What Causes Juvenile Delinquency In The Outsiders By S. E. Hinton

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In S.E. Hinton’s book, The Outsiders, children born on the wrong side of town grow up to be juvenile, teenage hoods. In this book, these teenage delinquents are the Greasers, whose only "rival" is the Socials, or "Socs," as an abbreviation. The characters within The Outsiders unmistakably choose a remote. lifestyle of juvenile delinquency and crime. Ilanna Sharon Mandel wrote an article called, "What Causes Juvenile Delinquency?" This editorial presents many circumstances that can be applied to the main character, or protagonist, Ponyboy Michael Curtis and his brothers, friends, and neighbors. Their behavior may not always lead them to the right side of the law, but it is the cause of juvenile delinquency that gets them in. trouble. Ilanna …show more content…

For one, we do not see much child-to-parent action in the book, but we know that the Curtis family is broken. Before the book takes place, both of Ponyboy's parents died in an auto wreck. After that, Darry took care of Ponyboy and Sodapop, but was always strict with Ponyboy. Darry did not show much love either, and was always cold-hearted and hurt people without realizing it. Johnny's parents would always fight; while his father was abusive and hit Johnny every single day he was home, his mother completely ignored Johnny unless she was yelling at him, which, according to Ponyboy, you could hear all the way to the Curtis house. Although the book does not specify, I infer that Two-Bit, Steve, and especially Dally have family problems additionally. According to another article, Two-Bit's father left his family without notice and left Two-bit to take care of his mother. Dally, I believe, particularly had past family issues. We do not hear about Dally's family at all in the book, and that might be for a specific purpose. Ponyboy says that Dally used to live in New York when he was jailed at only ten years old. Ponyboy also says that Dally is the toughest and the meanest. Before Dally was ten years old, he, most likely, was a juvenile delinquent. This might of been caused by peers, family troubles, or even past traumas. Ponyboy also says that Dally has seen much worse in New York than Johnny after he was beaten up by four Socials. Past trauma and family issues are great factors in why the Greasers are juvenile delinquents. Peer influence is unquestionably a key factor in the character's behavior. Greasers surround themselves with greasers, and socials surround themselves with socials. Almost everyone in these two groups remains juvenile delinquents, and will continue to

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