Factors Of Juvenile Delinquency

Juvenile delinquents are minors, usually defined as being between the ages of 10 and 18, who have committed some act that violates the law. These acts aren’t called “crimes” as they would be for adults. Rather, crimes committed by minors are called “delinquent acts.” Instead of a trial, the juvenile has an “adjudication,” after which he/she receives a “disposition” and a sentence. However, juvenile proceedings differ from adult proceedings in a number of ways (Reuters, 2017). Delinquent acts are put into two categories. The first category of a delinquent act is one that would be considered a crime had an adult committed it. Given the serious nature of the crime(s), some jurisdictions will try young offenders as adults. The second type of delinquent act is age related or “status crimes” meaning that the crime(s) wouldn’t normally be performed or committed by an adult. For example, staying out past curfew or skipping school known as truancy is an act of a status crime or age related crime.

Juvenile delinquency is defined by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary as “…a violation of the law committed by a juvenile that would have been a crime if committed by an adult; also: antisocial behavior by juveniles that is subject to legal action” (https://www.merriam-webster.com). As juvenile delinquency continues to be a great social concern, getting to the source of the problem and identifying solutions is paramount. Case studies have been conducted to identify early risk factors for delinquency. There are many programs in the state designed to help youth resist committing crimes and to prevent youth, who have already been in the juvenile justice system, from making repeated offenses. In order for these programs to be successful, they

Statistics show that in the United States, there were more than 4,000 arrests “for every 100,000 youths” between the ages of 10 and 17 in 2011 (USDOJJDP, 2011a). Juvenile delinquency is defined by Webster’s dictionary as “conduct by a juvenile characterized by antisocial behavior that is beyond parental control and therefore subject to legal action” (“Juvenile delinquency,” n.d.). A number of jurisdictions have been exerting effort to prevent minor offenders from involvement in the juvenile delinquency system (USDOJJDP, 2011b). Efforts have been made due to the emphasis on detrimental effects of juvenile delinquency and confinement on youth put forward by research. The following paper will describe the a number of social factors as well as the cooperative cognitive and biological factors that contribute to the development of juvenile delinquency and promote understanding of the psychological process.

Juvenile delinquency refers specifically to the criminal activity of youth. Juvenile delinquency includes committing crimes and participation in other forms of illegal activities. Across the world, the existing legal systems have different sets of punishments and penalties for juvenile delinquency versus being tried as an adult. (Loeber, 1990) In many countries, the age when individuals are no longer classified as juveniles as may be tried for crimes as adults is in the latter part of adolescence and early adulthood. There is more than one type of juvenile delinquency. Furthermore, there are typically two types of juvenile offenders. Juvenile delinquency is classified as a status offense, criminal behavior, and delinquency. Each type of delinquency is enforced or dealt with in specific levels of court. Juvenile offenders are either repeat offenders or age specific offenders. Repeat offenders are obviously more likely to become long term criminals while age specific offenders participate in criminal activities as an expression of the particular stage of human development in which they occupy, i.e. adolescence. Risk factors in juvenile delinquency include class, style of parenting, and gender. (Loeber, 1990)

When looking at a juvenile delinquent and trying to decipher the root of their problems or the origin of their bad behavior, I think it’s significantly important to understand and analyze the environment in which the youth was raised. Sociologists have studied the relationship between parental incarceration and juvenile delinquency and have come to several conclusions discussed through scholarly articles as to why adolescents of incarcerated parents engage in delinquency. A wide variety of theories have been discussed in the various literature reviewed, but this review will focus on three main themes which emerged throughout the literature. These themes are: attachment, family structure and labeling or stigmatization.

There are many individual-level variables that can explain why juveniles become involved in delinquent acts. One important variable that plays a major role in this is the major affect that family context has on the role of child development. More specifically, the idea of child abuse comes into play that has always been researched and focused on as a major part as to why some juveniles become involved in delinquent acts. Child abuse involves important family characteristics that affect the growth of a child and will ultimately damage them both physically and mentally. If a child is damaged at a young age, then they way they think and perceive the world changes, especially if help is not given to them in their time of need. Child abuse is a

Aside from the issue of crime in general, juvenile delinquency has become more and more of an issue in our present day society. Due to this unfortunate fact, many theoretical explanations of crime have evolved over the years to help researchers, law enforcement agencies, and society as a whole better understand why juvenile delinquency and crime in general has gotten so out of hand. These crime theories also attempt to explain what leads or increases the likelihood of those individuals who commit crime to do it. Recent statistics reveal that juvenile delinquents are becoming younger and the types of crimes they commit are beginning to be more violent. Criminal offenses such as physical and sexual assault, property crimes, hate crimes, bullying

The second study deals with the application of two criminological theories on Juvenile delinquency contributors. "Causes of juvenile delinquency have become an important aspect of criminological study because, with the knowledge of what contributes to delinquency, the scientific community can possibly slow down the continuous act of offending through implementation of prevention strategies". To illustrate, "Criminological theory is used to define and help understand why certain contributors are the foundation for juvenile delinquency, along with the continuity of crime for an adolescent, but also what factors contribute to a decrease in criminal activity, also known as desistance" (Burns, 2013, p. 5). Peer influence, family environment, parenting styles, school environment, and community structure are examined by researchers as some predictors of juvenile delinquency.

Theories are possible explanations for an event taking place or actions that are committed by an individual. In regards to juvenile delinquency there are many theories based on possible causes from biological, social, and economical. Understanding that children learn from their elders and peers from the time they are small children until they have reached adulthood, is the basis for the most compelling theory, the social learning theory (Prather & Golden, 2009). The impact that individuals have on each other and response that is returned based on what is known as acceptable, helps to identify some aspects to why the juvenile finds the delinquent behavior standard. It is believed that we imitate the behavior and habits of those in our regular

Juvenile delinquencies are one of the most serious issues that our government is dealing with and trying to eliminate. These individuals are known to have an anti-social behavior. These actions include loitering, loafing, pick-pocketing, stealing and killing to care for their sibling and also sexual offenses. Parental negligence is one of the major causes of juvenile delinquencies. There are other factors that contribute to the negative behaviors of the adolescent and children (Siegel, 61). Family is one factor with the highest effects on the upbringing of an individual. Almost all research workers have accepted that families of delinquents have to deal

To determine the effectiveness causal factors of crime the social control and bonding theory will be applied by conducting a meta-analysis on an empirical study. The Social Control Theory tells us about the behavior of juveniles and how they relate to the ties of society. A juvenile that has a strong bond to its society produce more positive actions. A juvenile that has a weak bond with its community can lead to criminal behavior. The Social Control Theory implies that the environment can affect behavior. The study of the Social Control Theory focuses on “the relationship between social control and social learning at the level of inter-personal relations, specifically the joint influences between parents and peers as they relate to delinquent behavior”(Champion, 2004). Family ties, commitment to society, and the belief of what is important are a few elements of the social control theory. The Social Bond Theory puts focus on an individual and their peer influences and peer groups. In this theory, attachment is extremely important when it pertains to parental figures. The strength or weakness of a family is a great variable and

Juvenile Delinquency seems to always find itself on the front pages of newspapers. The juvenile delinquency rate is very high in America, today. According to Seigel and Welsh (2014) juvenile delinquency is defined as the participation in illegal behavior by a minor who falls under the statutory age limit (p. 648). The statutory age limit varies in different states. For example, a juvenile might be considered an adult in different state for various crimes. Statistics show that each year, juvenile commits about 9.8 percent of almost 12,000 homicides (Zagar, Grove, & Busch, 2013).

Characteristically, juvenile delinquency follows a similar path just like normal adolescent development and children tend to follow delinquent and criminal behavior rather than engaging in it randomly. Research has shown that there are two types of delinquents, those in whom the onset of severe antisocial behavior begins in early childhood, and those in whom this onset coincides with entry into adolescence. With either type, these developmental paths give families, communities, and systems the opportunity to intervene and prevent the onset of antisocial behaviors and justice system involvement (APA, 2017).

Juvenile Delinquency seems to always find itself on the front pages of newspapers. The juvenile delinquency rate is very high in America, today. According to Seigel and Welsh (2014) juvenile delinquency is defined as the participation in illegal behavior by a minor who falls under the statutory age limit (p. 648). The statutory age limit varies in different states. For example, a juvenile might be considered an adult in different state for various crimes. Statistics show that each year, juvenile commits about 9.8 percent of almost 12,000 homicides (Zagar, Grove, & Busch, 2013).

This is about the result of delinquent acts due to a juvenile’s bond to society being weak or broken. Travis Hirschi was the theorist that looked into this theory and found many links to delinquent behavior. One of them is that the quality of bond an individual has with society reflects on whether they have behaviors toward crime or not. Commitment to social bond, the attachment that a juvenile has to conventional institutions and activities, has four elements that help describe the strong or weak bond a person may have to society which are attachment, commitment, involvement, and beliefs. An insight with these elements is that if an individual does not have beliefs, is not involved, have commitment or attachment, they are more likely to turn to crime because they won’t have positive bonds to desist them from it. This seems to be more likely with children from broken families because they are missing one or more of the four elements in their life and especially in this day and age with politics dividing society so much. Parents play a big role when it comes to respecting the legal system. An example from this in Voices of Delinquency is that some of the kids didn’t have good relationships with their parents which lead to them not being taught the respect the legal system requires to work smoothly. Overall, social control is happening everywhere in one way or