Mexico

Abstract

High rates of juvenile crime are a serious criminological problem for four reasons: (1) It means large portions of youth whose contributions to society will be diminished from the start. (2) It increases adult crime rates. (3) It represents major costs on already strained public budgets. (4) It finally is an indicator of the failure of society and the State. The problem of juvenile justice can be solved, in part, by institutional mechanisms that look at minimizing the negative long-term impact on society. One logic is to combine modern criminal codes, well-organized courts, adequate crime prevention and rehabilitation programs, and, in general, legal procedures that maximize transparency, fairness, and better measurement and evaluation of public security and criminal justice programs. The other option is to do nothing and allow randomness to solve the problem. Mexico has taken the first option, and this chapter shows how this approach has been producing some effective results by the successful linkage of several recent institutional reforms.