The Lack of Strong Parental Figures Causes Juvenile Delinquency

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The Lack of Strong Parental Figures Causes Juvenile Delinquency Imagine a thirteen-year-old boy living with his mother. His parents have been divorced since he was four-years-old. He has never really known his father and therefore uses his friends for his male role models. His mother has to work two jobs to support her family and is therefore not there to spend much time with her child. This is the type of child that is normally delinquent. Add to this scenario a group of teenage friends that are involved in delinquent activities and it is almost guaranteed that a juvenile delinquent will emerge out of this situation. In an interview that I conducted with a juvenile corrections officer this scenario was seen as one of the biggest causes of juvenile delinquency. He, Mike Smith, said that: The three main causes of juvenile delinquency are fathers not being in the home, children being unsupervised, and child abuse. This is because children learn through modeling, or what they see, so if there is not a strong, good role model, they learn through their peers. (1999) One of the biggest problems of juvenile delinquents, or one of their biggest sources of delinquency, according to Mike Smith is, "without a doubt, …drugs and alcohol. These are usually the things that lead to other delinquent acts such as skipping school, stealing, and acts of violence and destruction (1999)." The only way that these problems can ever be solved is by everyone working together to make a difference in every child’s life. According to Smith, correcting the problem of juvenile delinquency, "Would involve changes from the individual level all the way up to the societal level (1... ... middle of paper ... ...ses of juvenile delinquency are exactly what my interviewee said that they were, lack of a strong male role model, children being left unsupervised, and child abuse. The problem of so many children today is lack of strong parental figures. There are too many youths that have been raised by the television. Until we begin to see our youth as the most important asset, we will never solve the problem of juvenile delinquency. Bibliography: Bibliography Bibliography Bynum, Jack E. and William E. Thompson. (1999). Juvenile delinquency: A sociological approach (4th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Schmallenger, Frank. (1997). Criminal justice today (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Smith, Mike. (1999). Personal interview. Troy, MO.

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