Meaning & use
juvenile delinquency
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountableformal
Illegal or antisocial behavior by young people, usually those under the age of adulthood.
Grammar: No plural and no a: juvenile delinquency is rising.
Patterns
- juvenile delinquency in a place
- the causes of juvenile delinquency
The report studied the causes of juvenile delinquency in large cities.
The program aims to reduce juvenile delinquency through after-school activities.
Poverty and lack of supervision were linked to juvenile delinquency.
Common combinations
- prevent juvenile delinquency
- Youth centers help prevent juvenile delinquency.
- rise in juvenile delinquency
- Police reported a rise in juvenile delinquency.
- causes of juvenile delinquency
- Sociologists study the causes of juvenile delinquency.
- juvenile delinquency rates
- Juvenile delinquency rates fell during the program.
- combat juvenile delinquency
- The council launched a plan to combat juvenile delinquency.
Synonyms and how they differ
- youth crime
- Youth crime is a plainer, more modern phrase and sounds less judgmental.
- youth offending
- Youth offending is the term used in UK justice policy, with a more neutral tone.
- delinquency
- Delinquency alone can mean any failure of duty, so juvenile adds the age.
- misconduct
- Misconduct is broader and may apply to adults and to small rule breaking.
Word family
- juvenile noun
- a young person
- juvenile adjective
- relating to young people, or childish
- delinquent noun
- a young person who breaks the law
- delinquent adjective
- failing in a duty, or breaking the law
Commonly confused: juvenile delinquency or juvenile?
juvenile delinquency vs juvenile
Juvenile alone can mean childish and insulting; in juvenile delinquency it only means young.
Practice
The city introduced sports clubs for teenagers to reduce ___.
Choose one answer.
Juvenile delinquency is crime committed by young people, so clubs for teenagers could reduce it. Adult education would not match the aim of stopping young people breaking the law.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “juvenile delinquency”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.