Essay Juvenile Delinquency

Introduction: Recidivism or, habitual relapses into crime, has time and time again proven to be an issue among delinquents, which thereby increases the overall juvenile prison population. This issue has become more prevalent than what we realize. Unless a unit for measuring a juvenile’s risk of recidivism is enacted and used to determine a system to promote effective prevention, than the juvenile prison population will continue to increase. Our court system should not only focus on punishing the said juvenile but also enforce a program or policy that will allow for prevention of recidivism. So the question remains, how can recidivism in the juvenile prison population be prevented so that it is no longer the central cause for increased

The article, “The Criminal Mind,” written by Dr. Adrian Raine, is about the developing field of neurocriminology (which is, interestingly enough, so new and developing that the word cannot yet be found in the dictionary). According to Dr. Raine, the field of neurocriminology can be described as “using neuroscience to understand and prevent crime.” Dr. Raine discusses the theory of neurocriminology by explaining the relationship between genetics and the environment, and the effect these have on an individual’s brain, thus creating violent tendencies within that individual. The second half of the article focuses on the practical implications of the evidence behind the “physical, genetic, and environmental roots of violent behavior,” as well as how the criminal justice needs to change in order for this evidence to have any effect.

‘Biosocial criminology is an emerging interdisciplinary perspective that seeks to explain crime and antisocial behavior by recognizing the potential importance of a host of factors including genetic factors, neuropsychological factors, environmental factors, and evolutionary factors’.

Juvenile delinquency, as well as juvenile gangs are interesting and popular topic in the world of criminal justice. What criminological theories tie in with the problems of juvenile delinquency, juvenile gangs, and the reasons why juveniles do what they do? This paper explains the theories that tie in with the why, and how juveniles end up the way they do. Using the different theories explained in this paper you could hypothesize an explanation as to why the juvenile committed a crime or joined a gang. This paper touches on theories from Merton, Cohen, Cloward, Ohlin, Wolfgang, Ferracuti, and many more.

In our text, “Criminological Theory”, by Stephen G. Tibbetts and Craig Hemmens, many psychological and biological theories have numerous contradictions, which raises more compounding questions. For example, Lombroso’s “born criminal” (Tibbetts, Hemmens 2010, p. 7) theory; which describes certain physical features and abnormalities as being tell-tell signs when attempted to detect a future criminal. Knowing what we know today, there are in fact, no physical distinctions between individuals who commit crimes and individuals who don’t. Not all perspective theories are as

First, psychological theory suggests that a person’s environment and past can influence their ability and desire to commit crime while biological theory suggest a person’s DNA makeup could influence their ability to commit crime. “Biological theories within the field of criminology attempt to explain behaviors contrary to societal expectations through examination of

Biological Theories have been related to crime for a long time. The Biological Theory talks about how one’s brain has an impact on committing crime or not. Dr. Jim Fallon, a neuroscientist from California talks about the biological influences in a brain. He believes that the combination of three major aspects can determine whether someone is psychopathic or not. Fallon states a combination of genes, damage to the person 's brain and the environment surrounding the individual will have the biggest impact on a person (Fallon, 2009). A real world example of the biological theory in full effect was the crimes of David Berkowitz, aka “Son of Sam. Berkowitz was accused and found guilty of killing over 6 people in New York City. After being convicted and locked up for a few years, studies had shown that Berkowitz had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Berkowitz also claimed that his neighbor’s dog, Sam had told him to do the killings as well (Biography). Comparing the Biological theory to my own life was pretty simple because there is a genetic factor that runs in my dad’s side and that is tempers. Tempers tend to flare fairly easy, and luckily so far there has no issues with the law, however like Fallon had said, with the right combination, anyone is possible to commit a crime at any time. I feel like in a biological theory, this would have a major impact on my life

Consistent observations that a small percentage of offenders are responsible for a preponderance of serious crime (Hamparin et al., 1978; Moffitt et al., 1989; Wolfgang, 1972) suggest that particular forces produce antisocial behavior in particular individuals. Further, much research shows that violent criminals have an early history of crime and aggression (Loeber and Dishion, 1983; Moffitt et al., 1989). The possibility that biological conditions may play a role in the development of antisocial and criminal behavior is accentuated by these reports and has spurred a search for biological markers in "vulnerable" subgroups (Mednick et al., 1987).

Biological Theories are vastly growing with fascinating research. The main stump is concretely linking it to criminal behavior, because some theories are more relatable than others. Theories involving temperament and hormones give real life biological explanations, while others like extrovert and introvert behaviors, and neuroticism explain a weaker link to crime. However, all theories are valuable in exploring the root of crime.

All the biological theories are based on the notion that biological markers foreordain criminal behavior. The core of all these theories is that genetic factors or any abnormalities which are inherited or acquired throughout the life, predispose individuals to the criminal behavior. Lombroso’s theory gave life to probably almost every single biological theory that appeared afterward.

The biological theory explains criminal behavior as a result of any illnesses, heredity, trauma or improper development. It proposes several ways for crime control: psychosurgery and chemical methods (Helfgott, 2008). The biological methods of crime control are too expensive and because of that are not widely used.

Criminal behavior has always been a focus for psychologists for several years. When studying criminal psychology, psychologists engage in many various kinds of investigation and experimentation to try and find out why criminals commit offence. What is a criminal’s motive and what makes them commit a crime? Is it the responsibility of an individual's genetic makeup that makes them a criminal or is it the environment in which they are raised and surrounded by that determines their criminal behavior? Extensive research has been conducted regarding these questions. Several conclusions have been generated from a number of twin studies, family studies, adoption studies, and laboratory experiments. There are many conclusions that gear towards both

For many years, criminological theories have been dominated by sociological and political perspectives to explain crime than biological and genetic factors. Not to state that all sociological and political perspectives are flawed, but these perspectives within traditional criminology are not complete and do not offer a full assessment of all the contributions of criminal behavior. This paper aims to offer why traditional Criminology avoids biological explanations, what traditional Criminology attempts to explain criminal behavior, and how Criminology has traditionally overlooked biology and genetics and what the potential consequences may be.

The biological theories are essential to the criminal justice profession so that they won't assume that a person's genetic characteristics cause a person to commit a crime. However, there are born criminals and “these types of criminals are the most dangerous, and can be identified through his or her stigmata or identifying characteristics” (Akers, Sellers, See, & Kieser, 2013, p. 10). Biological theories are the bases for severe criminal behavior mostly found among people who are born with an innate impulse to commit a

As stated by Bartol and Bartol “Juvenile delinquency is an imprecise, nebulous, social, clinical, and legal label for a wide variety of law- and norm-violating behavior” (2011, Pg 139). The juvenile delinquency term has come to imply disgrace in today's correctional institution. Our government is up hold to procedures and expected to come with a solution to solving the delinquent problem. An underage offender can be labeled a delinquent for breaking any number of laws, ranging from robbery to running away from home, and especially being involved in school violence. The following situations faced by correction officials when dealing with juvenile delinquents will be examined. Three main areas (child development, punishments, and deterrence