The Impact of Gender and Family on Juvenile Delinquency in the United States

“The so-called traditional family, with a male breadwinner and a female who cares for the home, is a thing of the past” (Siegel, Welsh, & Senna, 2003, p. 194). This particular type of family structure can no longer be considered normal. Sex role changes have created a family in which the mother now plays a greater role in society and the economic process. The number of households that have children living with both parents has substantially declined. “Early social science researchers asserted that the “broken home” was the single most important factor in understanding delinquency” (Burfeind & Bartusch, 2011, p. 185). Less than half of the children born today will live continuously with their mother and father throughout their childhood. A disturbed home environment is believed to have a significant impact on delinquency. Family is the contributing unit towards children’s values and attitudes that mark the paths throughout their lives.

Juvenile Delinquency has increased throughout the years. In 2008 the United States police arrested about 2.11 million juveniles. Juvenile arrest rates had increased in 2005 and again in 2006. Data show increases in some offense categories but declines in most. Most changes being less than 10% in either direction. According to the data arson at 47% is one of the biggest crimes that juveniles commit. Following are robbery at 27%, burglary at 27%, and property crimes at 26%. Juveniles are creating more problems for parents, schools, and communities. In 2007 juvenile courts dealt with a large amount of juvenile delinquents. About 4,600 cases per day were being treated at the courts (Puzzanchera, Charles).

Juvenile status offenses are minor offenses that only apply to those under the age of 18 such as skipping school or running away from home. Other examples include curfew violations, possession and consumption of alcohol, and possession and use of tobacco. Theories such as the labeling theory and Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory attempt to explain why females commit juvenile status offenses. Additional theories attempt to explain their treatment in the juvenile justice system such as the Chivalry Hypothesis. Based on the rising rates of status offenses for girls and the unique factors that contribute to this issue, better prevention and

Rather unfortunately, the television also exposes the same children to some undesirable elements such as violence and lethargy. The best way to achieve the best outcomes is through supervision (California State University, 2014). Delinquency between Males and Females Early critics of the juvenile justice system response to female offenders presented discrepancies in the processing and reporting of both female status offenses and delinquent acts. For instance, when arrest statistics are compared between male and female self-report data on involvement in status offenses, young women appear to be arrested at a higher rate for status offenses than males.

Over the past decade there has been an increase of teenage female offender’s joining the juvenile justice system. The number continues to the rise throughout both violent and non-violent offenses. This is a huge change from the population only a decade ago, the change in gender roles through society is partly the reason for this change however, there are several other reasons that contribute the growing population. In female juvenile offenders there tends to be high occurrence of emotional and mental illness that relate to aggressive and antisocial behavior. There is also a theme of poverty, single parent’s or abuse in early childhood of offenders. The combination of these issue contribute to problem behavior syndrome, making these girls more susceptible to a risky lifestyle. Additionally the risk of criminal involvement increase the earlier a girl start’s to display antisocial or deviant behavior.

Starting at an adolescent age in females life events greatly impact future behaviors. The "purpose of relationships" i.e. family, friends, and intimate relationships play big roles in shaping ones character. In being either a victim and or witness to situations that include domestic violence relate to future criminal activity. Emotional disorders also arise if physical or sexual abuse occurs. Female offenders may go on having abusive relationships and committing crimes based on their adolescence (McAleavy, T. 2009). Myths and misconception of juvenile female offenders would be risk factors. Risk factors may affect both females and males. Females are impacted at a much higher level. Between females and males, females commit crimes more so in the lower level of crimes but criminal behavior has increased over the years. Mental illness in juvenile female offenders are elevated compared to juvenile male offenders. In conclusion female offending has and does play a role in our society. Statically over the past years, numbers seem to show decreases in certain areas of law-breaking. But in today's age there has been an increased growth in criminal activities overall for males and females. Gaining the proper knowledge about this specific subject will allow experts to find solutions in reducing criminal

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

Hi Rochelle great report. Juveniles are subject to commit criminal activities, whether it be due to peer pressure, problems at home, or simply a crime of passion. Discuss how the issue of juvenile delinquency impacts everyone in the community. Almost on a daily basis the issue of juvenile violence remains a constant issue to tackle; increasing levels of juvenile violence from shootings, drug crimes, including murder. The school shootings and other incidents demonstrate how underlying problems are constantly overlooked. Problems ranging from poverty, social disadvantages, and decisions that adolescents make that contribute to juvenile delinquency. For many individuals, juvenile delinquency is a concern for the parents of the juvenile, police,

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.

Overall, the research collected has examined juvenile delinquency, the persistent consequences of incarceration, and suggestive measures from the Public Defenders that could help reduce recidivism and provide justice for the offenders, the victims and the community. The research highlighted the crime pattern in young offenders, existing racial disparities in the juvenile criminal justice system and the lack of a proper support structure that encourages the youth to make bad choices. Studies included in the research demonstrated that most juvenile delinquents belong to underprivileged backgrounds, where their mental and educational needs are not properly addressed. They don’t receive community policing and are more likely to be viewed as criminals by the Law Enforcement and the public. Given their poor background, these children are more likely to be incarcerated than their counterparts and conclusively have a poor

The 1993 film, Menace II Society is an American crime drama that depicts the lives of two urban teenagers living in Watts, Los Angeles. It illustrates the day-to-day illegal activities of young adolescents’ such as their involvement in committing various acts of delinquent activity. Additionally, the film focuses on the struggle that young urban youth especially boys go through everyday such as racial profiling and gang affiliation. The opening scene shows Caine and his best friend Kevin entering a local corner store to buy malt liquor. However, as the two friends were talking, two racist Korean storeowners were eyeing them suspiciously.

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

There a several different theories that can identify the factors in which sociological aspects cause or contribute to female delinquency. General strain theory is one of them discussed and provides information that females go through strains such as abuse, parental rejection, and a need for money that can lead them to committing crimes. An example for these would be becoming a prostitute because they are homeless and are desperate for the money they would make. Another theory is power-control theory which describes the role of power a mother has that is shown to a daughter as she grows up. If she grows up in a patriarchal family, a more dominant male run social environment, the daughter will be shown to avoid risk taking, while if the family lives in a different context, the daughter is more likely to become a delinquent. An example of this is if a daughter is raised in a single-parent home with her mother because she then never sees the male role of the family to learn about risk taking compared to if both parents were there. All the explanations help bring to the light the different reasons female delinquency may

There is still a large gap between girl delinquency than in boys, boys representing 71% of arrests while girls accounted for 29% of them in 2011 (Carney, Module 5, 2017). Where data finds girls delinquency concerning is that overtime while boys delinquency rates have decreased, girls have followed the opposite path (Slowikowski, 2010). The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) created a Girls Study group to address the issue of girls delinquency and attempt to find what works best to prevent it. What it found was that girl delinquency has not increased in violence and that they engage in less crime than boys, but the changes in juvenile justice policy increased the likeliness of girls being arrested than in the past (Slowikowski, 2010). One of the main findings was that girls are less likely to become delinquent when protective factors such as caring adult, school connectedness, school success and religiosity were present (Slowikowski, 2010). The study found that having a caring adult in their lives impacted the likeliness to committing status offences and reduced the rates of assault during young adulthood (Hawkins & al., 2009). Religiosity and school connectedness did not seem to have an impact on delinquency, while school success did. School success is related to less gang membership and a reduction in committing status offenses (Hawkins & al., 2009).

The researchers have found that single parent families correlated with juvenile delinquency, and children from single-parent homes were more likely to increase their delinquency as they passed through adolescence, whereas, children raised in two parent homes were more likely to desist from delinquent behavior as they matured. Family structures, such as, single-parent families and stepfamilies, seem to disrupt a child’s normal socialization process. In conclusion, the authors and researchers come to the agreement that “a healthy home environment is the single most important factor in preventing delinquent behavior,” (32).