reformers known
as Child Savers, instituted new measures to prevent juvenile
delinquency Krisberg, 2005, p.31). Compared to the
proponents of House of Refuge. Child Savers was more
optimistic about possibilities of reforming the youths.
Institutions were established in urban areas to distribute
food and clothing, provide temporary shelters for homeless
youth, and introduce contract systems of shirt manufacture
to destitute children.
There are two disparate motivations for the child
saving crusade; First is that the middle class really
had a desire to help poor, homeless, inner city
children in need of guidance and direction and the
second being more of a need for social control. The
latter argues that middle and upper class members of
society were concerned by the large number of poor
families and wayward children roaming about the
cities. They saw them as a disruptive force in society
jeopardizing their privileged position in society.
The Establishment of Juvenile Court
Juvenile courts were a manifestation of the
Progressive Era. The transition to a separate judicial
system was a gradual process, which culminated in a
radically transformed juvenile justice process
Government, the courts, and private institutions all
became Important participants in a dynamic juvenile
justice system.
The progress toward the separation of juvenile
and criminal court proceedings began in the final
decades of the nineteenth century. In 1874.
Massachusetts passed a legislation requiring separate
court hearing Indi for juveniles, known as children's
tribunals. In 1899, Colorado passed the first
legislation in the US to establish guidelines for trying
truant or juvenile disorderly persons, through the
Compulsory School Act.
The first recognized individual juvenile court was established
in Cook County, Illinois, in 1899 (Lab and Whitehead, 2015, p.38).
This is through the Illinois Juvenile Court Act or the Act to Regulate
the Treatment and Control of Dependent, neglected and Delinquent
Children. This act is the first comprehensive and modern juvenile
justice P.E statute. This act codified several then-radical doctrines,
such as:

1. Youths under the age of 16 who engaged in certain deviant

behaviors should be classified as "juvenile delinquents"
2. Special rules of procedure should govern the adjudication of
cases heard before juvenile courts.
3. Child and adult offenders should be separated.
4. Children are victims of their environments and should be
reformed and rehabilitated.
Theories on Juvenile Delinquency
A theory can be defined as an abstract statement that explains
why certain phenomena or things do (do not) happen. A valid theory
must:

1. Be able to predict future occurrences of the phenomenon in

question; and
2. Be verifiable by testing through experiment or some form of
empirical observation.

Through empirically verifiable statements, or hypotheses, and

organizing them into theories of delinquency causation, social
scientists hope to identify the causes of delinquency and propose
methods to curtail or eliminate its occurrence.
Individual-level Theories of Delinquency
It holds that the decision to commit an illegal act is a
product of an individual level decision making process
shaped by the personal characteristics and traits of the
decision maker. Delinquents are not a product of their
environment but instead, individual actors, sometimes
directed by some inner trait such as selfish temperament,
impulsive personality, abnormal hormones, or mental
illness; in their choice of commiting delinquency over
socially acceptable behaviors. Individual- level theories are
characterized by the following:
● Focus on mental and behavioral processes at the individual
level.
● Considers delinquency as an individual-level problem not a
social problem.
● Recognizes that all people are different, each person reacts to
the same set of environmental and social conditions in a unique
way.
● Believes that the root cause of delinquency is located at the
individual level, delinquency prevention and control efforts
must be directed at the individual offender.

Individual-level explanation of delinquency can be divided into

distinct categories: Choice Theory, and Trait Theory.
A. Choice Theory
It holds that youth will engage in delinquent
and criminal behavior after weighing the
consequence and benefits of their actions,
Delinquent behavior is a rational choice made by
a motivated offender who perceives that the
chances of gain outweigh any possible
punishment or loss.
Classical Criminology
It holds that the commission of behavior is influenced
by the individual's free will. Cesare Beccaria argued that
people weigh the benefits and consequences of their future
actions before deciding on a course of behavior. They
generally state that juveniles are rational, intelligent
people who have free will, which is the ability to make
choices. Young people calculate the costs and benefits of
their behavior before they act. Delinquency is the result of
juveniles imagining greater gains coming from breaking
the law than from obeying it.
Rational Choice Theory
It holds that criminal behavior is predicated on the use
of calculations, reasoning, and rational consideration of
choices. It is an economic approach to understanding
crime, where rational choices are based on the principle of
self interest. This involves considering both personal
factors which may include a need for money, or
entertainment, and situational factors with us the
target/victim's vulnerability and the presence of
witnesses, guardians, or the police.
Routine Activities Theory
It is a subsidiary of rational choice theory, Developed
by Lawrence E. Cohen, and Marcos Felson in 1979, routine
activities theory requires three elements be present for a
crime to occur:
● a motivated offender with criminal intentions and the
ability to act on these inclinations,
● a suitable victim or target, and
● the absence of a capable guardian who can prevent the
crime from happening.
The presence of capable guardians who can
protect homes and possessions can reduce the
motivation to commit delinquent acts. Even the most
motivated offenders may ignore valuable targets if
they are well guarded.
B. Trait Theory
It holds that youth engage in delinquent
behavior or criminal behavior due to aberrant
physical or psychological traits that govern
behavioral choices. Delinquent actions are
impulsive or instinctual rather than rational
choices.
Biological Theories

The essential component of the biological

approach to delinquency is that such
behavior is caused by some mechanism
internal to the individual.
I. Criminal Atavism Theory
Introduced by Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909), he believes that
delinquents manifest physical anomalies that make them
biologically and physiologically similar to our primitive
ancestors. These atavistic individuals are savage throwbacks to
an earlier stage of human evolution. According to Lombroso,
born criminals possess an array of stigmata or markers that may
be considered putative evidence of their criminality. These
include their excessive tattoos, their manner of writing and
talking, or the size and shape of their skull, ears, forehead, and
hands. They found that compared with public school students,
delinquents were shorter, heavier, and broader and shorter
faces, and had more deformed palates.
Ii. biological Determinism
William Sheldon (1898-1977), believes that the primary
determinants of behavior are constitutional and inherited.
He proposed that the body physique was an accurate and
reliable indicator of personality and consequently a
predictor of behavior (Bartusch, and Burfeind, 2011, p. 120).
Sheldon identified three primary structures of human
physique, or somatotypes, which he then connected to
personality temperament. The Somatotypes and their
corresponding temperament are:
● Endomorph (Somatotype)
- A soft roundness of the body. The digestive
system is large and highly developed, whereas
other features of the body are weak, and
underdeveloped. Small bones; short limbs: soft
and smooth skin.
- Viscerotonic (Temperament) is relaxed and
outgoing: includes a desire for comfort and
gluttony for food and affection.
● Mesomorphic (Somatotype)
- Bone and muscle predominate. The physique is
hard, firm, upright, strong, and sturdy. Large
blood vessels Thick skin with large pores.
- Somatotonic (Temperament) is active, assertive,
motivated, and achievement oriented.
● Ectomorphic (Somatotype)
- Fragile, thin, and delicats. "Poorly muscled
extremities” with weak bones. These individuals
have the greatest surface area and hence the
greatest sensory exposure to the outside world.
- Cerebrotonic (Temperament) is introverted,
inhibited, restrained. Cerebrotonic people shrink
away from sociality as from too strong light. They
avoid attracting attention to themselves.
Biosocial Theories
It is a theory of delinquency causation that integrates
biologically determined traits and environmental stimuli. It
discusses the assumed links between physical and mental traits, the
social environment, and behavior. On Edmund O. Wilson’s book
titled Sociobiology (1975). He argued that people are biosocial
organisms whose behaviors are influenced by both their physical
characteristics and the environmental condition they are faced
with. Rather than viewing criminals as people whose behaviors are
totally controlled or predetermined by their biological traits,
modern biosocial theorists believe that physical, environmental, and
social conditions interact in complex ways to produce human
behavior.
i. Biochemical Factors
Some biosocial theorists believe that
biochemical conditions, including those
acquired through diet, can control or
influence violent behavior. Biochemical
factors that might influence aggression
range from nutrition to allergies.
● Nutritional Deficiencies
Bio-Criminologists maintain that minimum levels of
vitamins and minerals are required. for normal brain
functioning. Medical research suggests that proper
nutrition is especially important during early childhood.
Nutritional deficiencies at this stage in child
development can result in serious physical, mental and
behavioral problems. They discover that improving diet
quality can reduce delinquency and dramatically
improve the mental functioning and the academic
performance of adolescents.
● Hormonal Influences
James Q. Wilson argues that hormones and
neurotransmitters may explain gender differences in violent
behavior." He maintains that gender differences in exposure
to androgens (male sex hormones) explain why males are
naturally more violent than females and why females are
more nurturing and empathetic (Wilson 1993). Hormone
levels are used to explain the aging out of violence: it is
believed that the decrease in violent behavior with age is
directly related to age-related declines in androgen levels.
Many have observed that both violence and androgen
production in males peak during adolescence.
● Allergies
It refers to the reactions of the body to foreign
substances. Cerebral allergies cause a reaction in the brain.
Neuro-allergies affect the nervous system. Both cerebral
allergies and neuro allergies have been linked to mental,
emotional, and behavioral problems. A growing body of
research suggests that there is also a link between allergies
and depression, hyperactivity, aggressiveness, and violence."
The argument is not that allergies directly cause violence, but
rather, those suffering from the stress of a painful allergic
reaction may be more likely to act violently when presented
with negative stimuli.
ii. Neurological Dysfunction
Another focus of biosocial theory is the
neurological structure of the offenders. It is
believed that impairments in brain functions may
be present at birth produced by factors such as low
birth weight, brain injury during pregnancy, birth
complications and inherited abnormalities. Brain
injuries can also occur later in life as a result of
brutal beatings or sexual abuse by parent and can
cause an adverse physical change in the brain.
One of the most important measures of normal
neurological functioning is the Electroencephalogram
(EEG). An EEG refers to the electrical impulses given
off by brain waves. These impulses can be recorded
by electrodes placed on the scalp." Studies suggest
that 50 to 60 percent of habitually violent adolescents
have abnormal EEG readings, compared with only
five to fifteen percent of the general population.
● Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
It is a condition where the child shows a
developmentally inappropriate lack of attention.
Impulsivity, and hyperactivity (Seigel, and Welsh, 2017,
p. 101). The suspected causes of this disability include
neurological damage, prenatal stress, food allergies and
genetics. Research has also found a strong relationship
between AD/HD and poor school performance, bullying,
and a lack of response to punishment," There is also a
strong association between AD/HD and the early onset
of chronic delinquency and persistent violent behavior.
● Minimal Brain Dysfunction (MBD)
It is related to abnormalities in cerebral structure
(Seigel, and Welsh, 2017, p. 98). In its most serious
form, MDB is associated with severe antisocial
behavior, including hyperactivity, poor attention
span, temper tantrums and aggressiveness. MDB has
also been linked to episodes of explosive rage and has
often been viewed as a significant predictor of both
suicide and motiveless homicide.
● Conduct Disorder
It is considered as a precursor of long
term chronic offending. It is a condition of
childhood and adolescence that involves
chronic behavior problems, such as
defiant, impulsive, or antisocial behavior,
and substance abuse.
● Learning Disability
It is a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological
processes involved in understanding or in using language,
spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect
ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do
mathematical calculations. The term includes such
conditions as perceptual handicaps, brain injury, minimal
brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The
term does not include children who have learning problems
which are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor
handicaps, of mental retardation, or emotional disturbance,
or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
The link between learning disabilities and
delinquency is caused by certain side effects of
learning disabilities such as impulsiveness, ADHD,
poor ability to learn from experience, and inability to
take social cues. As a result kids with learning
disabilities may be more aggressive and more likely
to engage with delinquency than the kids with no
learning disability.
● Arousal Theory
It suggests that delinquents and criminals have suboptimal arousal
levels. Thus, they are neurologically inclined to seek stimulation in a
variety of ways and to tolerate more pain in satisfying their need for
stimulation." Peoples' brains function differently in response to
environmental input. In general, people attempt to maintain an optimal
level of arousal. Too much stimulation causes anxiety and fear, while
too little stimulation leads to boredom and depression. However,
individuals also differ dramatically with respect to their cognitive
ability to process environmental stimuli. In other words, some people
feel comfortable with very little stimulation, while others require a high
level of environmental input. These "sensation- seekers" or "thrill-
seekers" are much more likely to engage in a wide variety of risky
activities-including violent behavior.
iii. Genetic Influences
The genetic makeup of delinquents may be
directly or indirectly associated with delinquency.
According to the proponents of Gene-crime
association:
● Antisocial behavior is inherited;
● The genetic makeup of the parents is passed on
to children; and
● Genetic abnormality is directly linked to a
variety of antisocial behaviors.
iv. Evolutionary Theory
It explains the existence of aggression and violent
behavior as adaptive behaviors in human evolution.
These traits allowed the bearers to reproduce
disproportionately, which has had an effect on the
human gene pool. It argues that, as human beings
evolved, certain traits, emotions and characteristics
became genetically ingrained. For example, jealousy is a
human emotion that may have evolved in order to keep
families together and increase the probability of
reproduction.
From an evolutionary perspective, violence is thought
to have developed as a male reproductive strategy
because it can:
● Eliminate or deter genetic competition.
● Serve as a method for displaying physical
strength and attracting females; and
● Deter females from leaving and mating with other
males.
In our distant past, therefore, male aggression may
have frequently led to reproductive success. If so,
aggressive traits would be more likely than passive
traits to be passed on to the next generation of males.
Thus, it is often assumed by biosocial experts that the
descendants of aggressive males account for the fact
that, even in modern society, men continue to be
more violent than women.
End of
presentation