How to Research Juvenile Delinquents
- 1). Decide on the focus of your research. The difficulty with researching "juvenile delinquency" lies in the fact that different sources give different meanings to "juvenile" and to "delinquency." The definition of a juvenile is different depending on the governing legal system, but generally refers to a child who has not yet reached the age of adulthood. Some writers use the term "delinquency" for only criminal acts, while others also include otherwise deviant or antisocial acts.
- 2). Choose whether you will conduct general research on the topic (e.g., causes) or if you wish to research juvenile delinquency in a particular country, province, county, state or territory.
- 3). Decide on whether the research will be focused on just criminal acts or also on otherwise deviant or antisocial behavior.
- 4). Write or type a list of specific questions to focus your research. Your questions might include the age of adulthood or the meaning of delinquency in your area or about the the causes, prevention or punishment of juvenile delinquency.
- 5). Conduct an online search using terms such as "juvenile delinquency United States" or "juvenile delinquency prevention."
- 6). Generate a list of potential sources. Verify the reliability of your sources before going further in your Internet research. Anyone can publish information on the Internet, which means the information may or may not be accurate. Examine the web address of your sources. If the address ends in ".gov", the source is a government-based resource and can be trusted. One example of a government source for juvenile delinquency research is the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency (see Resources). If the extension is ".edu", the source is an educational source and also can be trusted. An example of an educational source for juvenile delinquency research is the Cornell University Legal Information Institute.
- 7). As an alternative to an online search, go to your local library. Either ask the librarian for assistance or conduct a search using the library's online database for terms such as "juvenile delinquency United States" or "juvenile delinquency prevention."
- 8). Consult local or state resources listed on the Juvenile Prevention Organization website to find out further information about juvenile delinquency in the United States and in your particular state.
- 9). Contact your state police, community policing organization or juvenile probation office and ask questions about where you can get information about juvenile delinquency specific to your area.
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