Juvenile Delinquency The Basis Of Public Fear - 2219 Words

This essay will look at the way in which juvenile delinquency came into existence and became the basis of public fear. It will look at the way the concept of ‘childhood’ was developed and the way in which laws brought juvenile delinquency in to the media’s concern. In order to understand the way in which juvenile delinquency was legislated we need to understand the basis of juvenile delinquency which starts from the process of ‘childhood’. This concept of childhood was not in existence before the 17th century, there was also no concept of youth and adulthood, and therefore there was no social problem of ‘youth’s’. The perception that there was no concept of childhood was first introduced by the French scholar PHILIPPE ARIÈS in his†¦show more content†¦(Fionda, 2005) At this period, children were being exploited through tough child labour. The children were treated as miniature adults, they played a crucial role within the industrialization. However, there was no clear boundary between adulthood and childhood, in the pre-industrial period societies children worked together with adults in everyday life, they did not live in an isolated world or behave in a different way and were not treated to different understanding of morality. (Muncie, 2009, p.48).The way children lived in this era was no different in the way that adult life was lived, they were involved in drinking alcohol, physical – intensive working, gambling. In which today’s postmodern society would define as unsuitable and illegal way of living for children, In order to maintain their ‘innocence’ and morality’ (Empey, 1982, p.33). Late 18th century the concept of childhood was viewed as the loss of innocence and the attainment of adult abilities for evil actions and behaviour, therefore there was a need to protect the innocence of children. Hendricks identified this as the ‘Romantic Child’. Furthermore, there was a development of welfare approach and child welfare reform, which felt the need to protect children against the immorality of the world. The 1833 Factory Acts restricted that no child below the age of 9 was to be active in brutal working environments, children’s working hours cut down rapidly to ensure there they