Delinquency In The Outsiders

According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquent Preventions, the Juvenile arrest rate in 1967 was a total of 2.4 million children ages 12-17. This was the year The Outsiders was written in. The realistic fictional novel, The Outsiders, by S. E. Hinton and the article, “What Causes Juvenile Delinquency,” by Ilanna Sharon Mandel both relate to Juvenile Delinquency and its effects on children and their loved ones. Mandel’s points towards Juvenile Delinquency can be applied to Ponyboy and the other greasers through peer influences, family life, self-esteem, race discrimination, and horrible trauma. Initially, peer and family influences can greatly contribute to children committing juvenile acts. Mandel states “there are parents who

Fist off, the article states that some juvenile delinquency could be caused by racial discrimination, but in The Outsiders, this is expressed through the Socs discriminating against the greasers because of their amount of money. Likewise, the book states how the greasers are looked down at by the Socs because of their economic circumstances, like the article states how whites look down at colored people causing delinquent acts to occur. Also, self-esteem can be a key contributor in mischievous acts. According to Mandel, “people want to feel good about themselves and will engage in behavior that will boost their self esteem.” (page four, paragraph six) The Greasers are put down and “jumped” by Socs throughout the novel, so they most likely became involved in drinking and smoking to raise their self-esteem levels. Due to their interaction with drugs and alcohol, they become engaged in irrational activities, causing them to become juvenile delinquents. The novel enhances that hair is a big part of a greasers’ overall ‘look’ as a person, so lack of the right hair might make someone have lower self-esteem. “ ‘Kid, I swear it don’t look like you with your hair all cut off. It used to look tuff. You and soda had the coolest-lookin’ hair in town.’” (page 73, paragraph six) Moreover, hair is a social necessity to fit in, when a Greasers’ hair is cut, it makes their self-esteem lower, possibly causing them to create delinquent acts. They might feel that their hair isn’t an acceptable length to look good. Dally is talking to Ponyboy, and tells him it isn’t him with his hair short, and this makes Ponyboy feel self conscious without his long hair. Low self esteem and discrimination are big factors in a juvenile committing delinquent