Introduction
What comes to mind when you hear the words juvenile delinquent? Do you picture a teenager “tagging” a building, hanging out on the corner smoking a cigarette, or toilet papering a neighbor’s yard? Maybe, once upon a time but now it is so much more than just shenanigans and misdemeanor crimes. Many of today’s youth or mini adults as I like to call them are involved in serious criminal behavior like murder, rape, and or assaults. Why do we need to track what they do? The tracking helps to determine if laws and punishments need to be changed concerning juveniles. Who cares? Everyone should after all these minors are supposed to be the future of our country. The truth of the matter is most citizens do not care until the crime affects them directly. This paper will discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly for programs that collect information on juvenile delinquent behavior.
Uniform Crime Report (UCR) The first …show more content…
This survey asks questions for the young individual to report on in detail with the promise of being anonymous or the answers kept confidential depending on the circumstances. These surveys maybe done annually or randomly depending on the information that is sought. One survey called “Monitoring the Future” (MTF) that is monitored by University of Michigan Institute for Social Research has been conducted annually since 1978. Therefore, the MTF now considered to be the national standard that measures substance abuse in teens living in the United States (Siegal, 44). Even this collection method has its drawbacks. The validity of the information collected is worthwhile only if the youth reporting it is telling the truth. Otherwise the survey is skewed and not an accurate representation of juvenile delinquent