Reading ComprehensionDifficulty: Easy

PT108 S4 P2 Q8 Explanation

Juvenile Delinquency

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Reading Comprehension question.

TopicsMain PointLaw

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Passage

Much of mainstream thinking concerning juvenile delinquency in Canada and the United States is based on the assumption that if uncorrected it automatically leads to adult crime and should thus be severely punished, usually by some form of incarceration, before it becomes an ingrained behavior pattern. While there is some connection between its extreme their research suggests that the best form of law enforcement intervention might be none.

The criminologists' unwillingness to attempt to articulate a policy also stems from their failure­—perhaps mirroring that of law enforcement—to distinguish sufficiently between what the young adults themselves think of as criminal behavior and what they consider merely "fun" even while acknowledging that it is illegal. Many of the subjects of the criminologists' rather than routinely imposing incarceration, may be the most effective form of rehabilitation for young offenders.

The problem of juvenile delinquency certainly ought to be dealt with, but the question is one of approach. The conventional wisdom has held that it is essential to make youthful offenders understand that their actions are absolutely impermissible, even if this requires incarceration. However, we do not need to remove delinquents from and it can be achieved without either inflicting incarceration or allowing young offenders to escape penalty.

What this question is testing

Main Point

Anticipate

This is a Main Point question. Step back and ask: what is the author actually arguing for across all three paragraphs?

The author is staking out a position: don't lock kids up, but don't let them off either. The whole structure of the passage — explaining why incarceration backfires, why most kids mature out on their own, and how a return-and-apologize approach could work — is in service of that one claim.

Goal

Look for an answer that says: rehabilitation works without incarceration. Common traps:

Answers that describe a sub-point — criminologists' methods, the law-enforcement-vs-young-adult perception gap

Answers that just say "delinquency is a problem" without proposing the author's solution

Answers that frame the passage as cooperation between groups, when the author is actually proposing a policy

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The question
8.

Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main idea of

Answer choices

  1. Too Narrow5% picked this

    The prevailing law enforcement view of illegal juvenile behavior differs from the way in which many young offenders

    This captures one observation in P2 — that young adults call their behavior "fun" while law enforcement calls it criminal — but that's a sub-point in service of the larger argument. The author's main idea is the policy proposal in P3: rehabilitate without incarcerating. The perception gap is part of the supporting machinery, not the conclusion.

  2. Wrong Emphasis4% picked this

    Criminologists should refocus their research methodology so as to gain a better idea of the

    The author critiques criminologists for not translating their research into policy, but the main point isn't a methodological recommendation to criminologists. The author's focus is on what policy should be — rehabilitation without incarceration. (B) makes the passage sound like it's about how researchers should research, when it's really about what to do with juvenile delinquents.

  3. Out of Scope3% picked this

    Criminologists and law enforcement personnel must cooperate if the problem of juvenile delinquency is

    The passage doesn't advocate cooperation between criminologists and law enforcement — it doesn't even say their goals are aligned. The author's argument is about rehabilitation policy, not about institutional collaboration.

  4. Too Narrow1% picked this

    Juvenile delinquency is a significant problem and a threat to social stability in Canada and

    The passage opens by describing delinquency as a problem worth addressing, but stating that delinquency is a problem isn't the main idea. The author goes much further — proposing a specific solution. (D) captures the setup without capturing the conclusion.

  5. Correct87% picked this

    Timely rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents can be achieved without resorting to incarceration of those

    Why this is right

    This captures the author's main argument exactly. P1 sets up why incarceration may backfire; P2 explains why maturation works as rehabilitation; P3 spells out a return-and-apologize approach and concludes that rehabilitation "can be achieved without either inflicting incarceration or allowing young offenders to escape penalty." (E) names the central claim — rehabilitation without incarceration is achievable.

    Skill tested: Main Point · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

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