Does Socioeconomic Status Cause Delinquency?

Improved Essays
Sierra Purden
CCJ 4700
Summer 2016
Assignment Three
Introduction: The constant desire to know what causes children to engage in delinquency is a passion that many criminologists have chased for years. Two of the most commonly known factors of such delinquent potential stem from a lack of educational advancements and a low income household or support system. These two independent variables change the likelihood of a student turning to mischievous deeds and activity. The dependent variable in this study, delinquency, is often experimented with in youthful ages, but is extremely more likely to occur when a student is struggling and school and has a lack of strong support in their household. The unit of analysis that has been studied to find
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Robert Agnew devoted a majority of his career to the study of minorities, crime, and social policy. In a study by Agnew and his fellow associates, the association between socioeconomic status, economic problems, and delinquency were observed. The research indicates that the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and delinquency is not as strong as suggested by the leading crime theories of modern criminology. This research argues that such philosophies do not forecast that SES in and of itself causes delinquency, but rather that the economic problems faced by those in a struggling socioeconomic state cause delinquency (Agnew et Al, 2008). Data from a nationwide representative sample of youths support these perspectives. Multiple studies have found that economic problems concerning the loss of a positive stimuli and the introduction of negative stimuli add to delinquency and offending odds, and additional qualitative research confirms these …show more content…
While there are undoubtedly relationships between the three, no one can confirm the others guaranteed appearance. It was apparent that a correlation exists between good grades in school and low delinquency rates, the same cannot necessarily be said for socioeconomic status. The status of a family’s income had little to do on offending, but rather the problems children faced because of said economic hardships were more leading towards behavior not necessarily accepted by society. These were not the results that were expected to be found as society seems to view these variables as the main causes of crime. To say the relationships between these three variables is spurious is rather generous, but is plausible. Regrettingly, there is no official answer as to what causes adolescent delinquency, but with additional research and further understanding of the subject, there is possibility of finding the root to the problem in the

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