"Superpredator: The Demonization of Our Children by the Law"

Much has changed in America since the juvenile justice system was created in the late 19th century. The system was set up with the purpose of rehabilitating young people before they became lifetime criminals. But the adequacy of the system had been called into question by recent high-profile crimes -- including murder and rape -- committed by people under 18. Some lawmakers have decided that the juvenile justice system simply doesn't work. In response, they've made it easier to prosecute teens as adults.

A law passed in 1994 enabled district attorneys to prosecute anyone between the ages of 13 and 17 who was charged with any of seven violent felonies (such as murder, rape and armed robbery) as adults. Just last week, the Senate passed a juvenile justice bill making it easier to prosecute youths as adults for serious crimes. Initially the bill, which awaits a House vote this week, was even tougher on juvenile criminals. But in the wake of the school shootings in Colorado and Georgia, the Senate struck some of the harsher provisions and added landmark gun control provisions. Nevertheless, the principle of adult time for adult crimes remains politically popular. Perhaps there is an underlying belief that anyone who commits crimes this serious is unlikely to be rehabilitated

But research into juvenile crimes tells a different story. As Salon Mothers Who Think learned by talking to experts about the Littleton shootings, the juvenile crime rate has actually gone down dramatically in the past five years. But coverage of juvenile crime in the media seems to have reached a frenzied pitch. The more publicized the crimes, it seems, the louder the public outcry. Crackdowns on teen crimes may be more a response to publicity than to a real epidemic of violence. Back in the mid-1980s, when violent juvenile crime tripled, the suicide rate also rose by 29 percent. As it turned out, crackdowns on juvenile offenders back then didn't reduce the crime rate -- but intervention with troubled and high-risk kids did, according to Peter Elikann, author of "Superpredators: The Demonization of Our Children by the Law."

Elikann's book challenges the idea that most juvenile criminals are incorrigible, and suggests that the best way to reduce the crime rate -- both among youths and adults -- is to rehabilitate teens in the juvenile system. Elikann emphasizes that sending kids to adult jails means sending them to "crime school," a place where they are likely to learn more about crime and make contact with hardened career criminals. Elikann is both an attorney and a crime reporter, and provides regular commentary for the Court TV network. Elikann spoke to Salon Mothers Who Think by phone from his home in Boston.

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