More handpicked essays just for you.
Juvenile delinquency causes and effects
Solution To Juvenile Delinquency
Root causes of juvenile delinquency
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Introduction
Does exposure to deviant peers affect whether individuals participate in general delinquency? Peers have an influence on the developing individual where the individual shares definitions favorable to them (Snyder, Dishion, Patterson, 1982). Findings in literature suggest that delinquent youths are involved in a relationship between peers delinquent behavior and a respondent’s own delinquency (Warr, 1996). Shaw and McKay, in 1931, discovered that more than 80% of individuals had deviant peers, and they have a strong tendency to commit delinquent acts in the company of others. Studies found that relationships of peer delinquency from self‐report delinquency surpasses that of any other independent variable, regardless of whether the focus is on different types of crime (Haynie, 2001). On the other hand, lets note that exposure to deviant peers is not the only factor that leads adolescents in committing general delinquency. There are several factors that can lead a child into committing crime such as family, community, and school factors (Herrenkohl et. al, 2000). A debate remains over the means essential to the relationship between deviant peers and their effects on indiviudals. This is important because it illustrates that normal interaction with peer groups sways people to commit acts that wouldn’t be normal. Using the data from the National Youth Survey (Wave 7), I will investigate whether or not exposure to deviant peers affects whether adolescents participate in general delinquency.
Literature Review
Deviant Peers on Delinquency
Matsueda and Anderson analyzed the dynamic of delinquent peers and delinquent behavior. They test hypothesis from learning and interactional theories where peer associations creates delinqu...
... middle of paper ...
...erican Journal of Sociology, 106(4), 1013-1057.
Herrenkohl, T. I., Farrington, D. P., Brewer, D., Catalano, R. F., Harachi, T. W., & Cothern, L. (2000). Predictors of youth violence (pp. 1-10). Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Matsueda, R. L. (1982). Testing control theory and differential association: A causal modeling approach. American sociological review, 489-504.
Matsueda, R. L., & Anderson, K. (1998). The dynamics of delinquent peers and delinquent behavior*. Criminology, 36(2), 269-308.
Snyder, J., Dishion, T. J., & Patterson, G. R. (1986). Determinants and consequences of associating with deviant peers during preadolescence and adolescence. The Journal of Early Adolescence.
Warr, M. (1996). Organization and instigation in delinquent groups*. Criminology, 34(1), 11-37.
Church, W. T., Wharton, T., & Taylor, J. K. (2008). An examination of differential association and social control theory: Family systems and delinquency. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 7(1), 3-15.
Wiatrowski, M.D., Griswold, D.B., & Roberts, M.K. (1981). Social control theory and delinquency. American Sociological Review, 46(5), 525-541.
Across the wide body of studies delving into delinquency in America, it is easy to locate research on and analysis of minorities, underprivileged socioeconomic urban centers, and turbulent family structures. However, this leaves a significant section of the delinquent population largely neglected: white middle-class youth. Contrary to the factors shown to affect delinquency in others and the applications of theory applied to them, the issues plaguing this particular portion of adolescents are in many cases entirely unique, suggesting the necessity of a more nuanced approach from angles that have up until fairly recently remained unexplored.
High crime rates are an ongoing issue through the United States, however the motivation and the cause of crime has yet to be entirely identified. Ronald Akers would say that criminality is a behavior that is learned based on what an individual sees and observes others doing. When an individual commits a crime, he or she is acting on impulse based on actions that they have seen others engage in. Initially during childhood, individuals learn actions and behavior by watching and listening to others, and out of impulse they mimic the behavior that is observed. Theorist Ronald Akers extended Sutherland’s differential association theory with a modern viewpoint known as the social learning theory. The social learning theory states that individuals commit crime through their association with or exposure to others. According to Akers, people learn how to be offenders based on their observations around them and their association with peers. Theorist Akers states that for one, “people can become involved in crime through imitation—that is by modeling criminal conduct. Second, and most significant, Akers contended that definition and imitation are most instrumental in determining initial forays into crime” (Lilly, Cullen, and Ball 2011:57). Although Akers’ theory has been linked to juvenile delinquency in the past, it has also been tested as a possible cause of crime overall. Individuals learn from observation that criminal behavior is justifiable in certain circumstances. In connection with juvenile delinquency and crime, peers and intimate groups have the most effect on individuals when associated with criminal behavior. One is more likely to mimic the behavior of someone who they have close ties with, whether the behavior is justifiable or...
Krohn, M., & Massey, J. (1980). Social control and delinquent behavior: an examination of the elements of the social bond. The Socialogical Quarterly, 21(4), 529-544.
Thompson, W. E. and Bynum J. E. (2010). Juvenile Delinquency: A sociological Approach Eighth Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Criminals are not born; they are created or molded into individuals who participate in criminal behaviors. There are several factors that influence deviance beginning with social structures, generational values and attitudes and social bonding. The concepts of all five theories briefly clarify why criminals partake in deviant activities; however, I believe three learning theories - Social Disorganization, Differential Association and Hirschi’s Social Bonding - best explain how social structures and interactions correlate with the cultivation of criminals.
Mulder, E., Brand, E., Bullens, R., & Van Marle, H. (2010). A classification of risk factors in serious juvenile offenders and the relation between patterns of risk factors and recidivism. Criminal Behaviour & Mental Health, 20(1), 23-38. doi:10.1002/cbm.754
Many in the juvenile justice field have tried to understand the cause of juvenile delinquency. There are many different theories describe the cause and effect of variables and how they react. However, through much research, we have concluded there is not just one single path or journey that determines the fate of the juvenile. There are many different risk factors that build in order to increase a youth's chance of becoming an offender. This is kind of like a domino effect. Risk factors are described as the characteristics that present themselves to determine if the individual or youth will become a delinquent. These factors may include; home life, income status, gender, and social. It can either be one or all that play a part in the way the
Across the nation, social scientists and criminologists have researched and hypothesized the main contributing factors that promote juvenile delinquency. The Strain/ Anomie theory introduced by Robert Merton and later revised by several other theorists, attempts to explain why juvenile subculture tend to behave certain ways when confronted with pressures from everyday life. Revised by other theorists, the Strain theory attempts to provide the framework of juvenile delinquency and its sources in order to analyze the effectiveness of this assumption, as well as to implement certain crime prevention policies and programs to curb this problem. This paper is going to analyze how the Strain theory contributes it’s principles of delinquency factors in order to explain and understand juvenile delinquency.
Onwediwe, I. (2004). “Theoretical Perspectives on Juvenile Delinquency: Root Causes and Control.” ProQuest Criminal Justice, 66, 153-156.
Agnew, R. (1985). Social Control Theory and Delinquency: A Longitudinal Test. Criminology Volume 23 , 47-59.
Much of the prior research on the age varying influence of peers on delinquency during adolescence is based on cross-sectional studies which do not explore influence variation across the entire adolescent time frame. It is thus difficult to identify a discernable pattern of influence.
Warr, Mark. "Parents, Peers, and Delinquency." Social Forces Vol. 72.No. 1 (Sep., 1993): 247-64. JSTOR. Web. 15 Mar. 2011.
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.