Final answer:
Juveniles who consistently commit crimes from an early age into adulthood are known as chronic criminals. The justice system debates whether such individuals should be tried as adults due to the failure of juvenile rehabilitation programs to deter ongoing criminal behavior.
Step-by-step explanation:
Juveniles who begin offending at a very young age and continue to offend into adulthood are referred to as chronic criminals. This is a particularly challenging issue within the justice system. These individuals, often dubbed persistent offenders, demonstrate a pattern of behavior that starts in their youth. As the model problem-and-solution paragraph suggests, these juveniles should sometimes be tried as adults given the seriousness of their crimes and the failure of youth rehabilitation programs. The goal is to reduce the likelihood of these young offenders continuing their life of crime into adulthood.