In his last speech as Vice President of the United States, Hubert H. Humphry said that the moral test of a government is reflected in how it treats its children. If that is the case, how does America do on the moral litmus test of how it treats delinquent children? This chapter will discuss the juvenile justice system in America, from the inception of the juvenile court in 1899 to the Supreme Court’s ruling making it easier to sentence kids to life in prison without the possibility of parole in Jones v. Mississippi in 2021. This chapter will also discuss the school-to-prison pipeline and the ubiquitous problem of disproportionate minority contact, which is witnessed at every stage of the criminal justice system.

10.2.1 Youth Crime

Since the early 1990s, America has witnessed an increased fear of youth crime. Sensationalized media exposure in the 1990s facilitated the public’s fear of youth crime, which resulted in “get tough” legislation and a perceived need to “do something” about juvenile crime (Benekos & Merlo, 2004). The juvenile court was criticized for its inability to control youth crime, and, as a result, policies shifted from rehabilitation to punishment of juvenile offenders (Feld, 2001). This punishment included an increase in the number of states that adopted new legislation or revised their previous statutes to facilitate the transfer of youthful offenders from juvenile court to criminal court to be tried as adults (Snyder & Sickmund, 2006).

10.2.1.1 Ted Talk: Jeffrey Brown’s—How we cut youth violence in Boston by 79 percent

An architect of the “Boston miracle,” Rev. Jeffrey Brown started out as a bewildered young pastor watching his Boston neighborhood fall apart around him, as drugs and gang violence took hold of the kids on the streets. The first step to recovery is to listen to those kids, not just preach to them, and help them reduce violence in their own neighborhoods. It’s a powerful talk about listening to make a change. Watch Jeffrey Brown: How we cut youth violence in Boston by 79 percent | TED Talk to learn more.

10.2.2 Juvenile Justice

The contemporary juvenile justice system operates under the premise that juveniles are different from adults and require special attention and treatment. The juvenile justice system believes that juveniles are malleable and can be rehabilitated. The juvenile court is based on the premise that public safety is best served by emphasizing rehabilitation rather than the incapacitation and punishment of juveniles (Myers, 2001). Unfortunately, sensationalized media exposure of violent youth has led to exaggerated public fear of juvenile crime, “get tough” legislation, and a perceived need to “do something” about juvenile crime (Benekos & Merlo, 2004).

This punitive position is nothing new. Before the inception of the juvenile justice system, just over 100 years ago, youth were treated the same as adults. They were considered culpable for their actions and housed alongside adult offenders in jails and prisons. Recent research has utilized neuroscience to support the need to treat juveniles differently because they are different. The sections of the brain that govern characteristics associated with moral culpability do not stop maturing until the early 20s. Therefore, it is assumed that someone under age 20, such as a juvenile delinquent, has an underdeveloped brain.

When addressing juvenile delinquency, when youth commit crimes/law violations, in America, the pendulum swings from punitive policies to rehabilitative policies and then back again depending on media, politics, and the current climate. There is no magic bullet approach to preventing juvenile delinquency, but as the court evolves, changes, and utilizes best practices, it gets closer.

10.2.2.1 Ted Talk: Stephen Case’s—Solving the Youth Crime ‘Problem’

The youth crime ‘problem’ is examined as a social construction and moral panic created by institutions in Western societies. The talk traces the evolution of youth crime into a phenomenon persistently misrepresented as an escalating social epidemic. The developmental life stages of ‘childhood’ and ‘adolescence’ as inventions are explored, highlighting differences between young people and adults. In this way, ‘youth crime’ can be identified as a social problem requiring distinct responses. A running theme is a child as a source of adult anxiety and fear, motivating societies to create structures, processes, theories, and images of youth crime that punish lawbreakers. The “solution” is the “positive youth justice” model. Children should not be punished as adults, but their criminal behavior should be seen as a normal part of growing up. Instead, they should be worked with to meet their needs, embrace their human rights, and promote their life chances. Watch Solving the Youth Crime ‘Problem’ | Stephen Case | TEDxLoughboroughU to learn more.