IS JUVENILE "JUSTICE" WISHFUL THINKING? - Ron Horswell - January 1977

Ron Horswell

Since most adult criminals are juvenile delinquents that have reached age 18, reducing crime depends on a successful juvenile justice system. Though the obstacles are often formidable, here's what can be done. A discussion of juvenile crime traditionally begins with either a terrifying statistic or a gruesome tale of woe. A terrifying statistic tells you what an incredibly high percentage of rapes, muggings, and murders are perpetrated by incredibly young kids. A gruesome tale of woe relates how a defiant but scarcely pubescent punk has already been in court a dozen times for rape, assault, murder, and robbery, and how he's been released each time with barely a light slap on his fat little pudgy hand. With the reader's indulgence, the standard opening (either form) will be omitted. And those readers who endure to the end will also note the omission of the standard conclusion: namely, that as juvenile crime spirals toward "out of control," society gropes frantically for a solution. Actually there now appears to be sufficient evidence to justify indulging ourselves in a little bit of old-fashioned optimism. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library