History Of Juvenile Offenders

Crime is a tremendous issue in the United States, but it becomes controversial when the age of offenders drops at a massive rate over the years. The United States has tried Juvenile offenders as adults for committing heinous crimes. However, citizens all over the country have argued that juveniles are too young for such punishments. The United States has developed the juvenile court system to trial minors, under the age of eighteen, differently from those in adult prison. However, the crime rate for juveniles has become massive, and in a large degree. This raises the question to whether they should be tried as adults or not. An ongoing punishment being argued in courts is life in prison. Life sentences usually come to people who have committed …show more content…
Juvenile courts have their own philosophical ideas to determine what a juvenile is. In William Wesley Patton 's journal section named "History Of Juvenile Courts," it is stated that the juvenile courts are barely about a century old, and that, "Historically, juvenile criminals were treated the same as adult criminals" (Patton 1350). Before the juvenile court was established, teens were people who committed violent crimes, and for this reason, they were sentenced with the same penalties that adults faced, including life sentences. The history of this provides evidence that not all minors were innocent. Many had to face serious charges for the crimes they committed. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has also reported some statistics on crime committed by minors. According to a journal called "Juvenile Delinquency," FBI director J. Edgar Hoover reports that people under the age of eighteen committed approximately: 53 percent of all car thefts, 49 Percent of all burglaries, 18 percent of all robberies, and 16 percent of all rapes. These statistics have suggested a youth crime wave as early as 1953 (239). As juvenile crime rate increases over the years, it brings into consideration that they are developing more as adults. If these juveniles were to commit homicide, it would not be fair to believe they are innocent if the rates for …show more content…
The journal "Juvenile Delinquency" also informs that by the middle 1960 's, minors accounted for about 37 percent of all serious crimes. It states that by 1964, nearly 1.4 million juveniles were brought to justice, and about half were referred to juvenile courts. It was also estimated that some urban ghetto areas had over 40 percent of ten year olds being brought to justice before the age of eighteen ("Juvenile Delinquency"). With this crime rate, courts should not even consider the age anymore because crime occurs at all ages. For this reason, life