Treatment of the juvenile justice population has evolved over time. The current system reflects the constant tension between the need to limit the destructive behavior of delinquent youth and the recognition that their behaviors are influenced by many factors that are beyond their control and place them at risk—the concept of police power versus parens patriae. Prior to the nineteenth century, children were seen as property of their parents and were accorded few protections from parental abuse and neglect. With respect to criminal matters, children above the age of 7 years old were treated as adults and were presumed to be responsible for their actions. These attitudes began to change in the late nineteenth century in response to industrialization, with its effects on the family and community structure and the increase in social problems including delinquent behavior. From this social context a rehabilitative ideal emerged under the influence of social reformers who believed that children who engaged in delinquent behavior were the victims of poverty, poor social training, and economic instability. By adopting a rehabilitative model, these reformers believed that delinquent children could be made into productive members of society. It was out of this movement that the first juvenile court came into existence in Chicago, Illinois, in 1899.