Juvenile Victimization and Offending

Janice E. Clifford Wittekind

Youth involvement in law-violating behavior was not always viewed as it is today. Historically, youth who violated the law were viewed and treated as adults. Not until the nineteenth century was it acknowledged that children have distinct needs and personalities and therefore need to be treated differently when they violate the law. This initiative was the result of the Child Savers Movement, which began in the early 1800s. Through these efforts, children were afforded their own legal status and the first juvenile court was established in 1899 in Chicago, Illinois, to address youths' problem behaviors. This reform of the existing justice system was the beginning of the contemporary approach to dealing with youthful offenders and the existing procedures of the juvenile justice system. The specific terminology used in the twenty-first century to refer to youthful offenders did not exist until the twentieth century. Juvenile refers to a person under Delinquent ...

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