Juvenile delinquency is a major social problem in the United States today. It is defined as that behavior on the part of children which may, under the law, subject those children to the juvenile court laws. It is a legal invention of the nineteenth century that did not exist either under the English common law or under early Roman law. Both these legal systems regarded very young children as beyond the reach of the law, and for offenders between the ages of seven and fourteen years provision was made for the determination of the child's responsibility before the law. Once this determination was made, however, the child was either subject to the same criminal law as were adults or he was beyond its reach there were no special juvenile courts (Bliss, 1977, p. 1).
Age was a factor in determining whether the child would be held responsible for his acts, with common law exempting children under age seven years from being found guilty of commission of a criminal act. Under age seven years, it was deemed that there was an absence of mens rea or criminal intent. Children aged seven to fourteen years might be tried and convicted if evidence contrary to the presumption that the children were incapable of
formulating an intent to commission of a crime could be presented by the prosecution (Haskell & Yablonsky, 1978, p. 379-380).
Separate correctional facilities for children date back to 1825 with the New York City House of Refuge for children that housed those children convicted in the criminal courts. Reformers who insisted on having children confined separately from adult offenders were responsible for the establishment of sixteen of these specialized institutions by 1960. The theory was that the children would be harmed by the influence of adult criminals. Probation for children dates back to the 1841 efforts of shoemaker John Augustus, whose work led to official establishment of probation for children in Massachu setts in 186...