Delinquency is a modern phenomenon. This is not to say that young people prior to the 19th century were law-abiding - they were not. However, their criminality appeared to be assimilated within that of the dangerous classes as a whole, rather than singled out as specific, and demanding different treatment.

The development of the juvenile delinquent is coeval with the development of a labour market which increasingly excluded women and children, and constructed the working class family around the central figure of the wage-earning husband and father; the attempts to redefine public space in the city so as to facilitate the circulation of both labour and goods and the decision to school the mass of children.

Defining who is a delinquent and who is not is a matter of the norms and culture of the society in which we live. Juveniles acquire culture and behaviour through relationships with other people and conform strictly to the rules by listening, observing, and imitating. In the course of socialization, the child (juvenile) learns rules and what to expect and accepts those behaviours as standard rules in order to function. Knowing the rules allows a child to determine what he/she will do in a given situation. Knowing the norms makes a child select a right way to do things or the wrong way, if he/she chooses to. Juvenile delinquents deviate from some of the rules to such a degree that society takes action against them. We do not have universal conformity for how we behave. There are differences in values, attitudes, and life experiences. Family, school, peer group – each has its own values, born of its own experiences.

The family influence on roles and norms which juveniles follow comes through the socialization process that the individual experiences as part of the family culture. We could assume that children or juveniles would conform strictly to the rules taught in the family setting. However, that does not always happen. Adolescents and even adults deviate from rules. The attitudes and actions of parents exercise an important influence on whether a child is found to be incorrigible and disobedient or compliant and receptive to the learning experience. The policies of the police and the attitudes in the community can influence the notion of what delinquency is.

Despite the statistical data on juvenile behavior, there seem to be serious shortcomings in the validity of the analysis and understanding of juvenile crime. There are limitations in the “unknown relationship” between the number of crimes actually committed, the number of those reported to the police, and the number of those so reported actually recorded by the police.

The criminal behavior of many serious, violent, and chronic juvenile offenders requires the imposition of secure sanctions to hold them accountable and to provide a structured treatment environment. As a civilized society, we need to feel safe in the company of people who walk our streets and attend our schools. Even if we improve the juvenile justice system so that it is capable of providing treatment, skills training, and rehabilitation, mechanisms must be in place to provide information about juvenile offenders and support the rights of victims. Simultaneously, however, we need to ensure that reasonable confidentiality protection is afforded to juvenile offenders.