The rhetoric of the Juvenile Court Movement has emphasized the individualized, non-criminal handling of youths who commit delinquent acts. While the procedures for handling youth in the juvenile court were decriminalized (which basically means that constitutional guidelines applicable to criminal trials were disregarded), the alleged delinquent acts have remained, for the most part criminalized. That is, delinquent acts are defined by the law as basically criminal acts committed by youth. A partial exception to this perspective is the juvenile status offenses. For the most part these acts (truancy, curfew violation, ungovernable, etc.) are viewed as “pre-delinquent,” i.e., pre-criminal kinds of behavior.