Juvenile delinquency
Encyclopedia
Juvenile delinquency is participation in illegal behavior by minors (juveniles) who fall under a statutory age limit. Most legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as juvenile detention centers. There are a multitude of different theories on the causes of crime
, most if not all of which can be applied to the causes of youth crime. Youth crime is an aspect of crime which receives great attention from the news media
and politicians
. The level and types of youth crime can be used by commentators as an indicator of the general state of morality
and law and order
in a country, and consequently youth crime can be the source of ‘moral panics’ Theories on the causes of youth crime can be viewed as particularly important within criminology
. This is firstly because crime is committed disproportionately by those aged between fifteen and twenty-five. Secondly, by definition any theories on the causes of crime will focus on youth crime, as adult criminals will have likely started offending when they were young.
A juvenile delinquent is a person who is typically under the age of 18 and commits an act that otherwise would've been charged as a crime if they were an adult. Juvenile delinquents sometimes have associated mental disorders and/or behavioral issues such as post traumatic stress disorder or bipolar disorder
, and are sometimes diagnosed with conduct disorder
partially as both the cause and resulting effects of their behaviors.
who commit sexual crimes refer to individuals adjudicated in a criminal court for a sexual crime. Sex crimes are defined as sexually abusive behavior committed by a person under the age of 18 that is perpetrated “against the victim’s will, without consent, and in an aggressive, exploitative, manipulative, or threatening manner”. It is important to utilize appropriate terminology for juvenile sex offenders. Harsh and inappropriate expressions include terms such as “pedophile, child molester, predator, perpetrator, and mini-perp” These terms have often been associated with this group, regardless of the youth’s age, diagnosis
, cognitive abilities, or developmental stage
. Using appropriate expressions can facilitate a more accurate depiction of juvenile sex offenders and may decrease the subsequent aversive psychological affects from using such labels.
sex offenders is a fundamental component to obtain a precise understanding of this heterogeneous group. With mandatory reporting laws in place, it became a necessity for providers to report any incidents of disclosed sexual abuse. Longo and Prescott indicate that juveniles commit approximately 30-60% of all child sexual abuse. The Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports indicate that in 2008 youth under the age of 18 accounted for 16.7% of forcible rapes and 20.61% of other sexual offenses. Center for Sex Offender Management indicates that approximately one-fifth of all rapes and one-half of all sexual child molestation can be accounted for by juveniles.
offender, rather than in their external environment. For classicists, offenders are motivated by rational
self-interest, and the importance of free will
and personal responsibility
is emphasised. Rational choice theory
is the clearest example of this idea.
. A type of criminological theory attributing variation in crime and delinquency over time and among territories to the absence or breakdown of communal institutions (e.g. family, school, church and social groups.) and communal relationships that traditionally encouraged cooperative relationships among people.
is associated mainly with the work of Robert Merton
. He felt that there are institutionalized paths to success in society
. Strain theory holds that crime is caused by the difficulty those in poverty
have in achieving socially valued goals by legitimate means. As those with, for instance, poor educational attainment have difficulty achieving wealth and status by securing well paid employment, they are more likely to use criminal means to obtain these goals.
Merton's suggests five adaptations to this dilemma:
A difficulty with strain theory is that it does not explore why children of low-income families would have poor educational attainment in the first place. More importantly is the fact that much youth crime does not have an economic motivation. Strain theory fails to explain violent crime, the type of youth crime which causes most anxiety to the public.
has also been cited as a factor in desisting from offending. There is strong evidence that young people with criminal friends are more likely to commit crimes themselves. However it may be the case that offenders prefer to associate with one another, rather than delinquent peers causing someone to start offending. Furthermore there is the question of how the delinquent peer group became delinquent initially.
states that once young people have been labeled as criminal they are more likely to offend. (Eadie & Morley: 2003 p. 552) The idea is that once labelled as deviant a young person may accept that role
, and be more likely to associate with others who have been similarly labelled. (Eadie & Morley: 2003 p. 552) Labelling theorists say that male children from poor families are more likely to be labelled deviant, and that this may partially explain why there are more lower-class young male offenders. (Walklate: 2003 p. 24)
may make young men more likely to offend. Being tough, powerful, aggressive
, daring and competitive may be a way young men attempt to express their masculinity. (Brown: 1998 p. 109) Acting out these ideals may make young men more likely to engage in antisocial and criminal behaviour. (Walklate: 2003 p. 83) Alternatively, rather than young men acting as they do because of societal pressure to conform to masculine ideals; young men may actually be naturally more aggressive, daring etc. As well as biological or psychological factors, the way young men are treated by their parents may make them more susceptible to offending. (Walklate: 2003 p. 35) According to a study led by Florida State University
criminologist Kevin M. Beaver, adolescent males who possess a certain type of variation in a specific gene
are more likely to flock to delinquent peers. The study, which appears in the September 2008 issue of the Journal of Genetic Psychology, is the first to establish a statistically significant association between an affinity for antisocial peer groups and a particular variation (called the 10-repeat allele) of the dopamine
transporter gene (DAT1).
, impulsiveness or the inability to delay gratification
, aggression
, empathy
, and restlessness
. (Farrington: 2002)
Children with low intelligence are likely to do worse in school
. This may increase the chances of offending because low educational attainment, a low attachment to school, and low educational aspirations are all risk factors for offending in themselves. (Walklate: 2003 p. 2) Children who perform poorly at school are also more likely to truant
, which is also linked to offending. (Farrington: 2002 p. 682) If strain theory or subcultural theory are valid poor educational attainment could lead to crime as children were unable to attain wealth and status legally. However it must be born in mind that defining and measuring intelligence is troublesome.
Young males are especially likely to be impulsive which could mean they disregard the long-term consequences of their actions, have a lack of self-control, and are unable to postpone immediate gratification. This may explain why they disproportionately offend. (Farrington: 2002 p. 682) (Walklate: 2003 p. 36) Impulsiveness is seen by some as the key aspect of a child's personality
that predicts offending. (Farrington: 2002 p. 682) However is not clear whether these aspects of personality are a result of “deficits in the executive functions of the brain
”, (Farrington: 2002 p. 667) or a result of parental influences or other social factors. (Graham & Bowling: 1995 p. 32)
. In accordance to the DSM-IV-TR Codes 312.xx (where xx varies upon the specifice subtype exhibited) adolescence who exhibit conduct disorder also show a lack of empathy and disregard for societal norms. The DSM is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association and most often referred to by Psychiatrists for diagnosing mental disorders.
Juvenile delinquents who have recurring encounters with the criminal justice system are sometimes diagnosed with conduct disorders because they show a continuous disregard for their own and others safety and property. Once the juvenile continues to exhibit the same behavioral patterns and turns eighteen he is then at risk of being diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder
and much more prone to become a serious criminal offender. (DeLisi: 2005 p. 39) One of the main components used in diagnosing an adult with antisocial personality disorder consists of presenting documented history of conduct disorder before the age of 15. These two personality disorders are analogous in their erratic and aggressive behavior. This is why habitual juvenile offenders diagnosed with conduct disorder are likely to exhibit signs of antisocial personality disorder as they mature. Once the juveniles reach maturation their socially unacceptable behavior has grown into a life style and they develop into career criminals. "Career criminals begin committing antisocial behavior before entering grade school and are versatile in that they engage in an array of destructive behaviors, offend at exceedingly high rates, and are less likely to quit committing crime as they age."
Quantitative research was completed on 9,945 juvenile male offenders between the ages of 10 and 18 in the 1970s. The longitudinal birth cohort was used to examine a trend among a small percentage of career criminals who accounted for the largest percentage of crime activity. The trend exhibited a new phenomenon amongst habitual offenders. For this study habitual offenders were youth who experienced more than five police encounters.(Wolfgang et al.: 1972) The phenomenon indicated that only 6% of the youth qualified under their definition of a habitual offender and yet were responsible for 52% of the delinquency within the entire study. (Wolfgang et al.: 1972) The same 6% of chronic offenders accounted for 71% of the murders and 69% of the aggravated assaults.(Wolfgang et al.: 1972). This phenomenon was later researched among an adult population in 1977 and resulted in similar findings. S.A. Mednick did a birth cohort of 30,000 males and found that 1% of the males were responsible for more than half of the criminal activity. The habitual crime behavior found amongst juveniles is similar to that of adults. Habitual offenders "will make a 'career' of bad choices and bad behavior and probably end up, sooner, or later, dead or in prison" (DeLisi, 2005). These juvenile offenders are in need of treatment because they have a negative disposition and high propensity to continue committing crime.(DeLisi, 2005)
, the way parents discipline
a child, parental conflict or separation
, criminal parents or siblings, parental abuse or neglect
, and the quality of the parent-child relationship (Graham & Bowling: 1995 p. 33)
Children brought up by lone parents
are more likely to start offending than those who live with two natural parents, however once the attachment a child feels towards their parent(s) and the level of parental supervision are taken into account, children in single parent families are no more likely to offend than others. (Graham & Bowling: 1995 p. 35) Conflict between a child's parents is also much more closely linked to offending than being raised by a lone parent. (Walklate: 2003 p. 106)
If a child has low parental supervision they are much more likely to offend. (Graham & Bowling: 1995) Many studies have found a strong correlation between a lack of supervision and offending, and it appears to be the most important family influence on offending. (Farrington: 2002 p. 610) (Graham & Bowling: 1995 p. 38) When parents commonly do not know where their children are, what their activities are, or who their friends are, children are more likely to truant from school and have delinquent friends, each of which are linked to offending. (Graham & Bowling: 1995 p. 45,46)
A lack of supervision is connected to poor relationships between children and parents, as children who are often in conflict with their parents may be less willing to discuss their activities with them. (Graham & Bowling: 1995 p. 37) Children with a weak attachment to their parents are more likely to offend.
Children resulting from unintended pregnancies are more likely to exhibit delinquent behavior. They also have lower mother-child relationship quality.
With the development of delinquency in youth being influenced by numerous factors, prevention efforts are comprehensive in scope. Prevention services include activities such as substance abuse education and treatment, family counseling, youth mentoring, parenting education, educational support, and youth sheltering. Increasing availability and use of family planning
services, including education and contraceptives
helps to reduce unintended pregnancy
and unwanted births, which are risk factors for delinquency.
The robustness and validity of much risk factor research are criticized for:
- Reductionism - e.g. over-simplfying complex experiences and circumstances by converting them to simple quantities, relying on a psychosocial focus whilst neglecting potential socio-structural and political influences;
- Determinism - e.g. characterising young people as passive victims of risk experiences with no ability to construct, negotiate or resist risk;
- Imputation - e.g. assuming that risk factors and definitions of offending are homogenous across countries and cultures, assuming that statistical correlations between risk factors and offending actually represent causal relationships, assuming that risk factors apply to individuals on the basis of aggregated data.
Antisocial personality disorder is a common diagnosis for a serial killer
. Authors Alvarez and Bachman found that one similarity among serial killers was their prior criminal convictions. In this case conduct disorder can become a probable constituent to serial murder if not diagnosed and treated before it fully develops in adulthood as antisocial personality disorder. Both conduct disorder and antisocial personality disorder are categorized as personality disorders under the DSM-IV-TR and share extremely similar definitions as explained above in 'Mental Disorders'. Some of the common characteristics include consistent violation of societal norms, aggressive behavior towards people,and a disassociation to the emotion of empathy. These traits are also common amongst serial killers and if the maladaptive behaviors are not treated they have the potential to conceive a person that fantasizes about killing several victims and then fulfills their impulsivity when they are no longer capable of suppressing it.
Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...
, most if not all of which can be applied to the causes of youth crime. Youth crime is an aspect of crime which receives great attention from the news media
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
and politicians
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
. The level and types of youth crime can be used by commentators as an indicator of the general state of morality
Morality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
and law and order
Law and order (politics)
In politics, law and order refers to demands for a strict criminal justice system, especially in relation to violent and property crime, through harsher criminal penalties...
in a country, and consequently youth crime can be the source of ‘moral panics’ Theories on the causes of youth crime can be viewed as particularly important within criminology
Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...
. This is firstly because crime is committed disproportionately by those aged between fifteen and twenty-five. Secondly, by definition any theories on the causes of crime will focus on youth crime, as adult criminals will have likely started offending when they were young.
A juvenile delinquent is a person who is typically under the age of 18 and commits an act that otherwise would've been charged as a crime if they were an adult. Juvenile delinquents sometimes have associated mental disorders and/or behavioral issues such as post traumatic stress disorder or bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
, and are sometimes diagnosed with conduct disorder
Conduct disorder
Conduct disorder is psychological disorder diagnosed in childhood that presents itself through a repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior in which the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate norms are violated...
partially as both the cause and resulting effects of their behaviors.
History of Juvenile Delinquency
Children were not always treated as a distinct social group. They were, more or less, viewed as 'little adults.' Girls were taught basic reading, writing and arithmetic and were married in their teens. Boys were expected to do one of the following; farm, learn a skilled trade (i.e. masonry or metalworking), apprentice in traded crafts, join the monastery, or serve as a squire to a knight. Children did not really have a childhood because they were born straight into adulthood. We start to see a change during the 17th and 18th century. Marriage became more of an emotional commitment than an economic bargain and in turn, the treatment of children started to change. There were a number of changes implemented, the first as early as 1535. 1) Poor Laws stated that children without a home could be put to work in poorhouses, workhouses, or apprenticing to masters. 2) Chancery Courts were originally established in England to settle disputes, but eventually that authority was extended to the welfare of children. 3) Parens patriae is a Latin phrase used to describe the power of the state to act on the behalf of children and give them protection and care just as a parent would. These changes led to further developments in the protection of children. The child savers were formed to assist children and eventually led to the creation of a separate legal status for children.Juvenile sex crimes
JuvenilesMinor (law)
In law, a minor is a person under a certain age — the age of majority — which legally demarcates childhood from adulthood; the age depends upon jurisdiction and application, but is typically 18...
who commit sexual crimes refer to individuals adjudicated in a criminal court for a sexual crime. Sex crimes are defined as sexually abusive behavior committed by a person under the age of 18 that is perpetrated “against the victim’s will, without consent, and in an aggressive, exploitative, manipulative, or threatening manner”. It is important to utilize appropriate terminology for juvenile sex offenders. Harsh and inappropriate expressions include terms such as “pedophile, child molester, predator, perpetrator, and mini-perp” These terms have often been associated with this group, regardless of the youth’s age, diagnosis
Diagnosis
Diagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of anything. Diagnosis is used in many different disciplines with variations in the use of logics, analytics, and experience to determine the cause and effect relationships...
, cognitive abilities, or developmental stage
Child development stages
Child development stages describe theoretical milestones of child development. Many stage models of development have been proposed, used as working concepts and in some cases asserted as nativist theories....
. Using appropriate expressions can facilitate a more accurate depiction of juvenile sex offenders and may decrease the subsequent aversive psychological affects from using such labels.
Prevalence data
Examining prevalence data and the characteristics of juvenileMinor (law)
In law, a minor is a person under a certain age — the age of majority — which legally demarcates childhood from adulthood; the age depends upon jurisdiction and application, but is typically 18...
sex offenders is a fundamental component to obtain a precise understanding of this heterogeneous group. With mandatory reporting laws in place, it became a necessity for providers to report any incidents of disclosed sexual abuse. Longo and Prescott indicate that juveniles commit approximately 30-60% of all child sexual abuse. The Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports indicate that in 2008 youth under the age of 18 accounted for 16.7% of forcible rapes and 20.61% of other sexual offenses. Center for Sex Offender Management indicates that approximately one-fifth of all rapes and one-half of all sexual child molestation can be accounted for by juveniles.
Official record data
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention indicates that 15% of juvenile arrests occurred for forcible rape in 2006, and 12% were clearance (resolved by an arrest). The total number of juvenile arrests in 2006 for forcible rape was 3,610 with 2% being female and 36% being under the age of 15 years old. This trend has declined throughout the years with forcible rape from 1997-2006 being -30% and from 2005-2006 being -10%. The OJJDP reports that the juvenile arrest rate for forcible rape increased from the early 1980s through the 1990s and at that time it fell again. The OJJDP also reported that the total number of juvenile arrests in 2006 for sex offenses (other than forcible rape) was 15,900 with 10% being female and 47% being under the age of 15. There was again a decrease with the trend throughout the years with sex offenses from 1997-2006 being -16% and from 2005-2006 being -9%.Males who commit sexual crimes
Barbaree and Marshall indicate that juvenile males contribute to the majority of sex crimes, with 2-4% of adolescent males having reported committing sexually assaultive behavior, and 20% of all rapes and 30-50% of all child molestation is perpetrated by adolescent males. It is clear that males are over-represented in this population . This is consistent with Ryan and Lane’s research indicating that males account for 91-93% of the reported juvenile sex offenses. Righthand and Welch reported that females account for an estimated 2-11% of incidents of sexual offending. In addition, it reported by The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention that in the juvenile arrests during 2006, African American male youth were disproportionately arrested (34%) for forcible rape. Although while African American male youth are being disproportionately arrested, the most common ethnic group comprising juvenile sex offenders is Caucasian males.Rational choice
Classical criminology stresses that causes of crime lie within the individualIndividual
An individual is a person or any specific object or thing in a collection. Individuality is the state or quality of being an individual; a person separate from other persons and possessing his or her own needs, goals, and desires. Being self expressive...
offender, rather than in their external environment. For classicists, offenders are motivated by rational
Rationality
In philosophy, rationality is the exercise of reason. It is the manner in which people derive conclusions when considering things deliberately. It also refers to the conformity of one's beliefs with one's reasons for belief, or with one's actions with one's reasons for action...
self-interest, and the importance of free will
Free will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
and personal responsibility
Moral responsibility
Moral responsibility usually refers to the idea that a person has moral obligations in certain situations. Disobeying moral obligations, then, becomes grounds for justified punishment. Deciding what justifies punishment, if anything, is a principle concern of ethics.People who have moral...
is emphasised. Rational choice theory
Rational choice theory
Rational choice theory, also known as choice theory or rational action theory, is a framework for understanding and often formally modeling social and economic behavior. It is the main theoretical paradigm in the currently-dominant school of microeconomics...
is the clearest example of this idea.
Social disorganization
Current positivist approaches generally focus on the cultureCulture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
. A type of criminological theory attributing variation in crime and delinquency over time and among territories to the absence or breakdown of communal institutions (e.g. family, school, church and social groups.) and communal relationships that traditionally encouraged cooperative relationships among people.
Strain
Strain theoryStrain theory (sociology)
In criminology, the strain theory states that social structures within society may pressure citizens to commit crime. Following on the work of Émile Durkheim, Strain Theories have been advanced by Robert King Merton , Albert K. Cohen , Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin , Robert Agnew , and Steven...
is associated mainly with the work of Robert Merton
Robert K. Merton
Robert King Merton was a distinguished American sociologist. He spent most of his career teaching at Columbia University, where he attained the rank of University Professor...
. He felt that there are institutionalized paths to success in society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
. Strain theory holds that crime is caused by the difficulty those in poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
have in achieving socially valued goals by legitimate means. As those with, for instance, poor educational attainment have difficulty achieving wealth and status by securing well paid employment, they are more likely to use criminal means to obtain these goals.
Merton's suggests five adaptations to this dilemma:
- Innovation: individuals who accept socially approved goals, but not necessarily the socially approved means.
- Retreatism: those who reject socially approved goals and the means for acquiring them.
- Ritualism: those who buy into a system of socially approved means, but lose sight of the goals. Merton believed that drug users are in this category.
- Conformity: those who conform to the system's means and goals.
- Rebellion: people who negate socially approved goals and means by creating a new system of acceptable goals and means.
A difficulty with strain theory is that it does not explore why children of low-income families would have poor educational attainment in the first place. More importantly is the fact that much youth crime does not have an economic motivation. Strain theory fails to explain violent crime, the type of youth crime which causes most anxiety to the public.
Differential association
The theory of Differential association also deals with young people in a group context, and looks at how peer pressure and the existence of gangs could lead them into crime. It suggests young people are motivated to commit crimes by delinquent peers, and learn criminal skills from them. The diminished influence of peers after men marryMarriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
has also been cited as a factor in desisting from offending. There is strong evidence that young people with criminal friends are more likely to commit crimes themselves. However it may be the case that offenders prefer to associate with one another, rather than delinquent peers causing someone to start offending. Furthermore there is the question of how the delinquent peer group became delinquent initially.
Labeling
Labeling theoryLabeling theory
Labeling theory is closely related to interactionist and social construction theories. Labeling theory was developed by sociologists during the 1960's. Howard Saul Becker's book entitled Outsiders was extremely influential in the development of this theory and its rise to popularity...
states that once young people have been labeled as criminal they are more likely to offend. (Eadie & Morley: 2003 p. 552) The idea is that once labelled as deviant a young person may accept that role
Role
A role or a social role is a set of connected behaviours, rights and obligations as conceptualised by actors in a social situation. It is an expected or free or continuously changing behaviour and may have a given individual social status or social position...
, and be more likely to associate with others who have been similarly labelled. (Eadie & Morley: 2003 p. 552) Labelling theorists say that male children from poor families are more likely to be labelled deviant, and that this may partially explain why there are more lower-class young male offenders. (Walklate: 2003 p. 24)
Male phenomenon
Youth crime is disproportionately committed by young men. Feminist theorists and others have examined why this is the case. (Eadie & Morley: 2003 p. 553) One suggestion is that ideas of masculinityMasculinity
Masculinity is possessing qualities or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a man. The term can be used to describe any human, animal or object that has the quality of being masculine...
may make young men more likely to offend. Being tough, powerful, aggressive
Aggressive
“Aggressive” is a New York-based Grammy award-winning music video and commercial directing team of Alex Topaller and Daniel Shapiro.Aggressive has been described by Movie Creation Mag as “having a fascination with the wonderful, in the likes of the surrealist Rafal Olbinski” and “tenacious about...
, daring and competitive may be a way young men attempt to express their masculinity. (Brown: 1998 p. 109) Acting out these ideals may make young men more likely to engage in antisocial and criminal behaviour. (Walklate: 2003 p. 83) Alternatively, rather than young men acting as they do because of societal pressure to conform to masculine ideals; young men may actually be naturally more aggressive, daring etc. As well as biological or psychological factors, the way young men are treated by their parents may make them more susceptible to offending. (Walklate: 2003 p. 35) According to a study led by Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
criminologist Kevin M. Beaver, adolescent males who possess a certain type of variation in a specific gene
Gene
A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...
are more likely to flock to delinquent peers. The study, which appears in the September 2008 issue of the Journal of Genetic Psychology, is the first to establish a statistically significant association between an affinity for antisocial peer groups and a particular variation (called the 10-repeat allele) of the dopamine
Dopamine
Dopamine is a catecholamine neurotransmitter present in a wide variety of animals, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. In the brain, this substituted phenethylamine functions as a neurotransmitter, activating the five known types of dopamine receptors—D1, D2, D3, D4, and D5—and their...
transporter gene (DAT1).
Individual risk factors
Individual psychological or behavioural risk factors that may make offending more likely include intelligenceIntelligence
Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving....
, impulsiveness or the inability to delay gratification
Gratification
Gratification is the pleasurable emotional reaction of happiness in response to a fulfillment of a desire or goal.Gratification, like all emotions, is a motivator of behavior and thus plays a role in the entire range of human social systems....
, aggression
Aggression
In psychology, as well as other social and behavioral sciences, aggression refers to behavior between members of the same species that is intended to cause humiliation, pain, or harm. Ferguson and Beaver defined aggressive behavior as "Behavior which is intended to increase the social dominance of...
, empathy
Empathy
Empathy is the capacity to recognize and, to some extent, share feelings that are being experienced by another sapient or semi-sapient being. Someone may need to have a certain amount of empathy before they are able to feel compassion. The English word was coined in 1909 by E.B...
, and restlessness
Anxiety
Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,...
. (Farrington: 2002)
Children with low intelligence are likely to do worse in school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
. This may increase the chances of offending because low educational attainment, a low attachment to school, and low educational aspirations are all risk factors for offending in themselves. (Walklate: 2003 p. 2) Children who perform poorly at school are also more likely to truant
TruANT
Truant is Alien Ant Farm's second album. It was released on August 8, 2003 by DreamWorks Records. The producers of the album were Stone Temple Pilots' guitarist and bassist Robert DeLeo and Dean DeLeo....
, which is also linked to offending. (Farrington: 2002 p. 682) If strain theory or subcultural theory are valid poor educational attainment could lead to crime as children were unable to attain wealth and status legally. However it must be born in mind that defining and measuring intelligence is troublesome.
Young males are especially likely to be impulsive which could mean they disregard the long-term consequences of their actions, have a lack of self-control, and are unable to postpone immediate gratification. This may explain why they disproportionately offend. (Farrington: 2002 p. 682) (Walklate: 2003 p. 36) Impulsiveness is seen by some as the key aspect of a child's personality
Personality psychology
Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that studies personality and individual differences. Its areas of focus include:* Constructing a coherent picture of the individual and his or her major psychological processes...
that predicts offending. (Farrington: 2002 p. 682) However is not clear whether these aspects of personality are a result of “deficits in the executive functions of the brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
”, (Farrington: 2002 p. 667) or a result of parental influences or other social factors. (Graham & Bowling: 1995 p. 32)
Mental disorders
Conduct disorder usually develops during childhood and manifests itself during an adolescence life. (Holmes et al.:2001 p. 183) Some juvenile behavior is attributed to the diagnosable disorder known as conduct disorderConduct disorder
Conduct disorder is psychological disorder diagnosed in childhood that presents itself through a repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior in which the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate norms are violated...
. In accordance to the DSM-IV-TR Codes 312.xx (where xx varies upon the specifice subtype exhibited) adolescence who exhibit conduct disorder also show a lack of empathy and disregard for societal norms. The DSM is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association and most often referred to by Psychiatrists for diagnosing mental disorders.
Juvenile delinquents who have recurring encounters with the criminal justice system are sometimes diagnosed with conduct disorders because they show a continuous disregard for their own and others safety and property. Once the juvenile continues to exhibit the same behavioral patterns and turns eighteen he is then at risk of being diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder
Antisocial personality disorder
Antisocial personality disorder is described by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth edition , as an Axis II personality disorder characterized by "...a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood...
and much more prone to become a serious criminal offender. (DeLisi: 2005 p. 39) One of the main components used in diagnosing an adult with antisocial personality disorder consists of presenting documented history of conduct disorder before the age of 15. These two personality disorders are analogous in their erratic and aggressive behavior. This is why habitual juvenile offenders diagnosed with conduct disorder are likely to exhibit signs of antisocial personality disorder as they mature. Once the juveniles reach maturation their socially unacceptable behavior has grown into a life style and they develop into career criminals. "Career criminals begin committing antisocial behavior before entering grade school and are versatile in that they engage in an array of destructive behaviors, offend at exceedingly high rates, and are less likely to quit committing crime as they age."
Quantitative research was completed on 9,945 juvenile male offenders between the ages of 10 and 18 in the 1970s. The longitudinal birth cohort was used to examine a trend among a small percentage of career criminals who accounted for the largest percentage of crime activity. The trend exhibited a new phenomenon amongst habitual offenders. For this study habitual offenders were youth who experienced more than five police encounters.(Wolfgang et al.: 1972) The phenomenon indicated that only 6% of the youth qualified under their definition of a habitual offender and yet were responsible for 52% of the delinquency within the entire study. (Wolfgang et al.: 1972) The same 6% of chronic offenders accounted for 71% of the murders and 69% of the aggravated assaults.(Wolfgang et al.: 1972). This phenomenon was later researched among an adult population in 1977 and resulted in similar findings. S.A. Mednick did a birth cohort of 30,000 males and found that 1% of the males were responsible for more than half of the criminal activity. The habitual crime behavior found amongst juveniles is similar to that of adults. Habitual offenders "will make a 'career' of bad choices and bad behavior and probably end up, sooner, or later, dead or in prison" (DeLisi, 2005). These juvenile offenders are in need of treatment because they have a negative disposition and high propensity to continue committing crime.(DeLisi, 2005)
Family environment
Family factors which may have an influence on offending include; the level of parental supervisionParental supervision
Parental supervision is a parenting technique that involves looking after, or monitoring a child's activities.Young children are generally incapable of looking after themselves, and incompetent in making informed decisions for their own well-being...
, the way parents discipline
Discipline
In its original sense, discipline is referred to systematic instruction given to disciples to train them as students in a craft or trade, or to follow a particular code of conduct or "order". Often, the phrase "to discipline" carries a negative connotation. This is because enforcement of order –...
a child, parental conflict or separation
Legal separation
Legal separation is a legal process by which a married couple may formalize a de facto separation while remaining legally married. A legal separation is granted in the form of a court order, which can be in the form of a legally binding consent decree...
, criminal parents or siblings, parental abuse or neglect
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
, and the quality of the parent-child relationship (Graham & Bowling: 1995 p. 33)
Children brought up by lone parents
Single parent
Single parent is a term that is mostly used to suggest that one parent has most of the day to day responsibilities in the raising of the child or children, which would categorize them as the dominant caregiver...
are more likely to start offending than those who live with two natural parents, however once the attachment a child feels towards their parent(s) and the level of parental supervision are taken into account, children in single parent families are no more likely to offend than others. (Graham & Bowling: 1995 p. 35) Conflict between a child's parents is also much more closely linked to offending than being raised by a lone parent. (Walklate: 2003 p. 106)
If a child has low parental supervision they are much more likely to offend. (Graham & Bowling: 1995) Many studies have found a strong correlation between a lack of supervision and offending, and it appears to be the most important family influence on offending. (Farrington: 2002 p. 610) (Graham & Bowling: 1995 p. 38) When parents commonly do not know where their children are, what their activities are, or who their friends are, children are more likely to truant from school and have delinquent friends, each of which are linked to offending. (Graham & Bowling: 1995 p. 45,46)
A lack of supervision is connected to poor relationships between children and parents, as children who are often in conflict with their parents may be less willing to discuss their activities with them. (Graham & Bowling: 1995 p. 37) Children with a weak attachment to their parents are more likely to offend.
Children resulting from unintended pregnancies are more likely to exhibit delinquent behavior. They also have lower mother-child relationship quality.
Prevention
Delinquency Prevention is the broad term for all efforts aimed at preventing youth from becoming involved in criminal, or other antisocial, activity. Increasingly, governments are recognizing the importance of allocating resources for the prevention of delinquency. Because it is often difficult for states to provide the fiscal resources necessary for good prevention, organizations, communities, and governments are working more in collaboration with each other to prevent juvenile delinquency.With the development of delinquency in youth being influenced by numerous factors, prevention efforts are comprehensive in scope. Prevention services include activities such as substance abuse education and treatment, family counseling, youth mentoring, parenting education, educational support, and youth sheltering. Increasing availability and use of family planning
Family planning
Family planning is the planning of when to have children, and the use of birth control and other techniques to implement such plans. Other techniques commonly used include sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counseling and...
services, including education and contraceptives
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
helps to reduce unintended pregnancy
Unintended pregnancy
Unintended pregnancies are those in which conception was not intended by the female sexual partner. Worldwide, 38% of pregnancies were unintended in 1999 . Unintended pregnancies are the primary cause of induced abortion, resulting in about 42 million induced abortions per year...
and unwanted births, which are risk factors for delinquency.
Critique of risk factor research
Two UK academics, Stephen Case and Kevin Haines, among others, criticized risk factor research in their academic papers and a comprehensive polemic text, Understanding Youth Offending: Risk Factor Research, Policy and Practice.The robustness and validity of much risk factor research are criticized for:
- Reductionism - e.g. over-simplfying complex experiences and circumstances by converting them to simple quantities, relying on a psychosocial focus whilst neglecting potential socio-structural and political influences;
- Determinism - e.g. characterising young people as passive victims of risk experiences with no ability to construct, negotiate or resist risk;
- Imputation - e.g. assuming that risk factors and definitions of offending are homogenous across countries and cultures, assuming that statistical correlations between risk factors and offending actually represent causal relationships, assuming that risk factors apply to individuals on the basis of aggregated data.
Societal consequences
Once the juvenile offender reaches maturation he is likely to continue exhibiting maladaptive behaviors and increases his risk of being cycled through the criminal justice system as an adult offender. Due to the small population of habitual adult and juvenile offenders attributing for the large percentage of violent crimes (i.e. murder and aggravated assault) the criminal justice system should supervise the small population of career criminals in an effort to prevent the spawning of serious violent offenders. Correlation has been found between juvenile delinquency and domestic violence in adulthood. If mental disorders such as conduct disorder go undiagnosed and untreated the juvenile offender has the increased potential to later develop antisocial personality disorder and continue his life as a career criminal. The majority of violent offenders exhibit characteristics of antisocial personality disorder and exhibit it no later than age 15.Antisocial personality disorder is a common diagnosis for a serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
. Authors Alvarez and Bachman found that one similarity among serial killers was their prior criminal convictions. In this case conduct disorder can become a probable constituent to serial murder if not diagnosed and treated before it fully develops in adulthood as antisocial personality disorder. Both conduct disorder and antisocial personality disorder are categorized as personality disorders under the DSM-IV-TR and share extremely similar definitions as explained above in 'Mental Disorders'. Some of the common characteristics include consistent violation of societal norms, aggressive behavior towards people,and a disassociation to the emotion of empathy. These traits are also common amongst serial killers and if the maladaptive behaviors are not treated they have the potential to conceive a person that fantasizes about killing several victims and then fulfills their impulsivity when they are no longer capable of suppressing it.
See also
- Antisocial personality disorderAntisocial personality disorderAntisocial personality disorder is described by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth edition , as an Axis II personality disorder characterized by "...a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood...
- Deviant behaviorDeviant BehaviorDeviant Behavior is an interdisciplinary journal which focuses on social deviance, including criminal, sexual, and narcotic behaviors.The journal is published by Taylor and Francis, Inc., and was ranked 41st out of 46 psychology journals and 46th out of 90 sociology journals in 2004 by the...
- Juvenile delinquency in the United StatesJuvenile delinquency in the United StatesThis page is primarily concerned with juvenile delinquency in the United States. For information on juvenile delinquency in general, please see the juvenile delinquency page. In addition, please keep in mind that this page refers to juveniles as the actual delinquents, not as the victims...
- Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency PreventionOffice of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency PreventionThe Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is an office of the United States Department of Justice and a component of the Office of Justice Programs....
- Person in need of supervisionPerson In Need of SupervisionPersons in need of supervision is a term frequently used by social services agencies in the United States to describe a juvenile who is not currently in the household of a parent or legal guardian, or is currently not under their control as evidenced by the person's status offense, who is not an...
- Status offenseStatus offenseTwo common definitions of a status offense or status crime are1. A status offense is an action that is prohibited only to a certain class of people, and most often applied to offenses only committed by minors....
- Teen courtsTeen courtsTeen courts are authorized by law in many states in America. The terms teen court, youth court, and peer court are used interchangeably. Their purpose is to provide an alternative disposition for juveniles who have committed a delinquent act, have committed a minor offense, or have been charged...
- VictimologyVictimologyVictimology is the scientific study of victimization, including the relationships between victims and offenders, the interactions between victims and the criminal justice system — that is, the police and courts, and corrections officials — and the connections between victims and other social groups...
- YouthYouthYouth is the time of life between childhood and adulthood . Definitions of the specific age range that constitutes youth vary. An individual's actual maturity may not correspond to their chronological age, as immature individuals could exist at all ages.-Usage:Around the world, the terms "youth",...
- Youth court
- Anti-Social Behaviour OrderAnti-Social Behaviour OrderAn Anti-Social Behaviour Order or ASBO is a civil order made against a person who has been shown, on the balance of evidence, to have engaged in anti-social behaviour. The orders, introduced in the United Kingdom by Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1998, were designed to correct minor incidents that...
- Conduct DisorderConduct disorderConduct disorder is psychological disorder diagnosed in childhood that presents itself through a repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior in which the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate norms are violated...
Further reading
- E. Mulvey, MW Arthur, ND Reppucci, "The prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency: A review of the research", Clinical Psychology Review, 1993.
- Edward P. Mulvey, Michael W. Arthur, & N. Dickon Reppucci, "Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency: A Review of the Research", The Prevention Researcher, Volume 4, Number 2, 1997, Pages 1-4.
- Regoli, Robert M. and Hewitt, John D. "Delinquency in Society", 6th ed., 2006.
- Siegel, J Larry. "Juvenile Delinquency with Infotrac: theory, practices and law", 2002.
- United Nations, Research Report on Juvenile Delinquency (pdf).
- Zigler E, Taussig C, Black K., "Early childhood intervention. A promising preventative for juvenile delinquency", Am Psychol. 1992 Aug;47(8):997-1006.
- Gang Cop: The Words and Ways of Officer Paco Domingo (2004) by Malcolm W.Klein
- The American Street Gang: Its Nature, Prevalence, and Control (1995), by Malcolm W. Klein
- American Youth Violence (1998) by Franklin Zimring
- Street Wars: Gangs and the Future of Violence (2004) by Tom Hayden
- Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun (1995) by Geoffrey CanadaGeoffrey CanadaGeoffrey Canada is an African American social activist and educator. Since 1990, Canada has been president and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone in Harlem, New York, an organization which states its goal is to increase high school and college graduation rates among students in Harlem...
- Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic (1996) by James Gilligan
- Lost Boys: Why Our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them (1999) by James Gabarino
- Last Chance in Texas: The Redemption of Criminal Youth (2005) by John Hubner
- Breaking Rank: A Top Cop’s Expose of the Dark Side of American Policing (2005) by Norm Stamper
- Peetz P., "Youth, Crime, and the Responses of the State: Discourses on Violence in Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Nicaragua", GIGA Working Papers, Number 80, 2008.
External links
- Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime - major study at Edinburgh Law School
- "STATE RESPONSES TO SERIOUS AND VIOLENT JUVENILE CRIME." - Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency PreventionOffice of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency PreventionThe Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is an office of the United States Department of Justice and a component of the Office of Justice Programs....
.