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tia! punishment as too great a price
to pay for the act he is con–
templating.)
Yet we hear tha t older gang
·members put the guns in the hands
of the younger members because
they know the court will be more
lenient with the young ones. And we
have to wonder if these hard-core
kids are not actually masters of
moral calculus. After al!, when a
kid, after seeing an qlder kid hauled
out of the neighborhood for sorne
serious crime only to return a few
months later, deduces that the pen–
alty for crime is not that great. that
is
moral calculus at work.
The 15- or 16-year-old is mature
enough to be strongly told that there
are sorne things society just will not
tolerate.
Over-lnstltutlonallzatlon
But in contrast to its treatment of
the serious otfender. society has for
decades over-institutionalized both
juveniles guilty of petty criminal of–
fenses and status offenders.
Consider first the petty criminal -
the shoplifter or the car thief. for
example. More damage may ulti–
mately result, both to the juveoile
and to society, from hauling him off
to sorne secluded reformatory rather
thao from risking letting him heist a
few more trinkets from the local
five-and-dime.
It is commonly recognized that a
large percentage of kids commit
such petty crimes. to sorne degree or
another. The vast, vast majority out–
grow such behavior. For these rea–
sons, a new school of thought has
Kids, Crimes,and Courts
lnterview with Joseph N. Sorrentlno
Juvenlle Court Judge
What makes a kid go wrong?
What role should the courts
have in dealing with juvenile
offenders? And what can be
done to reduce the spiraling
crime rate of our youth?
To
find out,
Plain Truth
inter–
viewer
Tom
Hall talked with
Joseph N. Sorrentlno, himself
a former gang leader In New
York Clty, but
now
attorney-at–
law, juveni/e court judge, and
author of the book
The Con–
crete Cradle.
28
H
ALL: Mr. Sorrentino, why did you
write
The Concrete Cradle?
SORRENTINO:
Well ,
1
think juvenile
crime . is escalating very dan-
' gerously, and it is, 1 think, symp–
tomatic of a society that is morally
sick.
a.
How do you explain thls?
A.
There appears to be an erosion of
the legitimacy of law in the United
States. Young people today dis–
respect the law, disrespect the po–
lice, disrespect authority, and there's
also the ethic:
" I'U
get what
l
can
get."
1
had a young girl in my court–
room who mugged an old lady, and
1
questioned her afterwards about
why she had done it. She said, "To
get what
1
can get." That attitude is
becoming pervasive.
a.
What role are the courts being
asked to play by society In stemming
this rising tlde of crime?
A.
1
think an unrealistically large
role.
1
would agree to sorne degree
that tbe courts must accept their
share of the blame because often
they are unwisely indulgent. The
odds are 600 to 1 that a youth who
commits a burglary will not go to
camp or be confined. Kids often
come into court with the assumption
emerged which suggests that society
would serve itself better if it did not
take formal action against juveniles
who commit petty crimes.
Control Theory
Before further discussing over-insti–
tutionalization, especially in regard
to the status otfender, it will be use–
fui to briefly mention one of the
most promising modern theories on
the causes of crime and delin–
quency: control theory.
Control theory
postulates that an
individual's likelihood of engaging
in deviant behavior is determined
by the strength of his "bond" to nor–
mal society. A strong "bond" results
from a high degree of
attachment
to
other members of society. princi–
pally family members. and from a
that "you owe me one or two,"
which means that they can go out
and commit one or two crimes.
Also,
l
think the average time
spent in confinement by a juvenile
for murder is 18 months, which is an
absurdly lenient penalty for taking a
human life.
lt
derogates the rever–
ence for life, to give it such a cheap
penalty. Kids know that. In fact, the
older gang members put the guns in
the hands of the younger ones be–
ca use tbey know the young kids will
be dealt with lightly by the system.
1
think the courts should toughen
up. My brother, who is a detective
in New York Ci ty,
is
furious with
the courts. There's one judge back
there that the police call "Cut-'em–
loose-Bruce" and another is "Let–
'em-go-Joe."
But the assumption by society
that the courts are going to solve the
problem is a naive one. You have to
do something about the home life of
those youngsters and the larger en–
vironment of the youngster in terms
of the values of American society.
a.
In your book, you talk about the
"non-parent." Could you elaborate?
A.
Well, a non-parent, 1 feel, is
somebody who meets the financia!
obligations of the household but ne–
glects the importan! function of
teaching his child morals and being
an example to that child.
1
think
there's a proliferating phenomenon
of emotional starvation. A lot of
The
PLAIN TRUTH January 1977