Juvenile Delinquency
Part 1
Theoretical views towards juvenile delinquency can be categorized as either stemming from individual causes, societal causes, social processes, and social interaction.
Individual Causes
Juvenile delinquency can be seen as emerging from various individual causes such as poor school attendance. A school is a place where children are able to learn and develop themselves through structured routines and education on how to interact with one another. These are some of the factors that contribute to a successful rounded individual that understands the meaning of moral codes of conduct. School environments also enable an individual enhance their lives since they are able to establish good habits and comply with societal norms. If an individual is not able to develop these skills, and the environment around them does not instill within them the importance of school, they are more likely to develop delinquent behavior. Such behavior can be best explained through the psychogenic theory, which illuminates that delinquency comes about as a result of the emotional physiology of the delinquent (National Research Council 2001, p.33).
However, this factor can be further explained by the psychiatric theory and the biogenetic theory. The psychiatric theory highlights that there usually is something within the individual that causes them to behave in delinquent manners. The biogenetic theory, on the other hand, emphasizes that upon conception, a criminal’s body formation is built. This explains the commonality in cases of generational delinquency in families that had individuals that dropped out of school or were criminals. These theories are classified as individuals since their causes can only be attributed to an individual; no outside factors influence these causes.
Societal Causes
Research suggests that delinquency is heavily catalyzed by societal factors. According to (Trappen, n.d), the structure of society, societal changes, and differences in culture, among other matters, promote or inhibit deviant behavior. One theory that highlights this is the social disorganization theory that suggests that crime rates are directly linked to neighborhood ecological characteristics (Trappen, n.d.). For instance, individuals that grow up in societies laced with violence and robbery tend to have a higher likelihood of acting on these behaviors that they develop as they grow up.
Social Process
Social process theories, according to Bridges (1926), focus on the interaction between individuals and environmental influences as a cause for delinquent behaviors. Control theory best explains the social process since it highlights how delinquency is more likely to be found among youth that lack social bonds and positive influence from peers and parents than those who have those characteristics. Criminal behavior is learned, as such, when an individual is exposed to positive influences, their likelihood of participating in deviant behavior is significantly lower.
Social Interaction
Peer influences and community influences, among others, also influence the probability of juvenile delinquency. The subcultural theory best explains these factors since, according to National Research Council. (2001), the theory suggests that a failure to attain success goals within a particular area, especially economic status, contributes to delinquent behaviors. Similarly, the differential opportunity theory also suggests that delinquent and criminal behavior emerges from the idea that people from low socioeconomic backgrounds have fewer opportunities for success and, as such, will use any means at their disposal to achieve success (Daigle,Cullen & Wright, 2007). These means may then be influenced by family, community, or age mates and may lead an individual to crime. These theories differ in category from the societal process and societal causes as they require the individual to interact with another aspect in order to be facilitated.
References
Bridges, K. M. (1926). Factors contributing to juvenile delinquency. Am. Inst. Crim. L. & Criminology, 17, 531.
Daigle, L. E., Cullen, F. T., & Wright, J. P. (2007). Gender differences in the predictors of juvenile delinquency: Assessing the generality-specificity debate. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 5(3), 254-286.
National Research Council. (2001). Juvenile crime, juvenile justice. National Academies Press.
Trappen, S. (n.d.). Theories of Delinquency. https://sandratrappen.com/2018/12/30/theories-of-delinquency/#:~:text=Social%20Process%20Theories&text=Control%20theory%20is%20a%20social,interactions%20among%20parents%20and%20peers
Part 2
Individual, social, and community conditions, in addition to interactions, have a tremendous influence on the development of delinquent behavior (Shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/ n.d., p.66). Moreover, biological, genetic, and environmental factors also play an even more significant role towards it. Yet, although this is the case, the male population still accounts for 76% of arrests in the United States, with them holding a 93% occupation in state and federal prisons (Daigle, Cullen & Wright, 2007). As such, one can plainly observe that the male gender has been participating in crime at a more exponential rate over the years more than females. Theories have thus been proposed to explain the differences that exist in criminality between males and their female counterparts, whereby some of the factors that influence a gender’s decision to participate or avoid crime are abuse and victimization, emotional factors such as depression, and supervision.
Abuse and victimization among the female gender are some of the critical factors that may reduce or increase the likelihood of an individual participating in delinquent behavior. Women are usually more prone to being abused, with research showing that 34% of girls undergo some form of abuse in one way or another by the time they reach adulthood (Daigle et al., 2007). Such events shape the likelihood of an individual to offend due to the development of deviant emotions that may grow within an individual as they want to revenge. Based on that, Daigle et al. (2007) highlight that victims of crime often end up becoming perpetrators of crime. Nevertheless, this factor is seen to be more pronounced in men due to emotional factors.
Depression has been classified as one of the factors that promote delinquent acts. This is because depression carries with it a host of adverse behavioral outcomes with which criminal behavior serves as one of them. Yet, based on research, females have been identified to suffer depression more than their male counterparts (Daigle et al., 2007). This then may cause them to develop suicidal tendencies and deviant behaviors that form the basis of crime. Additionally, since the supervision distinction between males and females is quite different, it has been identified that female children are less likely to participate in criminal acts due to their growing up in more supervised conditions than males. Such supervision also causes them to grow into more mentally controlled and morally upright individuals which apply well within society.
Further, family factors such as parenting, family size, and violence and mistreatment might also increase the likelihood that a juvenile will participate in deviant activities (Wasserman 2003, p. 5). Inadequate parenting practices have a way of catalyzing antisocial behavior among youth. Poor monitoring and low positive involvement have the power to increase the likelihood of children developing conduct problems. If in such instances, children are not well supervised, they become likely to develop deviant behaviors. Family size also has an influence on the likelihood of delinquent behavior. This is because; families that have more children tend to be less economically stable. Therefore, some of the children may get into crime because they are also often less supervised. Finally, mistreatment or domestic violence also shapes the likelihood of occurrence of delinquency. Abuse or neglect usually shapes a child’s decisions growing up. Moreover, events such as women being battered or raped may shape how male children grow up viewing women, and as such, they may end up treating other girls and women in the same way. These men may grow up to be male batterers, or females grow to hate men.
References
Daigle, L. E., Cullen, F. T., & Wright, J. P. (2007). Gender differences in the predictors of juvenile delinquency: Assessing the generality-specificity debate. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 5(3), 254-
Wasserman, G. A. (2003). Risk and protective factors of child delinquency. US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/. (n.d.). CHAPTER-3 THEORIES AND CAUSES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY. https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/145628/7/07_chapter3.pdf
