In “Juvenile Crime”, Albert S. Beckham seeks to analyze the factors that contribute to adolescent criminality. His discussion includes immaturity, group dynamics, sexuality, level and type of intelligence, success in school, gender, race, living conditions, and individual constitution of character. His analysis of the impact of the school environment is particularly insightful, and still relevant to understanding juvenile delinquency. He says, “Through the whole period of growth, during the whole course of his immaturity, he is held to be plastic, capable of infinite modifications... ‘The school as well as home...needs to undertake a more specialized type of training to prevent the delinquency and at the same time to eradicate the anti-social reactions that have been formed.’” Beckham seems to adhere to the “youth-as-dependents” and “youth-as-objects-of-saving-and-study” perspectives. He clearly endorses a Parens Patriae approach, insisting that the school must take on a particularly involved role to ensure the well-being of the child (especially when he or she exhibits social and/or behavioral problems). While his perspective is certainly an adult-centered on, Beckham recognizes that individual variation necessitates specialized attention and treatment, and that expecting all types of young people to thrive under the same kind of instruction is unrealistic. “The public school system concentrates on educational service for normal children...The problem child is lost in this mass instruction.”
The ability to succeed in an educational environment is of extreme value to any young person, and is especially critical in determining future potential. As was established by the Supreme Courts in Goss v. Lopez, students have a direct property interest in being able to attend school, in part because it bears so significantly on which opportunities will or will not be available to them during the course of their adult life. Considering Beckham’s perspective, this property interest is not only in being able to attend, but in at least having the opportunity to succeed. It would not be realistically possible to ensure that every young person graduate with a high school diploma or a stellar GPA (you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink), but Beckham is correct in his assertion that a standardized system of education disadvantages any child that isn’t “normal,” or that displays an aptitude for things outside the realm of traditional education, like mechanics and professions commonly taught in trade schools. While a more individualized approach to education and school discipline would not remedy juvenile delinquency entirely (as Beckham clearly states, it is a multifaceted issue), it could certainly minimize one part of the problem.
