All factors play a significant role in producing non delinquent youth or limiting youth and propelling them into delinquency under uncontrollable circumstances. Reducing influence from the social bonds and what society deems normal would…
Juvenile delinquency is a persistent and pervasive social problem affecting today’s society. Hence this research is geared towards assessing some of the social causes of juvenile delinquency found in Flankers, St. James. Juvenile delinquency includes crimes of all types like violence, bullying, substance abuse, theft and sexual abuse. Social scientists have researched the social factors affecting juvenile delinquency in great detail. Some of the social risk factors and cause of juvenile delinquency are peer pressure, poor parenting, poor education, broken homes, mass media, social class, Single parents, media violence, unjust social structure, poverty and lack of parental…
Juvenile delinquency among females is a major societal issue that could potentially lead to violent antisocial behaviors through the access to gangs and other organizations that make these young women feel apart of something bigger than life. A study conducted at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign concluded that adolescent female involvement in gangs is significantly more present in homes where the children were subjected to greater levels of aggressive physical and verbal abuse, delinquency, family gang involvement, and house ejection. Female gang members reported having experienced greater levels of sexual abuse, family divergence, and less parental attention than girls who were recruited but resisted due to a strong support system.…
Social learning theory helped to identify what are the influences and role models that are shaping these teens. "Social learning theorists emphasize the power of role models and is the basis for peer jury approach and peer mandated sentence has greater potential to control the offender's future behavior than one handed down by adults. An underlying assumption of this theory is that the juvenile offenders see a common link with the court personnel youth and are members of the same community" (Forgays & Demilio, 2005, p. 108)…
It has been empirically proven that co-offending is the most prevalent model that juveniles opt for when engaging in criminal activities. Co-offending refers to the act of committing a crime accompanied by others. In the case of juveniles, co-offending mainly results from peer pressure and other social factors. Substantial research has been done to study and examine the patterns of co-offending. Most of these studies have found that there is a relationship between age and co-offending.…
Juvenile delinquency is a complicated and complex issue with a multitude of underlying causes and reasoning behind why it happens. Years of research and studies have taken place across generations to aid in a better understanding what factors contribute to it and what should be done to prevent it. Developmental Theory takes aim at the life cycle of juvenile delinquency from beginning to the epilogue. Life Course Theory lends reason to the idea that a combination of personality and environment shape and child into a delinquent. Latent trait points to physiology reasons.…
1. Structural explanations of delinquency address organizational patterns within a society that can lead to delinquency, often focusing on how “material circumstances drive behavior” (Class Notes 2/25/16). In other words, structural explanations of delinquency examine how a society determines access to material needs like food, clothing and shelter, as well as cultural expectations like wealth, community and social status (Class Notes 2/25/16). Providing funding, and therefore equal access, to a top-quality education is an intervention technique rooted in structural explanations of delinquency. On the other hand, cultural explanations of delinquency focus on how the ideas, attitudes and behaviors of people within a society affect crime (Class…
Several studies have been conducted documenting the diminished capacity of juveniles, their lack of understanding the full consequences of their actions, moreover, their inability to fully control their thoughts as well as their actions. The culpability of a juvenile offenders is similar to the culpability of a mentally challenged individual in some ways. There are some instances where a juvenile offender has made decisions knowing the consequences of their actions. There are peer pressure factors, environmental factors, as well as familiar and educational factors all of which could contribute to the delinquency of the youth in our…
The debate on theoretical aspects of juvenile offending is ever present (Wolfgang et al., 1972). Crime reduction, prevention, and social action programs are planned and transformed via trial an error in hopes to curb delinquency. Studies examining social harm due to juvenile delinquency proves useful to criminologist and public administrators when making these changes. The use of cohort studies is recognized throughout history as an ideal use of criminal statistics to follow the evolution of criminal propensity in a given population starting with a given year and continuing to observe the same individual over time (Wolfgang et al., 1972). Though criticized for various reasons, research conducted and presented in Delinquency In A Birth Cohort…
In the article “Techniques of Neutralization: A Theory of Delinquency” by Sykes and Matza, Juvenile delinquent behavior is described as “learned and… learned in the process of social interactions” (Sykes & Matza 664). This article analyzes the most frequent acts of a juvenile delinquent. The article states five different techniques that juveniles learned and then by them become delinquent. The first technique of neutralization is known as The Denial of Responsibility, which describes how the “delinquent can define himself as lacking responsibility for his deviant actions” (Sykes & Matza 667). The delinquent either states that the crime was not his fault, it or that it was just a simple “accident”.…
The theory of crime in Shaw and McKay’s Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas (1969) is quite clear and straightforward: the condition of the local community is directly related to delinquency and crimes in American cities. The condition here refers to the social and economic characteristics of the community. The social values, norms, and attitudes to which children are exposed and experienced, have significant and crucial influence on the development of children, which will direct each of them to different paths. The communities which experienced poverty and unemployment usually have delinquency as the tradition since this will provide the possibility of financial growth, position of social security and subsequent respect.…
Labelling Adolescents The labelling theory first received attention when society predominately focused on what Tannenbaum (1938:72-74) regarded as ‘tagging, defining and identifying’ young adolescents and people as delinquent individuals. Bernburg, Krohn and Rivera (2006:81-84) emphasise that labelling adolescents through ‘juvenile justice intervention methods caused the formation of deviant networks.’ For example they concluded that police intervention during early adolescence ages of 14-18 had embedded individuals into criminal activities and ‘serious delinquency’ over their life course Blumstein (1986:74-76). Moreover, the literature presented by Lopes, et al (2012) has a significant link between Bernburg, Krohn and Rivera’s (2006) views.…
In this analysis there will be research to support the facts of the social problem at hand. The social problem consists of overcrowding in the prison system, but most importantly why is there a high percentage of delinquents. Majority of the delinquency comes from their juvenile life stage. To combat the social problem there have been attempts to revive an act that once helped with this social problem. Now that the act has expired for a few years there has been two requests from the federal side to revive something similar to the act.…
In our criminal justice system, young offenders are treated far differently than adults, even having their own term known as juvenile delinquency. This term is defined as “the habitual committing of criminal acts or offenses by a young person, especially one below the age at which ordinary criminal prosecution is possible”. This is an important concept to be known in order to protect our youths, as well as have a better future for society. Society must identify individuals who are considered “at-risk” youths and provide them with adequate services and the help that they need. To begin with, we must be able to identify the causes of juvenile delinquency.…
The issue of Juvenile delinquency continues to be of great concern we face as a society due to the various social, environmental changes constantly developing and whether these rapid changes are a cause in understanding juvenile delinquency. The main concern and worry that most adults are concerned about derives from the perception that the nation’s future rests on the development of its youth and the idea that today’s delinquent is tomorrows criminal and understanding the factors and causes is of upmost importance in order prevent and diminish youth delinquency in the hopes to grow and become stronger with each new generation (Shoemaker, 2000). In order to further understand the research question developed of Understanding Juvenile…