Dysfunctional families
	Deteriorated neighborhoods
	Gangs and weapons
	Poverty and violence
	Education
	Colson says that we live in a "Post-Christian" age

	Poverty 20% of all children live in poverty
	Family problems Divorce and single-parent households
	Urban decay Homeless Street kids

	Educational issues Lagging in science and math achievements Retention problems
	Stress Suicide rate has doubled since 1980

	A time of transition Basic personality metamorphosis Internal physiological changes
	Puberty Average age for girls is 12.5 years Teenage pregnancy
	Ego identity v. role diffusion Erick Erikson

	Criminal behavior committed by minors
	Chronic offenders - multiple, serious criminal acts
	Also child abuse/neglect, family crises, and others
	"In 1997 roughly 76,000 juveniles were arrested for the serious crimes of murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault."

	"A status is a socially defined position in a group."
	Ascribed status - at birth
	Achieved status - earned
	Master status
	Mary Ellen Wilson

	Eight year old living with foster parents, Francis and Mary Connolly abused and neglected
	Charity worker, Etta Wheller
	Berge founder of ASPCA since Mary Ellen was a member of the animal kingdom, she was entitled to the same protection as abused animals the child needed protection

Stubborn Child Law

	1641, General Courts of Massachusetts Bay Colony
	Children who disobeyed parents would be put to death (Deut. 21:18-21)

"Puritan’s belief that unacknowledged social evils would bring the wrath of God down upon the entire colony."

	Childhood seen as "a unique period of life"
	"Thoughtful discipline and guidance"

	"Child only" laws
	Keating-Owen Act work age to 14 workday of 14-16 to no more than 8 hours
	Control immigrant poor and lower-class
	Early 1800’s gangs

	Juveniles treated as adults by criminal courts
	Child-savers created community programs that led to the development of a formal juvenile justice system.
	Removing children from "bad" homes factories, poorhouses, orphanages, houses of refuge

	Juveniles treated differently than adults
	Act in the best interests of the child
	Parens patriae - king or state is the father

	Poverty > idleness >crime
	Regimentation and punishment

	Compulsory school attendance
	Restriction on child’s labor
	Strict supervision of leisure activities

	A child under seven considered being incapable of committing a crime
	A child between 7 and 14 could use age as an excuse

	Cook County in 1899
	Supervision within home and community
	Civil procedure not criminal

	treated, not punished
	judge in role of wise parent
	segregation from adults
	probation officers for supervision

	Delinquents are not considered to be criminals, yet are often
	Conflict between the parens patriae and the treatment of delinquents like criminals
	Some constitutional protections have been granted to juveniles
	Wavier to adult court

Acts that are illegal only because the child committing them is under age

	Child in need of supervision, unruly child, incorrigible child or minor in need of supervision
	Treated much the same as delinquents

	Presentence investigation and postsentence supervision
	Rehabilitation of both the child and his or her home
	Indeterminate probation period

	Any minor child found to have violated the penal code
	Minors are most commonly any children under 17 or 18 years of age Under 17 in the State of Texas

	The aging out process
	Serious chronic offenders
	Persistence of delinquency frequency, seriousness, and duration of behavior

	Retaining status offenses
	Recent passage of curfew laws

	Local towns criminalizing smoking of tobacco
	Schools using police officers to "discipline"
	Disciplining parents (liable for $15,000 in Texas)

	Child <16
	Delinquent
	Dependent
	Neglected
	Serious juvenile offender
	Serious juvenile repeat offender (2 felonies)

	One side of the conflict urges the benign treatment of troubled teenagers by a helping court, while the other side argues for a "get tough" policy to control violent youth
	Other critics argue against intrusive policies for juveniles that result in widening the net of social control

	Jubilee
	"I think we will never have any impact on our culture, we will never effectively evangelize the world, until we get ourselves together."