Usually when a youth is classified as a delinquent it is associated with antisocial behaviors within the family and in the community such as aggression and can lead to related problems such as vandalism, substance usage and running away, theft, robbery, and larceny, gang memberships and school shootings. Juveniles are typically not charged like adults unless the crime is serious. Delinquency in the United States is examined with the emphasis on its relation to local communities and the groups and institutions that form the social world of children and adolescents (Cavan &
This program promotes a positive collaboration between offending youths, the justice system, and the community through the acceptance of responsibility, compliance with the disposition, and the completion of sanctions without a formal juvenile record. The intended outcome of this program is to reduce court backlogs, improve timeliness of case adjudication, cost savings, and accountability for first time, in some cases, second chances for misdemeanor offenders within the local community. Social learning theory proposes that youths learn deviance through imitation, cognitive definitions, differential reinforcement and association (Akers & Lee, 1996). Social influence theory contains conceptual elements of peer pressure, normative influence, and modeling (Maxwell, 2002).
Analyzing the juvenile delinquency, this can be perceived from different mindsets. Merriam-Webster defines juvenile delinquency as conduct by a juvenile characterized by antisocial behavior that is beyond parental control and therefore subject to legal action and a violation of the law committed by a juvenile and not punishable by death or life imprisonment. Also, a crimes committed by a person is only name a juvenile if the individual is under the age of eighteen In today’s society majority of kids are not born to be criminals or defined as above as delinquents. Children usually develop these habits or lifestyles choices due to poverty, circumstances and culture.
It is well documented that juvenile females often incur harsher sentencing that male juvenile offenders. Females have seen a 50% increase, from 20% to 29%, in arrest from 1992 to 2012. The percentage of juvenile girls being sent to detention centers has had a similar increase over the same amount of time (On, n.d.). There are several theories that try to explain the phenomenon of this harsher sentencing, most notably is the paternalistic theory. There is evidence that juvenile girls are treated more severely by police, caseworkers, lawyers, and judges (Thibodeau, 2002).
Two major themes of family dynamics and childhood victimization are a constant thread found in juvenile delinquency research and literature. Specific family structures contribute to the likelihood of delinquency more than others. Nuclear, blended, parental cohabitation, single parent, and incarcerated parent family structures affect the incidences of juvenile delinquency to varying degrees. Adding one variable on top of others compounds the stressors that increase the probability of juvenile delinquency. Each style of the family unit has traits that alter the risk of delinquency.
We ask a question which came first the peer of the delinquent with selection perspective youth, selects their peers based on their own delinquency or delinquent attitudes. The socialization perspective with peer influence involvement attitudes and what are possible relationships criminal associations criminal definitions which lead to crime. This is a macro level theory on
Dysfunctional family dynamics, including parental neglect, abuse, or inadequate supervision, may leave teens feeling rejected and unsupported, making them more likely to seek validation or a sense of belonging from peers who engage in delinquent activities (Kim et al., 2023). Furthermore, the appeal of peer groups that romanticize rebellion or impulsive behavior can have a strong influence on impressionable teenagers, leading them to mimic antisocial practices in an effort to fit in or increase their social standing among peers. Additionally, teens may resort to acting out in the form of delinquency as a coping method to relieve feelings of frustration, anger, or alienation, caused by stressors such as bullying, academic pressures, and untreated mental health issues (Rodriguez, 2016). Overall, understanding the intricate relationship between environmental factors and emotional impulses behind teen delinquency is essential before implementing effective prevention and intervention strategies that will support at-risk adolescents and their
Another theory that many other people favor to believe causes juvenile delinquency is the social control/social bond theory. The social control/social bond theory was created by Travis Hirschi (Bates & Swan, 2018). Hirschi theory disagrees with Sutherland’s theory. Hirschi theory believes juvenile delinquency is not a learned behavior (Bates & Swan, 2018). Instead, Hirschi believes that delinquent activities is a given and we all are capable, and willing participants in delinquency (Bates &Swan, 2018).
The next article that will be discussed is about labeling theory and juvenile delinquency by Adams, Robertson, Gray-Ray, and Ray (2003). The purpose of this study is to examine juvenile delinquency using the theoretical examination of labeling theory. It examines labeling theory, by seeing how informal (parents, peers, and teachers) labeling and formal (social control agencies) labeling affect adolescents into committing delinquent acts. The researchers hypothesized that adolescents who chose negative labels as their self-image had a greater tendency to be involved in delinquency. This study also uses a quantitative research method to collect their data.
Understanding the risk and protective factors of child delinquency is imperative in order to create and implement treatment and intervention programs. Because children’s behavior develops during the first five years, it is important to know what risk and protective factors could increase the likelihood of a child becoming a child offender (Wasserman et al., 2003). Moreover, overcoming the risk factors would help prevent the child offender from becoming a juvenile, and later, adult offender. As Wasserman et al (2003) stated, “risk factors for child delinquency operate in several domains: the individual child, the child’s family, the child’s peer group, the child’s school, the child’s neighborhood, and the media” (pg.1). As one can see, children are exposed to risk in partially every aspect of their lives.
Adolescent’s willingness to be part of a group of peers is displayed by complying with the rules and norms of a group and the fact that the group is built up by members exerting conformity pressures to one another (Brown, Clasen & Eicher, 1986). Pressures and influences exerted by the group become an inseparable component of the group body. According to Berndt (1979), adolescents are prone to follow peers in committing antisocial behaviors for the sake of conformity. Maintaining the way the group functioned is believed to be an important thing for adolescents. This apparent credo is one of the factors that often times lead adolescents to commit delinquent behaviors.
Social control “involves all the actions and constraints used in an effort to control another individual’s behavior (to make him or her conform to social norms) that fall outside of formal, legal, and bureaucratic systems” (Kramer, pg. 126). All societies have social norms and ways of operating that aren’t following any specific formal or legal guidelines. A study done in Philadelphia with youth in poverty revealed that low-income communities often develop a culture shaped by acceptance, normalcy, and incapacity (Chonody). Youth value being accepted and when community institutions, like schools, are not able to provide them with support and connections they will turn to other places. Often low-income communities do not view the police and courts as their protectors so they often establish their own systems of justice and crime control (Chonody).
The main proposition of Hirschi’s theory is that delinquency is the result of weak or broken bonds between the individual and society (Kelley, 1996). These social bonds are composed of four highly interconnected elements consisting of attachment,
The set of the structural-functional theories are among the most widespread perspectives on the juvenile delinquency. The group of the theories regards that the behavior of the underage delinquent is caused by the breakdown of the social process that consequently results in the increase of conformity (Thompson & Bynum, 2016). The group of theories presumably blame institutions that are responsible for the socialization of the young delinquents for the way the socialize the individuals by causing them to conform to the values of the society. One of the central theories of the juvenile delinquency is the anomie theory that is rooted in the early studies by the sociologist Emile Durkheim.
The roots (of delinquency) lie in the structure of the society with emphasis either on the ecological areas where delinquency prevails or on the systematic way in which social structure places some individuals in a poor position to compete for success. Situational delinquency provides a different perspective. Here the assumption is that delinquency is not deeply rooted, and motives for delinquency and means for controlling it are often relatively simple.
