Juvenile deviant behavior has been long associated with poor grades. In a research study by Matthew Zingraff, Jeffrey Leiter, Matthew Johnsen, and Kristen Myers (1994), there was a direct correlation between delinquency and academic performance:
“Good school performance, specifically good grades, low rates of in-school behavior problems during the elementary years, and good attendance, is associated with substantially reduced delinquent involvement for at-risk groups.”
Delinquent acts are influenced by “the absence of the father from the home [and] is related to the child's inability to tolerate delayed reward or gratification when offered by a male adult in an experimental setting. (McDavid & McCandless, 1962)” It is an educated assumption that insufficient child-rearing and parental relationships can shape a teen’s life, predisposing them to risky behavior such as delinquent acts, early sexual behavior, and poor academic performance. McDavid and McCandless also state, “School itself seldom provides satisfactory outlets or experiences of success for the delinquent. It is possible that many delinquent acts may spring directly from the frustration of boredom.” Teens’ attitudes about risk-taking behavior are evident in their decisions about their sexual behavior, as well. According to Kowaleski-Jones, L., & Mott, these teens are more likely to:
“…drop out of school, have sex at early ages and experience early childbearing. [They are also more prone to] have more difficulty in, and less support for, handling the stresses and tasks of adolescence, and may be more depressed or may have a greater tolerance or need for risk-taking. Adolescent sexual activity may also be linked to a general propensity to engage in potentially risky act...
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...uring the adolescent years, teens create new relationships with their peers which pull them farther away from their parents. Depending on their attachment behavior, they may develop secure, anxious, or avoidant relationships. According to studies on attachment theory “anxious attachment style typically indicates an early first intercourse, more lifetime partners, more infidelity and took fewer sexual precautions. (Feeney, Peterson, Gallois, & Terry, 2000)” Avoidant-type teens did not have as risky behavior as anxious-type teens. It is clear that “anxious adolescents are preoccupied with seeking out closeness with others, it is not surprising that they would seek to please others through engaging in sexual behaviors, particularly those that are risky [for example] early sexual initiation, multiple sexual partners, and inconsistent condom use” (Paulk, & Zayac, 2013).
Siegel, L., & Welsh, B. (2011). Juvenile delinquency the core. (Fourth ed., p. 54). Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Juvenile Delinquency is a complicated subject because researchers and scholars have tried different methods to reduce it. Research shows that the methods which have had better results are those that are implemented in a way where the family of the juveniles gets involved in the process (Laub, 2014). A policy that will be advocated is the policy in the city of Santa Ana, CA: The Santa Ana Police Athletic and Academic League (SAPAAL). If we want to reduce delinquency and crime then we should focus on prevention rather than intervention. There is not one theory that explains why people commit crime, on the contrary, there are multiple well-known theories that argue for different explanations of delinquency. As learned through lectures
According to Siegel and Welsh children who do poorly in academics and those they refer to as school under achievers are most likely to be deliequents.it is documented by both that school failure is a one stronger predictor of delinquency if compared with economic class membership, peer group relationships, radical and ethnic backgrounds. Studies comparing delinquents and non-delinquents academic records scores on standardized tests failure rates and other academic measure found that delinquents are recurrently academically deficient as compared to their counterparts and this is a condition which almost requires them to perform antisocial and delinquents acts.
Thio, ., Taylor, ., & Schwartz, . (2013). Deviant Behavior (11th ed., pp. 5-7). New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.
Thompson, W. E. and Bynum J. E. (2010). Juvenile Delinquency: A sociological Approach Eighth Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
... is the direct effect of teens and young adults not being educated on the things that come with sex and the consequences of their actions. Teens need sex education because the knowledge will give them an insight on the subject and help them think about the proper precautions to take in order to be a responsible person insuring that they use the right contraception and/or abstinence in order for them not to have children as a teen. Other factors play into why teens become pregnant as well. In the results for my interviews, parent/child relationships should be established and upheld as a relationship that is strictly parent and child. Teens who do not have a true parent/parents in their lives to care about the important thing that contribute to the child’s well being such a becoming pregnant at a young age, tend to make decisions that are not healthy in their lives.
As young children, ages 12 and up to 17, one should be worrying about going to sports tryouts, having bubble guts worrying if they are going to make the cheerleading team or the basketball team. They should be outside in the summer time taking in the beautiful weather with their friends. Many teenagers are starting to build relationships with the opposite sex as early as 12 or 13. With relationships come other new experiences like sexual intercourses. “Fewer than 2% of adolescents have had sex by the time they reach their 12th birthday. But adolescence is a time of rapid change. Only 16% of teens have had sex by age 15, compared with one-third of those aged 16, nearly half (48%) of those aged 17, 61% of 18-year-olds and 71% of 19-year-olds.[1]
Thompson, W. E. and Bynum J. E. (2010). Juvenile Delinquency: A sociological Approach Eighth Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
One of the best strategies for combating juvenile delinquency is adopting developmental crime prevention program. Developmental crime prevention programs aim to lower an individual’s potential of becoming criminal. The theory that guides these types of programs is that criminal and deviant activity is the result of early life experiences and learning. These programs put an emphasis on what causes individuals to commit deviant acts in order to identify ways that this activity can be stopped (Lab, 2014). A key piece to developmental crime prevention programs is identifying risk and protective factors for offending.
Tremblay, R. E., Maasse, B., Perron, D., Leblanc, M., Schwartzman, A. E., & Ledingham, J. E. (1992). Early disruptive behavior, poor school achievement, delinquent behavior, and delinquent personality: Longitudinal analyses. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60, 64-72. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.60.1.64
According the Rogers (2013), there are causal factors at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels that can lead youth to engage in delinquent activity. At the micro level, the factors that predict delinquency involve: being male, low educational achievement, low impulse control, childhood aggression, antisocial behavior, and hyperactivity. At the mezzo level, family conflict, lack of family support and appropriate discipline, and negative peer pressure can be risk factors for juvenile. On a macro level, youth that live in poverty or in high-crime urban neighborhoods, and are exposed to violence at home and in their neighborhoods, have a higher risk of engaging in delinquent behaviors. Many poor urban communities often lack adequate schools, which can lead to poor academic performance and students disconnecting from
Walker, Hill M. et al., “ The path to school failure, delinquency, and violence: Casual factors and some potential solutions,” Intervention in School and Clinic. Nov 1999. First Search. Feb 2007
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.
Juvenile delinquency is a prevalent issue that society faces, regardless if the community is primitive or modern, rich or poor, and so on. Juveniles are juveniles under 18 years of age. Delinquent acts range from something as minor as being out past curfew to more serious acts like physical assaults. Strain Theory suggests juvenile delinquency is at its highest during ages 10-17, because of several factors: desire autonomy, financially dependency upon their guardians, and often experience a lack of social support from family and friends. In the past, there have been multiple theories that examined juvenile delinquency from a biological or social lens. For example, Lombroso’s biological theory claimed that kids resulted in committing acts for
Bridges, K. M. Banham . "Factors Contributing to Juvenile Delinquency." Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 17.4 (1927): 531-76. scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.