Juvenile Delinquency And Its Effects On Society Essay

Juvenile delinquency is an ever growing issue in the United States, according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, “In 2012, there were 3,941 arrests for every 100,000 youths ages 10 through 17 in the United States” (OJJDP, 2014). The way juveniles are treated in the criminal justice system is very different than the way adults are. In 1899, in Cook County, Illinois, the first juvenile justice system in the country was founded. This established an alternative way of dealing with offenders whom are inherently different, in the way they think and commit crimes, than those of adult age. There are a few distinct differences between the juvenile and adult criminal system, but the biggest difference is the

Researches have continuously tried to explain why people commit crime and engage in juvenile delinquency. Over the past century, many theories have emerged and been adopted as the main contributing factors for why juveniles engage in deviant behaviors. Some theories, such as

Every individual in the United States has been affected by juvenile crime. It does not just affect the parents of the juvenile but also the neighbors, teachers, other families, and the police. Juvenile delinquency is the act of committing crimes and offenses by youth personnel. Essentially, criminal behavior engaged in by minors and is the major problem of youth in modern society. Juvenile delinquency is important because it has implicated misery to the victims and has conveyed problems to its perpetrators. While delinquency rates have been decreasing, the rates are still far too high. Numerous programs to prevent juvenile delinquency have been attempted but not all of them succeed in stopping the youth from entering the lifestyle of crime.

Juvenile delinquency and recidivism are a major problem within our country today. There are a number of programs out there that provide treatment for issues such as drug addiction and abuse. There are other programs that provide help for gang involvement, provide help to female offenders, provide help with family counseling, and for mental health issues. There are still others that help with community outreach and help with parenting and helping the family dynamic. Providing effective treatment for offenders in the juvenile justice system is a cornerstone of any effective response to juvenile crime. To help address treatment issues that have failed in the past “Wraparound” programs have been created. This paper will set out to define what “wraparound” is and how it applies to the juvenile justice system. It will also serve to address and identify how it addresses the many issues that face the youth today in the many facets of society.

Juvenile criminal gangs have long been a significant issue with the criminal justice establishment. Youths coming together to commit criminal acts normally attributed to adult and more vicious criminal organizations are now being routinely committed by juveniles. The reasons for these youths in committing the activities have somewhat baffled author tries as well as scholars and researchers. It must be noted however, that juvenile delinquency is not new; laws in the past have sought to control the criminal and deviant tendencies of children, and prescribing changes from rehabilitative to retribution against criminal acts committed by juveniles. Many of the common assumptions-from being accepted and venting violent behavior- have long been

Juveniles are committing crime everywhere, but the nation is not aware of the behavior behind these acts of delinquency. No matter how much focus there is on juveniles partaking in crimes across the states, there is little understanding on why they turn to crime and what are the factors that come into play to lead them down this path. Many external factors such as, the environment they live in, family, school, peer groups, and individual self-being can bring them a step closer to the life of crime. When juveniles live under circumstances that alter or determine the way they live, crime and a sense of brotherhood is what they look for in the emptiness. When these factors come into the circulation of the juvenile’s life and there is not a stable and productive lifestyle, they are more likely to become a part of the gang world. The focus here is whether these factors drive juveniles straight to the membership of gangs or if juveniles have a choice to defer against it.

Juvenile delinquency is a social issue in the United States today. Juvenile delinquency, is when “a violation of the law is committed by a juvenile and is not punishable by death or life imprisonment” (Juvenile Delinquency). The juvenile system is different from the adult system in many way and most juvenile delinquents are from the age of ten to the age of seventeen (Juvenile Delinquent). Once the delinquent or anyone is at the age of eighteen, they are considered to be an adult. Therefore, in the justice system they are tried as an adult. There are many different reasons why a child would commit crime, such as mental and physical factors, peer influence, home conditions, neighborhood environment and school conditions. Teens are greatly influenced by the interactions and surroundings they are around. Their behaviors can result from the parent and/or their peer influences. Parents play a great role in the child’s life and a teen’s peers also play a strong role in how the teen behaves when the parents are not insight. This research will examine links between the social environment of teens and how it influences the teens actions and behavior which leads them to commit an offense.

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.

The question still remains as to the correlation between behavioral variables such as drugs, gang violence, unstableness of families, etc. and how they are important tools when explaining deviant behavior. These tools are often developed into theories in order to attempt an explanation and prevent initial and/or future deviant behavior in juveniles. All causation theories will be explained through the content of this research paper because no single theory is sufficient in trying to explain why juvenile delinquent behavior exists. However, this paper will significantly highlight on the psychological theories. Next, certain treatment and prevention interventions will be addressed as it relates to the attempts of controlling delinquency.

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

     Some causes for conduct in adolescents are no discipline, unstructured discipline and a broken home. A broken home is one of the factors that can produce a delinquent child. A broken home reduces the opportunity for creating a strong attachment between child and parents and that reduces the parent’s ability to condition the child. Many theories concerning the causes of juvenile crime focus either on the individual or on society as the major contributing influence. Theories centering on the individual suggest that children engage in criminal behavior because they were not sufficiently penalized for previous delinquent acts or that they have learned criminal behavior through interaction with others.

Juvenile offending is a concern in society today. Juveniles account for approximately 19% of the population but are responsible for 29% of criminal arrests (Cottle, Lee, & Heilbrun, 2001). Crime overall has been found to be decreasing throughout the last two decades. The issue is that the rate in which adult crime is decreasing is significantly greater than the rate in which juvenile crime is decreasing. Since the rate of juvenile crime is so high, juvenile delinquents are seen as predators and many believe they lack morals. The way in which media of today’s society constructs juvenile delinquency impacts the views of a community towards their youth and youth offenders. Media presents an inaccurate image of youth offenders as violent predators (Rhineberger-Dunn, 2013). This inaccurate image significantly promotes the myths that juvenile crime is rising, juveniles commit crimes that are primarily violent, and that juveniles are highly effected by recidivism and continue committing crimes into adulthood (Bohm, & Walker, 2013). It has already been stated though that crime rates have been decreasing over the last two decades so the first myth is refuted. The myth that juveniles primarily commit violent crimes is also very off. In most cases, juveniles are involved in property crimes and although there are some violent crime cases, they are very rare. When these rare violent crimes do occur, youth can be tried in adult court. The

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 offending is a major problem in society. Understanding the risk factors that contribute to the increased likelihood of a juvenile to engage in delinquency is important. There are many factors that can influence the increased risk of juvenile delinquency. These factors include poverty, low socioeconomic status, age (Jarjoura, Triplett, & Brinker, 2002), race, gender (Lucero, Barret, & Jensen, 2015), education (Lucero, Barret, & Jensen, 2015; Jarjoura, 1993), and family structure (Anderson, 2002; Kierkus & Hewitt, 2009). It is important to examine if some risk factors can contribute more than others and to what extent they interact with one another. This paper will discuss three important risk factors that contribute to the likelihood of juveniles engaging in deviant acts. The three risk factors discussed are poverty, family structure, and educational attainment. In addition, this paper will demonstrate how these three risk factors interact with one another, resulting in a higher propensity for involvement in juvenile delinquency.

The social environment of teens holds an enormous influence on how the teens act and behave. Teens are easily influenced by their surroundings and they look to others for guidance. Their behavior results from that of the parent and peer influences. Parents play a particularly influential role in their child’s life and it is up to them to make sure that they are leading their sons or daughters in the right directions. A teen’s peers also play a large role in how the teen behaves when the parents are not around. A teen’s social environment, consisting of family and peers, plays a vital role in their life, therefore becoming the ultimate cause of juvenile delinquency.