Juvenile Delinquency in The United States - Preventing Juvenile Delinquency

Preventing Juvenile Delinquency

An effective way of preventing juvenile delinquency and keeping at-risk children away from crime is to tackle the problem before it happens. This entails looking at the causes of crime among teens and making an effort to reduce or eliminate said causes. Some causes, though hard to eliminate, seen plausible. An example of this is improving the environment at home, through employment opportunities for the parents, educational opportunities for the children, and counseling and rehabilitation services if need be. These changes would not only promote a more positive environment at home, but would also work towards pulling at-risk families out of poverty. A cause that is more difficult to eliminate is mental illness, because sometimes these illnesses are present at birth. Still, counseling and rehabilitation might aid in reducing the negative affects of these illness, such as irrational and violent behavior. One cause that seems almost impossible to eliminate is the rational and irrational choice idea. As mentioned above, some people believe that all crime comes down to a single situation in which an individual must make a rational or irrational decision, to commit the crime, or to not. Those that believe that this rational choice option is tied to the very immutable nature of the person would have a hard time believing that there is any way to control the choices children make and eliminate the causes of juvenile delinquency.

There are many foundations and organizations around the United States that have dedicated themselves to the reduction and elimination of juvenile delinquency. Many of these organizations spend their time and money controlling for the causes of juvenile delinquency mentioned above. Below are a few agencies that work on preventing juvenile delinquency, though this list is not all encompassing by any means. Links for these foundations and organizations can be found in the #External links section below.

• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention: Forming part of the US Department of Justice, this prevention agency is a governmental organization focuses on all types of research, prevention programs, and rehabilitation programs for juveniles as offenders and victims. Through collaboration, this organizations aims to improve juvenile justice policies and practices and create safer communities and neighborhoods. The OJJDP helps victims of kidnapping, as well as victims of sexual exploitation. Currently, the OJJDP is working to prevent gang involvement/crime, girl's delinquency, and the under-aged consumption of alcohol. This foundation is important because it guides real-life policy changes that pertain to juvenile justice and juvenile delinquency.

• The Innocence Project: The main goal of this organization is not to reduce juvenile delinquency, but rather, to liberate juveniles that were falsely convicted of crimes. Though this foundation is not primarily focused on reducing juvenile delinquency, it has done a good job of freeing falsely convicted teens in the past.

• Annie E Casie Foundation: The of this foundation is to provide a brighter and safer future for children from under-served communities around the US. It's major initiatives include: child welfare strategy group, civic sites, family economic success, juvenile detention alternatives initiative (JDAI), KIDS COUNT, leadership development, and making connections. The KIDS COUNT initiative collects annual data on the well being of children all round the US and publishes state-specific reports as well as state comparisons. The JDAI focuses on providing a bright and healthy future as adults for children involved in the juvenile justice system.

• National Gang Center: This a website that provides anyone on the web with information about the gang problem in the US. It includes research done by the NGC and FAQ's. There is also a list of resources on how to identify if your city has a gang problem and how to combat this problem. This foundation helps the people within the struggling communities be the ones to solve their own gang problems.

• Best Friends Organization: This organization focuses on the overall well-being of children in the US. It focuses on physical and emotional well-being and helps children develop healthy relationships and useful skills. This organization is an example of an organization that works towards preventing problems before they occur. Instead of focusing on the elimination of current juvenile delinquency, this organization works on creating healthy and happy children that will not resort to crime.