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Psychological theories for criminal behaviour
MAIN FEATURES ASSOCIATED WITH antisocial personality disorder ESSAY
Psychological theories for criminal behaviour
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The United States spends a very large sum of money to maintain the juvenile justice system each year, but money is not the only cost at hand. This article describes a study done to demonstrate the development of antisocial behavior in children and is observed through adolescence. The model supports a theory linking antisocial behavior and chronic delinquency. Through a series of developmental steps, psychologists use this model to test reactions from environmental factors (social situations) in order to predict and understand this social problem in hopes to prevent this pattern. One factor contributing to antisocial behavior in children is family relationships, which are explained in two perspectives. The first suggests that harsh, inconsistent
Children from a single-parent home that are relatively conflict-free are less likely to be a delinquent than children from conflict-ridden “intact” homes. A stable, secure, and mutually supportive family is exceedingly important
According to Price & Kunz, (2003) family structure is a major factor in explaining delinquency. The research aimed at finding a link between cohabiting and other family types with delinquency (Price & Kunz, 2003). They made an important finding that adolescents from cohabiting families are at greater odds of engaging in non-violent delinquency compared to those from biological-parent families. The findings contradict the findings of other studies that show that that youth from broken families are likely to engage themselves in delinquent activities. For example, in one longitudinal study by Juby and Farrington, (2003) they found out that children especially boys who were from non-intact families portrayed negative behaviors compared to those that were from intact families (Juby & Farrington, 2001). Moreover, Prince & Kunz, (2003) performed a meta-analysis involving divorce and juvenile delinquency. They also made a finding that children from divorced homes have a high rate of delinquency compared to those from intact homes.
The study seeks to determine the most prevalent causes among the criminal population that induce a propensity for criminal behavior. There needs to be a balance among attributing behavior to specific causes, but strong causal designs of intervention programs can risk unsuccessful or uncertain program outcomes, although weak causal reasoning cannot be adopted to practical use and the creation of interventions (Borowski, 2003). Past theories occasionally described juvenile delinquency attributed to a single factor: Poverty and social disorganization in neighborhoods, or more proximal causes such as problematic peer influences or ego deficiency (Borowski, 2003). The approach in recent models has been that delinquent behavior is due to a large number of factors operating at different levels, including both proximal and distal factors. The study will be operate from this perspective because it would be difficult to attribute juvenile delinquency, which can take many forms, to a single factor that invariably serves as a cause in all cases.
Yoshikawa, H. (2000). Long-Term Effects of Early Childhood Programs On Social Outcomes And Delinquency. In R. M. Mann (Ed.), Juvenile Crime And Delinquency (pp. 368-372). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Canadian Scholar's Press Inc. Retrieved November 6, 2013
Simons, R. L., Johnson, C., Conger, R. D., & Elder Jr., G. (1998). A test of latent trait versus life-course perspectives on the stability of adolescent antisocial behavior. Criminolgy, 36(2), 217-243. doi: EBSCHOhost
Moffitt, Terrie E. 1993. “Adolescence-Limited and Life-Course-Persistent Antisocial Behavior: A Developmental Taxonomy.” Psychological Review 100:674–701.
The Chicago Longitudinal Study (CLS) was a quasi-experimental design study which investigated the role of Child-Parent Center (CPC), early education intervention (independent variable) and child, family, peer and school-level predictors on court-reported juvenile delinquency (dependent variable). The predictor variables used have been supported through extensive research and included: early antisocial behavior, individual-level attributes of the child family attributes, and social characteristics of both the child and the family (Lipsey & Derzon, 1998). This prediction model was utilized to evaluate the relations between program CPC participation and lower rates of juvenile delinquency through age 18 in a high-risk low-income urban sample. Although there was a correlation between early childhood education and reduced delinquency, causality was not established because other variables could have caused the reduction in delinquency.
The reason for the lack of sufficient changes in juvenile delinquency is that the problems that leads to juvenile delinquency starts in the home and there has not been enough attention paid to the family dynamics which causes delinquency. Parents are the first relationship chi...
The presentation of negative stimuli has been found to be one of the forerunning causes of delinquency amongst juveniles. Some examples of undesirable stimuli that an adolescent could be facing are child abuse, neglect, and exploitation, hostile relationships with parents teachers and peers, negative academic experiences, neighborhood difficulties, and poverty. If a juvenile is surrounded by individuals who sell drugs in order to finance a way of life that is easier and more financial than their current way of life, the adolescent id more likely to imitate that behavior by association.
The study finds that during school times, crimes, especially against persons for juveniles, were at highest. The study explores factors expected to influence delinquent behavior such as the presence of peers. The study finding also shows that crimes among juveniles are to some extent influenced by timing. The article chooses the policy issue of crime intervention. Based on the time certain crimes occur, the study suggests that this can be used in preventing crimes. The study also suggests measures of reducing or preventing youth victimization by enhancing the school structure since most crimes especially those against persons occurs at school. The authors suggest that identification of effective strategies and specific programs which address issues related to crime have shown promise as far as reducing crimes and antisocial behaviors. The study suggests programs such as enhancing school management, clarification and communication of norms about behavior, teaching competency behavior, and employing cognitive behavior to teach social competency skills as means of addressing crimes among juveniles (Gottfredson & Soule,
Thompson, W. E. and Bynum J. E. (2010). Juvenile Delinquency: A sociological Approach Eighth Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Families serve as one of the strongest socializing forces in a person's life. They help teach children to control unacceptable behavior, to delay gratification, and to respect the rights of others. Conversely, families can also teach children aggressive, antisocial, and violent behavior. In adults' lives, family responsibilities may provide an important stabilizing force. Given these possibilities, family life may directly contribute to the development of delinquent and criminal tendencies. Parental conflict and child abuse correlate with delinquency. Though not all children who grow up in conflictive or violent homes become delinquent, however, being exposed to conflict and violence appears to increase the risk of delinquency. At this point, researchers have not pin pointed what factors exactly push some at-risk youth into delinquency. A child with criminal parents faces a greater likelihood of becoming a delinquent than children with law-abiding parents. However, the influence appears not to be directly related to criminality but possibly to poor supervision.
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.
There is no one certain theory, regarding juvenile delinquency, that can completely distinguish all the determining factors that makes youth turn to crime; although, the study of all these theories and ideas can bring criminologist one step closer to uncovering the truth about juvenile delinquency. Only the further understanding of juvenile delinquency can help the prevention of future juvenile offenders. This paper will focus on the individual factors of delinquency, as well as the social elements, and provide an explanation of how the combination of the two elements may cause children to engage in criminal activity.
Juvenile delinquency is one of the major social issues in the United States today. Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is when “a violation of the law committed by a juvenile and not punishable by death or life imprisonment” (Merriam-webster.com). Although we have one justice system in America, the juvenile system differs from the adult juvenile system. Most juvenile delinquents range from as low as the age of seven to the age of seventeen. Once the delinquent or anyone turns the age of eighteen, they are considered an adult. Therefore, they are tried as an adult, in the justice system. There are many different reasons why a child would commit crime, such as mental and physical factors, home conditions, neighborhood environment and school conditions. In addition, there are a variety of effects that juvenile justice systems can either bad effects or good effects. Finally there are many different solutions that can reduce juvenile delinquency. As a result, juvenile delinquency is a major issue and the likeliness of it can be reduced. In order to reduce juvenile delinquency there has to be an understanding of the causes and the effects.