SOLUTIONS & ANSWER GUIDE
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY: THEORY, PRACTICE AND LAW
14th Edition
Larry J. Siegel
ISBN: 9780357763834
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1. Childhood and Delinquency
Chapter 2. The Nature and Extent of Delinquency
Chapter 3. Individual-Level Views of Delinquency
Chapter 4. Structure, Process, Culture, and Delinquency
Chapter 5. Social Reaction, Social Conflict, and Delinquency
Chapter 6. Developmental Theories of Delinquency: Life-Course, Propensity, and Trajectory
Chapter 7. Gender and Delinquency
Chapter 8. The Family and Delinquency
Chapter 9. Peers and Delinquency: Gangs, Groups, and Cliques
Chapter 10. Schools and Delinquency
,Chapter 11. Drug Use and Delinquency
Chapter 12. Juvenile Justice: Then and Now
Chapter 13. Police Work with Juveniles
Chapter 14. Juvenile Court Process: Pretrial, Trial, and Disposition
Chapter 15. Juvenile Corrections: Probation, Community Treatment, and Institutionalization
CHAPTER NO. 1: CHILDHOOD AND DELINQUENCY
END OF SECTION EXERCISE SOLUTIONS
1. Is it fair to have a separate legal category for youths? Considering how dangerous young
people can be, does it make more sense to group offenders based on what they have done
and not on their age?
Solution
This is a tough question that is open to some interpretation. One hand, it is absolutely fair
to have a separate legal category for youths, as research indicates that brain development
is not complete until age 25, so rational decision making might not exist. On the other
hand, a valid argument exists for crime being a crime regardless of age. Whether a 17-
year-old murders someone or a 26-year-old murders someone, the crime is still murder.
Either point of view is valid.
2. At what age are juveniles truly capable of understanding the seriousness of their actions?
Solution
According to Timothy v. Superior Court, an 11-year-old child is not capable of
understanding the legal proceedings or assisting in their own defense. Delinquent
behavior is sanctioned less heavily than criminality because the law considers juveniles
as being less responsible for their behavior than adults. As a class, adolescents are
believed to (a) have a stronger preference for risk and novelty, (b) assess the potentially
negative consequences of risky conduct less unfavorably than adults, (c) have a tendency
to be impulsive and more concerned with short-term than long-term consequences, (d)
have a different appreciation of time and self-control, and (e) be more susceptible to peer
pressure. All of these qualities should be considered when determining if a juvenile is
capable of understanding the seriousness of their actions.
3. Is it fair to institutionalize a minor simply for being truant or running away from home?
Should the jurisdiction of status offenders be removed from juvenile court and placed
with the state department of social services or some other welfare organization?
Solution
The answer in past years would have been yes. Additionally, opposition to
institutionalizing status offenders was common in the past. However, the Office of
, Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) made it a top priority to encourage
the removal of status offenders from secure lockups, detention centers, and post-
disposition treatment facilities that also housed delinquent offenders. Such incarceration
has been found to be harmful to some status offenders. Evidence supports positive
outcomes when status offenders receive assistance from social service organizations.
4. Should delinquency proceedings be confidential? Does the public have the right to know
who juvenile criminals are?
Solution
Again, this is another difficult question. Either side has a valid argument, but realistically,
in an era when we as a society are attempting to become more transparent, the public may
have some right to know who the juvenile criminals are, especially if the juvenile has
committed a number of crimes and these crimes are serious felonies. But, first time
delinquents and less serious delinquents could reasonably have their proceedings be
secret.
5. Can a get-tough policy help control juvenile misbehavior, or should parens patriae
remain the standard?
Solution
The parens patriae policy should remain the standard. Research in all areas indicates that
get-tough policies are not effective for a variety of reasons, and there is no reason to
make this change.
6. Should juveniles who commit felonies such as rape or robbery be treated as adults?
Solution
This is not a straightforward question and hence does not have a straightforward answer.
Each case should be looked at separately when the decision comes as to whether or not a
juvenile who commits a felony such as rape or robbery should be treated as an adult.
Generally, first-time delinquents, regardless of offense, should be treated as juveniles in
juvenile court where rehabilitation is still the goal. However, should a juvenile commit a
subsequent offense of the same or similar nature that is a serious and violent offense, then
perhaps these cases are in need of being waived to adult court.
, CHAPTER 2: THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF DELINQUENCY
END OF SECTION EXERCISE SOLUTIONS
1. What factors contribute to the aging-out process?
Solution
A variety of factors contribute to the aging-out process: increased personal
responsibility/autonomy, increased psychosocial maturity, and freeing oneself from
delinquent influences (e.g., individuals going to college and leaving behind their life
course persistent offending peers who do not go to college).
2. Why are males more likely to get involved in delinquent behavior than females? Is it a
matter of lifestyle, culture, or physical traits?
Solution
This is not an easy question to answer. Realistically, it’s probably a combination of all
three. Males are more physical than females, so they get into more physical altercations.
In addition to higher levels of testosterone (which is linked to aggression), males are
socialized to act aggressively and also have more risky lifestyles as a rule.
3. Discuss the racial differences found in the delinquency rate. Explain the effect of
institutional and cultural racism and relate their effect to differences in delinquency rates.
Solution
Based on work by many notable scholars, this question has a variety of answers. Some
believe that African Americans are just involved in more crime, whether because they are
inherently more criminogenic, live in areas where crime is a necessity for survival, or just
because they are. The other factor that is likely more valid or at least equally as valid are
structural inequities within the system, such as socioeconomic status and poverty, are
geared against Blacks, with the result that Blacks are arrested and charged with crimes at
greater rates than Whites, regardless of what the reality is.
4. Should kids who have been arrested more than three times be given mandatory
incarceration sentences?
Solution
This is not an easy answer and is situationally-based. Should an adolescent who is
arrested three times for truancy be incarcerated? Probably not. Should one who is arrested
three times for robbery be arrested? Most likely. The main point to take away here is that
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY: THEORY, PRACTICE AND LAW
14th Edition
Larry J. Siegel
ISBN: 9780357763834
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1. Childhood and Delinquency
Chapter 2. The Nature and Extent of Delinquency
Chapter 3. Individual-Level Views of Delinquency
Chapter 4. Structure, Process, Culture, and Delinquency
Chapter 5. Social Reaction, Social Conflict, and Delinquency
Chapter 6. Developmental Theories of Delinquency: Life-Course, Propensity, and Trajectory
Chapter 7. Gender and Delinquency
Chapter 8. The Family and Delinquency
Chapter 9. Peers and Delinquency: Gangs, Groups, and Cliques
Chapter 10. Schools and Delinquency
,Chapter 11. Drug Use and Delinquency
Chapter 12. Juvenile Justice: Then and Now
Chapter 13. Police Work with Juveniles
Chapter 14. Juvenile Court Process: Pretrial, Trial, and Disposition
Chapter 15. Juvenile Corrections: Probation, Community Treatment, and Institutionalization
CHAPTER NO. 1: CHILDHOOD AND DELINQUENCY
END OF SECTION EXERCISE SOLUTIONS
1. Is it fair to have a separate legal category for youths? Considering how dangerous young
people can be, does it make more sense to group offenders based on what they have done
and not on their age?
Solution
This is a tough question that is open to some interpretation. One hand, it is absolutely fair
to have a separate legal category for youths, as research indicates that brain development
is not complete until age 25, so rational decision making might not exist. On the other
hand, a valid argument exists for crime being a crime regardless of age. Whether a 17-
year-old murders someone or a 26-year-old murders someone, the crime is still murder.
Either point of view is valid.
2. At what age are juveniles truly capable of understanding the seriousness of their actions?
Solution
According to Timothy v. Superior Court, an 11-year-old child is not capable of
understanding the legal proceedings or assisting in their own defense. Delinquent
behavior is sanctioned less heavily than criminality because the law considers juveniles
as being less responsible for their behavior than adults. As a class, adolescents are
believed to (a) have a stronger preference for risk and novelty, (b) assess the potentially
negative consequences of risky conduct less unfavorably than adults, (c) have a tendency
to be impulsive and more concerned with short-term than long-term consequences, (d)
have a different appreciation of time and self-control, and (e) be more susceptible to peer
pressure. All of these qualities should be considered when determining if a juvenile is
capable of understanding the seriousness of their actions.
3. Is it fair to institutionalize a minor simply for being truant or running away from home?
Should the jurisdiction of status offenders be removed from juvenile court and placed
with the state department of social services or some other welfare organization?
Solution
The answer in past years would have been yes. Additionally, opposition to
institutionalizing status offenders was common in the past. However, the Office of
, Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) made it a top priority to encourage
the removal of status offenders from secure lockups, detention centers, and post-
disposition treatment facilities that also housed delinquent offenders. Such incarceration
has been found to be harmful to some status offenders. Evidence supports positive
outcomes when status offenders receive assistance from social service organizations.
4. Should delinquency proceedings be confidential? Does the public have the right to know
who juvenile criminals are?
Solution
Again, this is another difficult question. Either side has a valid argument, but realistically,
in an era when we as a society are attempting to become more transparent, the public may
have some right to know who the juvenile criminals are, especially if the juvenile has
committed a number of crimes and these crimes are serious felonies. But, first time
delinquents and less serious delinquents could reasonably have their proceedings be
secret.
5. Can a get-tough policy help control juvenile misbehavior, or should parens patriae
remain the standard?
Solution
The parens patriae policy should remain the standard. Research in all areas indicates that
get-tough policies are not effective for a variety of reasons, and there is no reason to
make this change.
6. Should juveniles who commit felonies such as rape or robbery be treated as adults?
Solution
This is not a straightforward question and hence does not have a straightforward answer.
Each case should be looked at separately when the decision comes as to whether or not a
juvenile who commits a felony such as rape or robbery should be treated as an adult.
Generally, first-time delinquents, regardless of offense, should be treated as juveniles in
juvenile court where rehabilitation is still the goal. However, should a juvenile commit a
subsequent offense of the same or similar nature that is a serious and violent offense, then
perhaps these cases are in need of being waived to adult court.
, CHAPTER 2: THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF DELINQUENCY
END OF SECTION EXERCISE SOLUTIONS
1. What factors contribute to the aging-out process?
Solution
A variety of factors contribute to the aging-out process: increased personal
responsibility/autonomy, increased psychosocial maturity, and freeing oneself from
delinquent influences (e.g., individuals going to college and leaving behind their life
course persistent offending peers who do not go to college).
2. Why are males more likely to get involved in delinquent behavior than females? Is it a
matter of lifestyle, culture, or physical traits?
Solution
This is not an easy question to answer. Realistically, it’s probably a combination of all
three. Males are more physical than females, so they get into more physical altercations.
In addition to higher levels of testosterone (which is linked to aggression), males are
socialized to act aggressively and also have more risky lifestyles as a rule.
3. Discuss the racial differences found in the delinquency rate. Explain the effect of
institutional and cultural racism and relate their effect to differences in delinquency rates.
Solution
Based on work by many notable scholars, this question has a variety of answers. Some
believe that African Americans are just involved in more crime, whether because they are
inherently more criminogenic, live in areas where crime is a necessity for survival, or just
because they are. The other factor that is likely more valid or at least equally as valid are
structural inequities within the system, such as socioeconomic status and poverty, are
geared against Blacks, with the result that Blacks are arrested and charged with crimes at
greater rates than Whites, regardless of what the reality is.
4. Should kids who have been arrested more than three times be given mandatory
incarceration sentences?
Solution
This is not an easy answer and is situationally-based. Should an adolescent who is
arrested three times for truancy be incarcerated? Probably not. Should one who is arrested
three times for robbery be arrested? Most likely. The main point to take away here is that
