Running Head: JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

The Legal Systems Handle on Juvenile Delinquency: A Comparative Analysis

Terry Juniel III
University of Texas at El Paso
February 20, 2015

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Abstract
The way juveniles are handled within the legal system causes a great deal of controversy
and sparks debates around the world. Some people say that juveniles should be given adult trials
if they commit a major crime, while others say that they should be given juvenile trials and be
treated as the young people they are. These opposing viewpoints are taken within various forms
of writing. However, some of the genre styles present a positively effective persuasion to the
selected viewpoint, while others create a negative effect, or have no effect at all. Within this
genre analysis, two different genres of writing covering juvenile delinquency, were selected to be
further compared, contrasted, and thoroughly analyzed to determine the effectiveness of one over
the other. One of the genres chosen was a court document from the Judicial Council of
California, and the other was a USA Today article written by Yamiche Alcindor. The court
document gives a thorough explanation as to how adolescents are handled in California
specifically. While the USA Today article explains one mans real account with the justice
system, and tells why New York and North Carolina are looking to change the way they handle
these minors.

Topic of Inquiry
Within the topic of Juvenile Delinquency, there are two specific writing pieces that go
into great detail about the way the legal system handles juveniles, particularly aimed towards
those between the ages of fourteen to seventeen. The two pieces of writing are of different
genres. The first piece is a court document from the California Courts website, the subject being

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Juvenile Delinquency, while the second one is a news report from the USA Today, written by
Yamiche Alcindor, titled N.Y., N.C. Consider Changes to Juvenile Justice Laws. Although they
are along the same lines when it comes to the topic of inquiry, but the two articles could not be
any more different in the way they were written. Specifically being the fact that the California
Courts document is a factual based document which is communicated in a professional manner
to parents or legal guardians who have a child who is a delinquent, or has been given an adult
trial. The court document gives details about the process regarding the decision of whether to
give an adult trial or not. The article in the USA Today is more so communicated informally. It
gives a real persons experience in attempts to explain why the system should be changed from
the way it is run already. It is due to each piece of writings unique characteristics that they were
chosen. The fact that they have different tones, approaches to the topic, and overall highlighted
aspects using rhetorical appeals make them both appropriate genres to compare and thoroughly
analyze.
Audience and Purpose
The main goals of the two pieces of writing are vastly different, as they are intended to
reach out to their own specified individual, diverse groups. The audience of the court documents
falls along the lines of people involved with the legal system: whether it be lawyers, court
appointed officials, parents or guardians of a juvenile, the juveniles themselves, or even an
individual who wants nothing more than to learn about the courts process when handling young
juveniles. All the people who want cold hard facts on the subject are the ones being targeted with
this piece. Specifically, the document addresses parents or guardians of juveniles within the
opening sentence by saying If your child is involved in a juvenile delinquency case (Judicial
Branch of California, 2015). But that does not limit the pages audience to only parents or
guardians, it targets far more in a discrete way.

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Meanwhile, the USA Today article is aimed to attract anyone who has any interest in the
legal systems in New York or North Carolina. It also aimed to reach individuals who find judicial
issues of interest, whether it pertains to them or not. With this article, the purpose, although
slightly informational, is mainly to entertain and to keep people viewing their website. The USA
Today article attempts to draw and maintain the readers interest by the unique language features
used such as the bold headlines, italicized summaries, as well as the use of brief headlines and
links to other stories that the individual may find interesting. Furthermore, the USA Today uses
words, phrases, and sentences that draw interest, and keep one hooked to what is being read, for
example; At the time, it was an unremarkable turn for the 11-year-old whose Brooklyn
neighborhood was filled with young men dealing temporary highs., and It wasn't like I woke
up and said I'm going to sell. It was a natural thing to me. You just think I can't wait to get to the
next level. (Alcindor, 2014).
On the contrary, the piece on the California courts webpage is strictly informational. The
sole purpose is to inform the reader about the way that the Judicial Branch handles juvenile
delinquency. This information is provided strictly to point out the way that the legal system takes
action to those who are going to have firsthand involvement in a juveniles trial. For the trial,
those who are involved will require the prerequisite knowledge that one needs in order to have
full functionality and understanding as the trial proceeds. As with all pieces of writing, it does
have its own language features used. Throughout the text, the page has numerous amounts of
hyperlinks, which go into further detail and provide extended information about specific juvenile
delinquency subjects in which there may be unanswered questions. In addition, the page provides
links to videos, and other documents that have relevance to the subject at hand.
Rhetorical Issues
As with all forms of communication, each text uses rhetorical appeal, although it may not
necessarily be effective, the components are within the writing.

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Ethos
The USA Today had their piece written by Yamiche Alcindor. This writers previous work
and career history shows that she is a respected writer and a credible source amongst the USA
Today with her experience in the categories of national issues, world issues, and general news.
Alcindor has written numerous amounts of reports in these subjects within the last three months.
Her brief biography states that she is a breaking news reporter, [who] splits her time covering
quickly developing incidents and stories about the social issues affecting the USA (USA Today,
2015). But compared to the court documents, it does not seem as much of a reliable source. The
piece on Juvenile Delinquency was written by the Judicial Council of California, and published
on a government website, which is a great use of ethos since government websites tend to be
more reliable sources than a piece published on a .com or a .net site. The California courts
required governmental approval which in turn allows for the sites text to be more credible by
default.
Pathos
In an emotional aspect, although within this type of informational piece it is may be
difficult to identify the pathos; they are there, just in a subtle way. For example, the court
documents are looking to appeal to your sense of pity and compassion. They do this by saying
phrases like, A child who is 14 years old can be tried in adult court for some serious crimes.
And If your child is tried in adult court, he or she child can be sent to adult prison, (Judicial
Branch of California, 2015). Any person who has a close relationship with a young juvenile who
is going to court, does not want to see them imprisoned for an extended amount of time, or even
life. Therefore, sentences such as the ones previously quoted from the Judicial Branch of
California are going to induce fear into the reader. As for the USA Today article, they use a
personal account from a man named Jim St. Germain in order to receive sympathy from all the

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readers. He recalls accounts from when he was selling drugs on the streets, and about his court
trial. One specific phrase Mr. Germain used was, "I'm really good at adapting so if I had been
sent to an adult prison I would have become a better criminal," (Alcindor, 2014).
Logos
In addition to the previous two rhetorical appeals mentioned, both of the texts have their
own way of supporting all the evidence or information that is given. The only support that the
USA Today uses is the personal account of a Mr. Jim St. Germain. None of the facts that are
presented have a source sighted therefore the validity of all the support is inadequate, and fails to
properly support the claim that is being made. As for the California Courts document, all the
information presented by the document is supported by a numerous amount of hyperlinks in
which provide adequate validity to the piece.
Structure and Delivery
As with every other aspect in a piece of writing, the structure, and overall how the
message is conveyed to the reader is a vital facet. The way that the court has organized the
document has it set up in a frequently asked questions based format. The main subtitles give the
feeling that they are categories based off of questions that most people have been asking recently.
With this format, the writer only has freedom to write based mainly on questions that need to be
answered, with not too much leeway for anything else. But with this formatting, it gets the point
across nicely and directly. It fills the exact purpose that the page was going for. The purpose is to
inform and facilitate a clear-cut piece that relays all information that may be needed by the
targeted reader. As for the USA Today, this piece is more freely written. There doesnt seem to
be much structure. The article jumps from a live account of a man who has a personal
involvement with the justice system to little facts about the way New York and North Carolina
run their justice systems. Although there are limitations restricting this writer to stay on topic of
the justice systems in New York and North Carolina, the writer has the freedom to venture off

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throughout the topic and write however she chooses. The structure does just what it is supposed
to do, which is to entertain the reader.
Conclusion
These two different categories of writing, otherwise known as genres, cover the same but
differ drastically. The court document, as previously stated, is strictly an informational piece,
while the USA Today article has a purpose of entertainment. With that being said, it shows that a
single topic of inquiry can have information written in a numerous amounts of ways. These two
diverse pieces of writing communicate related information in different ways. Written
communication is an effective way to get out information to a vast amount of people. Based on
what needs to be said not all genres can be used. In example, if the article was written the same
way as the documents, it would not have been very entertaining or useful to the reader.

References
Alcindor, Y. (2014, March 1). N.Y., N.C. consider changes to juvenile justice laws. Retrieved
from USA Today: A Gannett Company:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/01/new-york-and-north-carolinaconsider-juvenile-justice-changes/5280573/

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Judicial Branch of California. (2015). Juvenile Delinquency. Retrieved from California Courts:
http://www.courts.ca.gov/selfhelp-delinquency.htm
USA Today. (2015). Yamiche Alcindor. Retrieved from USA Today: A Gannett Company.