The Causes of Juvenile Delinquency and Crime Essay

Edwin H. Sutherland’s formulation of differential association theory proposed that delinquency, like any other form of behavior, is a product of social interaction. On October 14th, 2002, 17 year old Lee Boyd Malvo was charged by the state of Virginia for two capital crimes: the murder of FBI analyst Linda Franklin "in the commission of an act of terrorism" and the murder of more than one person in a three-year period. Sutherland’s nine propositions of differential association best explains Malvo’s act for the following reasons: (1) Malvo learned how to commit each heinous crime through his social interaction within his intimate group, (2) Malvo learned the techniques to commit each crime through his mentor, i.e. learning the skills

This research is important because understanding what makes a juvenile delinquent is necessary to know. Parents can be educated on what is affecting their teen to contribute to delinquent behavior. The family structure has been avoided by many citizens. Educating the public on the family structure can make a different in a teen’s life.

What is the relationship between family dynamics and juvenile delinquency? Can the family environment really affect the delinquency of a juvenile? A broken home is one of the first factors that will be looked at. Do single parents have more juveniles involved in delinquency than families with two parents? Do families with just a mother present have more delinquency than a family with just a father? The second factor that will be looked at is drugs and alcohol in the home. How does drugs and alcohol relate to violence in the home? When parents get in trouble for their drug and alcohol use and get locked up, how is the family affected by this? The third factor that will be looked at is bad parenting. Is bad parenting caused simply by being too strict or not strict enough? Or could it be that parents lack the proper supervision of their children and allow them to do things that they shouldn’t? All of these factors will be looked at and discussed within this paper.

Since the late 1900’s incarceration rates have been rising constantly. Incarceration impacts other individuals that aren’t behind bars locked up in a cell. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1.5 million minors deal with parental incarceration every year (Harrison & Beck, 2006).This project will investigate/ observe the effects of parental incarceration on male juveniles. Young juveniles of prisoners appear to suffer from the difficult living environments due to lack of guardianship leading them to commit crimes and violent offenses. The main focus of this project is to validate and observe the behavior of juveniles whose parents are incarcerated. There would be two control groups to be evaluated; Juveniles that haven’t had their parents incarcerated, and those who have been incarcerated throughout their lifetimes. This study will use data from the analysis conducted from the office of state courts administrator juvenile office risk. These children would be observed to analyze if any anti-social behavior is depicted. It is reasonable to predict that juveniles, whose parents have been incarcerated throughout their lifetime, will demonstrate acts of violence and illegal behaviors towards society. Prisoners’ children are more accessible to violence since no parental supervision is acquired when the parents are locked up.

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.

Due to the heavy reliance of the juvenile justice system on containment, confinement, and control, removes youth from their families because the presence of a parent or parent figure who is involved with the adolescent and concerned about his or her successful development is a critical factor of healthy psychological development (Bonnie, Johnson, Chemers, and Schuck). Distanced from their peers, because inclusion in a peer group that values and models prosocial behavior and academic success is another condition that is critically important to healthy psychological development in adolescence (Bonnie, Johnson, Chemers, and Schuck). And detached from their neighborhoods the communal context of their future lives, because schools, extracurricular activities, and work settings can provide opportunities for adolescents to learn to think for themselves, develop self- reliance and self-efficacy, and improve reasoning skills, another vital factor towards healthy psychological development in adolescence (Bonnie, Johnson, Chemers, and Schuck). The communities of delinquent youths are essential aspects for their development, so therefore it is understandable that it should be incorporated with his or her

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 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

In the twenty-first century, there have been many changes in the implementation of juvenile delinquency prevention in the United States (Ramirez, 2008). Investing time and effort in effective prevention programs results in a better way of life, not only for our youth, but for communities, society as a whole, and generations to come (Ferdon et al., 2014). Over the years, juvenile delinquency prevention programs have evolved and demonstrated their effectiveness (Flores, 2003). Some approaches to prevention that have proven successful are educational support, community involvement, and parental education.

There are many elements and factors that contribute to juvenile delinquency. The negative influence of a child’s home and family life is one factor that

Finding the root causes and factors and understanding the effects of these family-based risk and protective factors is important in preventing adolescents from being involved in illegal, harmful, or inappropriate conduct, and keeping them on track. What exactly provokes a child to become delinquent and what makes the child gravitate so easily towards this lifestyle? With my research study I would like to explore how social risk factors influence juvenile delinquency. Are Juveniles more likely to become juvenile delinquents if there is little structure provided for them in their families? Do social factors in society influence these negative behaviors? What are protective factors that contribute to prevention of juvenile delinquency in adolescents?

Juvenile delinquency is a problem that affects society as a whole. Understanding Juvenile delinquency is important because it is part of trying to figure out how people in American society should react to it; specifically, in terms of law enforcement officers, their agencies, and State legislators. When deviant behavior becomes "continuous, chronic and widespread it gets perceived as a significant part of the population as threatening to the general well-being of society" (Thompson and Bynum, 2010, p. 44). This is a societal problem that requires attention from various forms of social control. However, a lot of the burden is absorbed by an imperfect Juvenile Justice System. As time has passed, argument has ensued over

There is no doubt that various experts can give us many theories as to the causes of juvenile delinquency, including one's economic background, substance abuse, delinquent peer groups, repeated exposure to violence, increased availability of firearms and media violence, however, I feel that the number one cause of juvenile delinquency is the breakdown of families, including lack of parental control over children. It is ironic in America, today, one must have a driver's license to operate a vehicle, a permit to own a gun and even a license to own a dog, but one does not have to have training or a license in order to become a parent. Without specialized educational programs in child development and parenting, many of

Based on numerous research findings the causes of juvenile delinquency are among the lines of family, mass media, and peer pressure. The cases of these causes range from high to low and basic to complex. Transiting from preteen into adolescence is accompanied with intense peer pressure. Adolescents seek acceptance from peers which allows the pressure to succeed. In like manner, teenagers are easily persuaded to join

Juvenile Delinquency has been an issue in sociological and criminological context for decades. It is basically at state when a person who is under the age of 18 years is antisocial and has a criminal behavior. It has become a major social problem in the youth that is attracting a lot of youths to get into crimes. Many researches have been done to find the cause of juvenile delinquency. Sociologists explain this context using different theories. While investigating about the cause of juvenile delinquency theorists come up with the factors associated with it such as racial status, gender discrimination and the economic status. Childhood assaults are also seen as one of the factors that can be in the form of sexual abuse or physical abuse faced by the child either in their family environment or the school environment. Peer pressure as examined by many theorists provides a wide area for the juvenile crimes to occur. The delinquent youth lack ethical standards and emotional feelings. Impulsivity, social insensitivity and lack of guilt feeling make them perform socially unacceptable behavior. They lose the ability to choose what is right and what is wrong. Juvenile delinquency rates take a rise when young people see their fellow members of society as offenders. The way of them being viewed as criminals in the society makes them more prone to become delinquents. The paper discusses about the cause of juvenile delinquency and the problems that arise due to it. Later it would focus on two sociological theories that would evaluate the criminal phenomenon.