A

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

A Disturbing Trend

Juvenile delinquency was considered a major social problem in the 1950s. Americans under the age of eighteen were committing serious crimes in growing numbers; their elders were horrified at the severity of the crimes and at the young criminals' disregard for authority. Most of all, though, people were concerned about what the rate of juvenile crime said about how the nation was raising its children. Of course, there had always been youth crime in America, even vicious youth crime. But in the 1950s, because of the growth of cities across the United States, it became a national cause for concern.

Junior Crime Wave

As early as 1953 the statistics suggested a youth crime wave. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover reported: "persons under the age of 18 committed 53.6 percent of all car thefts; 49.3 percent of all burglaries; 18 percent of all robberies, and 16.2 percent of all rapes. These are the statistics reported to the FBI by 1,174 cities." Moreover, with the post-World War II baby boom creating more potential juvenile delinquents, experts expected the trend toward lawlessness to continue indefinitely. A 1959 study cited in Personnel and Guidance Journal claimed that about one-third—almost six-hundred thousand—of crimes being committed by teenagers went undetected by the police.

Many Causes, Many Answers

Judges, law-enforcement officials, psychologists, and other experts suggested a variety of causes of juvenile crime, from lack of a good home life to too much comic-book reading. In order to stem the junior crime wave, parents, teachers, and policemen were all expected to be stricter but at the same time more understanding. On a social level Americans were all asked to bear the burden of funding better institutions and more trained counselors to address the needs of the youthful offender.

Rebels without a Cause

The older generation might have thought that young criminals represented a threat to American society and its values, but to their children the juvenile delinquent was a "rebel without a cause," as the title of the 1955 film goes. The popular-music and movie industries were quick to recognize a new market. Rock 'n' roll music was just different and dangerous enough to horrify parents and delight teenagers. Movies such as The Cool and the Crazy and Riot in Juvenile Prison usually ended on the side of traditional values, but they also provided plenty of the wild parties, rock music, drag races, and gang fights their young audiences paid to see.