Juvenile delinquency

Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior younger than the statutory age of majority. These acts would be considered crimes if the individuals committing them were older. The term delinquent usually refers to juvenile delinquency, and is also generalised to refer to a young person who behaves an unacceptable way.Some scholars have found an increase in youth arrests and have concluded that this may reflect more aggressive criminal justice and zero-tolerance policies rather than changes in youth behavior. Youth violence rates in the United States have dropped to approximately 12% of peak rates in 1993, according to official U.S. government statistics, suggesting that most juvenile offending is non-violent. Many delinquent acts can be attributed to the environmental factors such as family behavior or peer influence. One contributing factor that has gained attention in recent years is the school-to-prison pipeline. According to Diverse Education, nearly 75% of states have built more jails and prisons than colleges. CNN also provides a diagram that shows that the cost per inmate is significantly higher in most states than the cost per student. This shows that taxpayers' dollars are going toward providing for prisoners rather than providing for the educational system and promoting the advancement of education. For every school built, the focus on punitive punishment has correlated with juvenile delinquency rates. Some have suggested shifting from zero-tolerance policies to restorative justice approaches. Juvenile detention centers, juvenile courts, and electronic monitoring are common structures of the juvenile legal system. Juvenile courts are in place to address offenses as civil rather than criminal cases in most instances. The frequency of use and structure of these courts in the United States varies by state. Depending on the type and severity of the offense committed, individuals under 18 may be...