- In the law, juvenile delinquency is viewed as any criminal act committed by a young person under the legal age of consent, generally 18. The traditional thinking is that young people have not fully developed the capacity to make sound judgments and should therefore be held to a more lenient standard than adult who commit the same offenses. However, especially since the mid-1990s, exceptions can be made to allow younger people to be tried as adults. These exceptions usually apply to more violent offenses.
- Juvenile courts are generally closed to the public. Juveniles who are sentenced to incarceration are nearly always housed separately from adult criminal population. Additionally, juvenile records are usually sealed when the young person reaches the age of 18, and juvenile criminal records are generally not admissible as evidence if the young person is later tried for adult crimes. If he commits no further offenses after reaching adulthood, a juvenile offender can legally claim to have no criminal record. This provision is designed to allow a young person to have a "fresh start" without dealing with the stigma of a criminal background.
- During the mid-1990s, a number of states implemented laws that reversed the traditional philosophy of juvenile justice to allow young people charged with particularly heinous crimes to be tried as adults. These laws were designed to prevent "youthful predators" from being released into the general population when they aged out of the juvenile justice system. However, a 2007 study by the Campaign for Youth Justice, a nonprofit group that advocates reform of the juvenile justice system, found that most juveniles tried as adults and have been incarcerated within adult prisons were not violent offenders. Many states have begun to question the effectiveness and wisdom of trying juvenile offenders as adults.
- A number of alternative means of dealing with juvenile delinquency have gained popularity in recent years. Boot camps, or programs which are similar to military training, are one alternative. The Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ) approach is another alternative to juvenile delinquency which emphasizes making restitution to the victim as one aspect of administering justice. BARJ programs are similar to traditional juvenile justice systems in that the emphasis is on rehabilitation rather than punishment. However, the BARJ philosophy also emphasizes the role of the community in shaping the process and encourages young people to accept responsibility for their actions as well.
- Many commentators have claimed that popular entertainment is a bad influence on impressionable young people. Some critics have called for violent or sexually suggestive movies to be censored. However, the research shows that, while some susceptible and troubled young people may be influenced to commit crimes by popular entertainment which depict violence, there is little evidence to support the claim that violent or sexual content in entertainment actually causes increased levels of juvenile delinquency.
