What are some reasons offered in the text as to why the study of juvenile delinquency is important? ...

The problems of youth in modern society are a major national concern, especially when they are linked to juvenile delinquency, or criminal behavior committed by minors.
 There is an urgent need for strategies to combat such a complex social phenomenon as juvenile delinquency; formulating effective strategies demands a solid understanding of delinquency's causes and prevention.
 The study of delinquency involves such issues as devising programs to reduce the dropout rate and determining what effect dropping out of school has on delinquency.
 More than 1.1 million youths are arrested each year for crimes ranging in seriousness from loitering to murder; while most juvenile law violations are minor, some young offenders are extremely dangerous and violent.
 About 800,000 youths belong to more than 20,000 gangs in the United States; violent street gangs can put fear into an entire city.
 Youths involved in multiple serious criminal acts are recognized as a serious social problem.
 The cost to society of these high-rate offenders can be immense.
 Studies have shown the costs to society of various groups of juvenile offenders, including high-rate chronic offenders who continue to commit serious crimes as adults to be astronomical.
 Researchers have found that the average cost for each of these offenders is over 1.5 million, and their cost to society increases as they grew older.
 The worst of the worst of these offenders, who committed 53 known crimes, cost society 1,696,000 by the time they reached their mid-20s.
 In all, the high-rate offenders studied had an annual cost to society of over half a billion dollars.
 Student answers will vary.

Great answer!