Judy La Salle: What, exactly, is a delinquent?

When is a child a delinquent? Is it when he or she acts like one of the 1930's Dead End Kids?" The Dead End Kids were brought to Hollywood in 1937 to make their first of several movies, but during the process they "ran wild around the studio, destroying property," including a truck they crashed into a sound stage. MGM chose not to use them again and sold their contract to Warner Brothers. Because of their antics on the Warner Brothers studio lot, they were eventually released from that contract, too.

I mention the Dead End Kids because I suspect they were probably considered "delinquent" at the time. In all probability, they were, in those days, poster boys for juvenile misbehavior. It's true they were rough, and they were pretty disrespectful of other people's things, but I'll bet they understood the basics of what was acceptable and they no doubt considered themselves to belong to the larger culture. I'm not so sure we can say the same about today's delinquents.

If the behavior of young criminals has gotten worse, has the label "delinquent" changed? I don't think so, but it is a matter of degree and the term can be confusing. I have spoken with many parents whose children were cited for misdemeanors or arrested for felonies, and many of them were afraid their children would, thereafter, be thought of as young criminals.

Judy La Salle -

For the most part, true delinquents are juveniles under the age of 18 whose lifestyle is clearly anti-social. Delinquents are consistent in their determination to commit crimes and that gets them arrested, time and again. Most of their arrests result in a finding of guilt, too. It is a matter of behavior and attitude, and it is a choice.

Delinquents are different from the kids who get into some trouble, either as a rite of passage, naivety, or because they simply tend to learn the hard way. Many "good kids" get traffic tickets and sometimes they are arrested for shoplifting or other less serious offenses. The key is that they learn from those incidents. They are normal juveniles who make an error in judgment and are fortunate enough to get caught and learn their lesson. Delinquents tend not to learn a lesson, other than how to be better at crime in the future.

There is another big difference between delinquents and non-delinquents, and it is the parents. I will qualify that statement by saying not all delinquents have bad parents, and not all law-abiding kids have great parents. Sometimes how a child turns out doesn't make sense but, for the most part, delinquents come from homes where good behavior is not consistently rewarded and bad behavior is not consistently punished. I realize I am painting with a broad brush here, but it is, nevertheless, true in many cases. It is also true that hard-core delinquents make up a relatively small percentage of the number of juveniles who are arrested.

Growing up these days is a little like going into battle. There are lots of temptations and pitfalls and sometimes the pull to misbehavior is pretty strong. That is one reason it would be unfair to brand every teenager who makes a mistake a "delinquent." It takes continued misbehavior that is willful and destructive, with a series of arrests and adjudications, before it's appropriate to call someone a delinquent.

The same is true for adults. There are those who get arrested once, but learn from their mistakes and go on to lead happy, productive, law-abiding lives. Real criminals and delinquents, on the other hand, spurn the law and make uncivilized behavior a way of life.

Judy La Salle is a retired division director with the Merced County Probation Department. Her e-mail address is judy@justadvice.com or see www.justolder.com