Delinquency and Children´s Behavior: The Choice Theory

“Children are a product of their environment”, is something I constantly hear when a either a young person is acting out or a young person doesn’t look “socially acceptable”. Delinquency and children’s behavior was something I have grown to become interested in during our class; thus leading me to analyze different theories on youth and the factors that prompted the onset of delinquent and how they continue to sustain their negative behavior. I personally do not completely agree with any one theory that applies to youth and child delinquency, yet there are points within each theory that I can agree with. In the following pages I will describe theories such as Choice Theory, Biosocial Theory, and Differential Association Theory.
I would like to look first at “The Choice Theory”. The first explanations of wrongdoing and delinquency held that the child him/her self’s behavior was a matter of choice. The classical view tells us that the decision to violate the law comes from the youth carefully weighting out the benefits and cost of the criminal behavior. According to the classical vie, youths who decide to become a drug dealer weigh ad compare the possible benefits, such as cash to buy cars, clothes, and other luxury items; knowing that the potential penalties are being arrested and possibly staying in a juvenile facility. Therefore if the youth thinks they are less likely to get caught or they see that the punishment for getting caught is minimal they are more likely to go forth and break the law. Thus being said, CHOICE is huge for there is always an option and you can dictate your path.
Breakthroughs in psychology and sociology haven proven today that a child’s behavior is indeed impacted and influenced by the outside, such ...

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...tcast, which then leads to psychological issues. Research has shown that lower class youth seem to want to “belong” which because of perception more upper class teens shun them thus leading them to the gang life for they wanted to be “apart” of a group.
All in all, there are many theories floating around us on why teenagers become “mass destructions of themselves”. Not to mention, through research we can see that children are a product of their environment however, if people would stop being arrogant and show kindness to others the word “outcast” would no longer exist and physiological issues would begin to affect children in a more positive way. All in all, I believe all teenagers can avoid becoming delinquent’s if they become more involved with the communities, kill the wretched with kindness, and most importantly had a more balanced meal throughout their days.