Status offenses entail conduct that is not a crime when it is committed by an adult, but it is a violation of the law if a minor commits them. Some of the examples of status offenses include skipping school, consumption of alcohol, running ways, violating curfew, as well as being beyond parents’ control. If the status offenses were determined according to social rather than the legal definition, there could be a lot of statistical changes in delinquency. It is worth nothing that the delinquency statistics will reduce due to the social view of some of the status offenses.
Social views of status offenses assert that some of the crimes committed by minors are part of development and adolescent behaviors, and they will juts grow out of it as they become adults. Therefore, socially minors will not be termed as criminal but just undergo socially motivated advice (Regoli, Hewitt & DeLisi, 2011). The social judgment will put social offenses in the context of youth and adolescent development. Removing some offenses would be fair for the minors. Some of the offense such as running away should not be taken to juvenile courts. The main focus should be why the minor run away from home did. Evidently, there are various issues within the family setup that should not be neglected. Probably eliminating could be the best option. Some offence's usage as running away needs to be critically analyzed.
The global community condemns the practice of life sentencing juveniles without parole. Those against it assert that it is a violation of human rights and very cruel act. The United States is one of the nations that has legalized juvenile sentence for life without parole. Basically, no child should be sentenced to life prison without parole. It is worth nothing that most of the juvenile offenders are believed to be driven by development and adolescence behaviors and should be given an opportunity for parole in case they commit a crime. There are situations whereby juvenile sentence for life reform, but there is no room to justify the change if there is no parole (Regoli, Hewitt, & DeLisi, 2011). The discrimination in United States on the issue raises a lot of concerns and should be illegalized. Children commit terrible forms of crime and should be held accountable, but not the way it is handled in the United States. The conditions that could be justified could be committing terrible offense many times.
Reference
Regoli, R. M., Hewitt, J. D., & DeLisi, M. (2011). Delinquency in society: The essentials. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
