After reading this chapter, you should be able to

• Describe how the concept of juvenile delinquency developed over the course of U.S. history before culminating in the creation of the first juvenile justice system
• Explain how different forms of popular culture have been the focus of moral panics about delinquency
• Analyze the connections between social constructions of youth and mainstream ideas about juvenile misbehavior
• Compare and contrast ideas about youth and juvenile delinquency related to one’s race, ethnicity, social class, gender, and sexuality