TERM PAPER TOPIC: CRIME FACTORS
INTRODUCTION
A crime is essentially an act forbidden by the law, and considered sufficiently grave to warrant providing penalties for its commission. It does not necessarily follow that such an act is either good or bad; punishment follows for the violation of the law and not necessarily for any moral contravention. Before 1968, most theories of crime were resulted from recommendations given by sociologists, psychologists, political scientists, and criminologists. These recommendations were hinged on concepts like depravity, abnormality and insanity. It was only in the late 1960’s, that economists turned their attention to the debate of criminology inspired by Becker’s (1968) seminal paper on Crime and Punishment.
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One of the family factors responsible for crime is inadequate parenting. According to crime prevention research, certain kinds of parenting behavior or family environment form a high proclivity of juvenile involvement in crime. Poor parenting truly increases the risk of involvement in crime, and this can be reduce by improving the quality of parenting as proven by experiments designed to this discipline (Yoshikawa, H. 1994).
Some of the parenting factors responsible for crime among juveniles include: parental neglect, which in most cases can happen due to large family size, which may lead to laxity in parental supervision. This can lead to juvenile involvement in crimes. Secondly, factors associated with parental conflict and discipline to include abuse, nagging, harsh and erratic discipline makes the home very uncomfortable and wayward, thus pushing children to seek comfort from peers. Thirdly, deviant parental behaviors and attitudes such as parental criminality, parental violence and tolerance of violence form a high tendency for crime involvement. Lastly, family disruption as a result of chronic spousal conflict or marriage break-up can leave the children to the hands of their peers for upbringing and in most cases would expose them to criminal activity (Loeber & Stouthamer-Loeber,