“Dealing With Delinquency” in 1880 – 1940
The campaign to control delinquency, whether explicitly for control, or to “save” children from it, led to increased intervention of the state into the lives of children and families. This intervention was not applied equally as it required a significant level of discretion from state officials. This discretion was often clouded by prejudice, as proved by the disproportionate numbers of children of color that had interactions with the juvenile justice system. The aims to control delinquency came about in a period in which the state believed they had the duty to be the ultimate guardians of children, thus also a period in which there were increased services for dependent children. The institutionalized responses, therefore, in many cases, became spaces that had to accommodate mass amounts of children. While individualized care for innocent children was growing in popularity during this era, these spaces often could not accomplish this, even if they set out to do so. Furthermore, as seen with the reformatory plan, the spaces that held delinquent and dependent children were meant to redirect them and mold them to be model citizens. Ultimately, the defining of delinquency and the solutions created for it can be interpreted as another avenue of social control.
Beyond the Presented Scope
Further research into the topic may include looking at the gendered aspects of delinquency. Numerous authors I have presented mentioned how girls’ and boys’ interactions with the juvenile justice system were different, notably Agyepong has a whole chapter dedicated specifically to girl’s interaction with the institutionalized responses to delinquency in her book. Additionally, as the New York Juvenile Asylum reported data broken up by race, they also reported data broken up by gender, signifying that there may be statistically significant distinctions across gender regarding institutionalization. It would be interesting to explore gender segregated institutions and how the treatment of the children differed between them. Intersectionality is imperative when delving into the misjustice of any social/political practice, and while I have portrayed some of the racial injustice of the juvenile justice system of the time, a more holistic view would benefit from examining gendered biases as well.