Juvenile crime is a perennial public concern, although public perceptions of juvenile crime are often shaped by misconceptions and unwarranted fears rather than by objective facts.

For example, in 1996 the cover of a national magazine (Newsweek, March 10) made the alarming claim that "Juvenile violence is soaring–and it's going to get worse." In contrast, a 1999 federal report by Howard Snyder and Melissa Sickmund cited national arrest statistics and other data showing that violent juvenile crime peaked in 1993 and began a steady decline.

From 1995 to 1999, juvenile arrests for violent crime declined 23 percent, and homicides declined an astonishing 56 percent, despite an 8 percent increase in the population of juveniles. The murder rate for juveniles in 1999 was the lowest since 1966. Yet in 1999, public anxiety over a series of school shootings skyrocketed when two teenage boys murdered twelve classmates and a teacher at Columbine High School in Colorado.

The Surgeon General's Report on Youth Violence, released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2000, identified numerous public myths about youth violence. Among these misconceptions were: (1) the belief that the United States was threatened by a new, violent breed of young super-predators; (2) nothing works in treating or preventing juvenile violence; and (3) juvenile crime could be curbed by prosecuting juvenile offenders as adults.

In fact, there was no evidence that young offenders in 2000 were more vicious or callous than previous generations, only that the availability of cheaper, more lethal firearms resulted in more homicides. Further, controlled scientific studies found that well-run prevention and intervention programs do reduce violent behavior and criminal recidivism among the young.

And finally, studies found no crime reduction associated with transferring juveniles to adult court; in contrast, youths tried as adults were more likely to be physically and sexually victimized in adult institutions, and were more likely to commit additional offenses upon release to the community

Crime in Schools

Highly publicized episodes of gun violence at schools raised national concern that schools were not safe environments. Homicides at school, though tragic, are fortunately quite rare. In a 2001 report, the National School Safety Center concluded that less than one percent of all juvenile homicides occur in school, and that the number of homicide deaths in schools declined from forty-two in the 1993 - 1994 school year to eleven in 1999 - 2000.

Property crimes are three times more prevalent than violent crimes at school (including travel to and from school). According to the National Center for Education Statistics's 1998 report on school crime and safety, approximately 12 percent of students reported thefts of their personal property in a six-month period, whereas only 4 percent reported violent crimes, defined as physical attacks or robbery with threat of violence. The annual rate of serious violent crimes (sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault) at school is less than half the rate away from school.

Family factors. Many factors increase the risk that a juvenile will engage in criminal or violent behavior, but no single factor is necessary or sufficient. For example, poverty and single parent family status are widely recognized risk factors, but most poor children raised by single parents in low-income homes do not become criminals. Global factors such as poverty and parent marital status are too broad to specify the precise problems in the child's family environment.

A single mother working long hours for low wages may not be able to provide supervision for her children, she may be under too much stress to maintain a warm, supportive relationship with her children, and she may be inconsistent in disciplining them. In contrast, there are many examples of poor, single parents who nevertheless manage to provide excellent care for their children.

Risk factors might be buffered by protective factors such as a mentoring relationship, religious convictions, special talents, or strong motivation to achieve. More intensive studies reveal patterns of inconsistent or inappropriate parental discipline, as well as poor monitoring and supervision, in families of children who develop conduct problems. In one common pattern, parents fail to respond to their child's misbehavior, or when they do respond, it is often with excessive force or harsh emotion.

Such parents tend to threaten, hit, grab, or yell to coerce children into compliance. Not surprisingly, their children then respond similarly (e.g. yelling, stomping, or hitting) when parents try to limit their behavior. The parents intermittently overlook or acquiesce to their children's misbehavior, thereby reinforcing it and rendering it even more resistive to discipline. Other important family risk factors include child abuse, exposure to domestic violence, and parental substance abuse.

Mission:

As you can see from the information above there is lot of work that needs to be done so that the number of criminals doesn’t have a steep increase, therefore, we must look honestly at our own country and that of the countries that do not have a lot of juvenile delinquents.

Compare them and come to a conclusion on what is the differences that may have affected the numbers. What does each country have to do and what can the international community do? Some of our fellow countries’ have sent delinquents out of the country, which creates a bigger problem for the country where they were sent.

Questions:

1. What is the ratio of adolescents to adults?
2. How big a problem do you have with the dilinquents?
3. What steps has your country taken to improve this situation?
4. Have you received delinquents from other countries?
5. What are the main causes for juvenile delinquency in your country?
6. What should the international community do to solve and contain this problem?