Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Compare and contrast psychological and sociological approaches to understanding juvenile delinquency
Social influences on behaviour
Freedom in modern society
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Compare and contrast psychological and sociological approaches to understanding juvenile delinquency
1.) What is the sociological perspective of human behavior? How is it applied to the study of juvenile delinquency? • Sociological Perspective: says that human behavior is a social act that can be traced to powerful forces in the social environment surrounding each actor. In other words an individual’s social environment is very influential. • The social perspective of human behavior can be applied to juvenile delinquency because it allows the audience to see a situation in a different perspective. The social perspective allows others to “take a walk in another’s shoes.” This may help individuals better understand why someone may deviate against the norms of society. 2.) What evidence can you site from your reading of this chapter or from …show more content…
From a young age my parents enforced right from wrong, and taught me proper adequate, such as, treat others the way you would like to be treated, as well as holding doors for others. Also, spending a lot of time with my friends growing up I learned how to share, make compromises, and proper communication skills. Additionally, growing up in my hometown Hillsborough, New Jersey, I have met lots of different individuals and have shown me how to behave and dress when outside of my home. Seeing how people around me to behave as well as my life experiences have helped shaped me into the individual I am, and has helped me figure out what kind of behavior I find acceptable in …show more content…
This individual adapts to the customs of his or her society. Where as, someone who shows deviance is violating expectations that society places on him or her to follow. Overall, I think it is fair that society restricts some of our individual freedoms in order to achieve a general conformity to social norms. I find it important that there is structure within society; however, I think there should be limitations to the restrictions society places on us. Obviously, it should not be socially acceptable for someone to go rob a bank, and that individual should be punished, but at the same time society should encourage individuals to express their own individuality and not just fall under the social
The study of Juvenile delinquency and the theories pertaining to it are vital for several reasons. In order to more effectively engage with youths and foster positive behavior and schemas, the individuals must first be understood. The study of theory provides a means of understanding adolescents and the factors that lead to or detract from delinquent behavior. In the case of juvenile delinquent, Jordan Brown, theory helps to provide insight into why an eleven-year-old boy murdered his stepmother.
Social psychology is a scientific study that studies how people think, feel, and how they behave under the influence of other people (Aronson, Wilson & Akert, 2013, p. 2). Thinking about what social influence really means, we tend to think of a person who tries to persuade another person to acting a certain way. It can be a form of peer pressure, like taking that first puff of a cigarette, or it can be conforming to popular societal views, such as obeying the law of the land. Fiction is a great way to learn about social psychological perspectives. Watching popular theatrical films is the perfect way to learn because it illustrates the application of many perceptions within the subject of social psychology.
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.
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.
Juvenile delinquency is a conduct by a juvenile or a person below the legal age that is above parental control thus dealt with by the law. Crime in this case cannot be punishable by death or life imprisonment. There are many cases of juvenile delinquency in recent times that have raised many issues in the United State’s legal systems. There are many ways of explaining juvenile delinquency and crime when it comes to; cause, results, and legal actions pertaining to crimes. Alex Kotlowitz in his book, “There Are No Children Here” focuses on crime and juvenile delinquency through life experiences. This story is about the life of two boys who the author researched for a few years. The two boys were from Chicago, grew up in a poor family, surrounded by poverty, gangs, and violence as do many of us who come from low income, minority filled areas. The two boys unfortunately, sad to say end up in juvenile hall which clearly depicts the whole concept of crime and juvenile delinquency that arises from more issues than simply meets the eye . Issues relating to the social disorganization theory of poverty, disorganization, and low community control. This paper will analyze the story using themes that relate to juvenile delinquency and further discuss causes and ways to control juvenile delinquency
At the micro level, General Strain Theory attempts to identify different types of strains that can result in juvenile delinquency. These include a loss of positive stimuli, the preventing an individual from attaining their goals, and introducing negatively-valued stimuli. At the macro level, Social Disorganization attempts to identify the structural and cultural contributions to juvenile delinquency, ranging from areas of poverty to disorganized schools, and the impact these types of structures can have on juvenile delinquency.
Synder, Scott. “Movie portrayals of juvenile delinquency: part II—Sociology and psychology,” Adolescence. Summer 1995. First Search. Feb 2007
A critical issue, perhaps most injurious to our futures, involves the criminal tendencies of our youth. Juvenile delinquency is without a doubt one of the most crucial topics that we face in our society today. Children and teens do not only shape our future, but will also pave the footsteps for future generations. What prompts this criminal behavior? And why is the proportion of delinquents in society seemingly increasing? As we will see, many factors play a role in molding personality; these factors include gender, family, and schools.
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.
explained why people engaged in delinquent behavior. Through studying these theories, we are able to analyze and critique the way they viewed criminals and how we can shape our Criminal Justice Systems to become more affective in dealing with criminals and their behavior. Another important note that we all have to understand is that no one theory will be able to take complete control over one or more views, because of this theories should be integrated together to form new and larger approaches to the problem that is before us today.
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
It is understood that there is no one single cause for juvenile delinquency. There are many factors involved, including biological, environmental, social, and punitive influences. Nathan Fisher acknowledges this in the article “Factors Leading to Bad Juvenile Behavior,” written for Demand Media. Recognizing that there is not a single issue related to why juveniles become offenders helps develop effective prevention and intervention techniques to address the issue of delinquency.
Thompson, W. E. and Bynum J. E. (2010). Juvenile Delinquency: A sociological Approach Eighth Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
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.