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psychological theories for criminal behaviour
MAIN FEATURES ASSOCIATED WITH antisocial personality disorder ESSAY
psychological theories for criminal behaviour
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The United States spends a very large sum of money to maintain the juvenile justice system each year, but money is not the only cost at hand. This article describes a study done to demonstrate the development of antisocial behavior in children and is observed through adolescence. The model supports a theory linking antisocial behavior and chronic delinquency. Through a series of developmental steps, psychologists use this model to test reactions from environmental factors (social situations) in order to predict and understand this social problem in hopes to prevent this pattern. One factor contributing to antisocial behavior in children is family relationships, which are explained in two perspectives. The first suggests that harsh, inconsistent
Moffitt, Terrie E. 1993. “Adolescence-Limited and Life-Course-Persistent Antisocial Behavior: A Developmental Taxonomy.” Psychological Review 100:674–701.
These researchers believe that intensive intervention approaches are needed for youth who display antisocial behaviors because such behaviors put them at even greater risk for abusing substances. They also state that when youth engage in antisocial behaviors, the parents tend to be less accepting of them, show less affection, support and attachment to them. The parents may also have harsher attitudes and discipline with such youth. In addition, according to Santisteban et al (1997), research has shown that parents of youth with antisocial behaviors often use reinforcement inappropriately, use inconsistent parenting styles, and have a lot of family conflict and poor attachment to their children. Family therapy and intervention can be useful in helping parents to become a protective factor to help youth deal with stressors they are facing and to prevent their abuse of substances. However, if families do not receive interventions or help, youth with antisocial behaviors are more likely to be influenced by antisocial peers, drug use, and criminal activity in their neighborhoods. Also, if the parents force their problematic youth out of the home too soon, then they will be more easily influenced by
“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.
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.
Thompson, W. E. and Bynum J. E. (2010). Juvenile Delinquency: A sociological Approach Eighth Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
The development environment has been theoretically proposed to be relevant to the etiology of ASPD. (Shi and Bureau, 2012, p.54) While many other studies have been carried out to find relationships between antisocial behavior and delinquency, very few have attempted to find the relationship between the caregiving environment and antisocial behavior. Three other relevant studies have been conducted; establishing a connection between developmental processes and early aggression, conduct disorder, and young adolescent to adolescent delinquency. Maltreatment in childhood has also been associated repeatedly with antisocial behavior. (Shi and Bureau, 2012, p. 55) The only issue most psychologists have been facing is simply that antisocial behaviors have only been measured with no diagnostic information so far. While some studies have shown that maltreatment in early life is ...
The reason for the lack of sufficient changes in juvenile delinquency is that the problems that leads to juvenile delinquency starts in the home and there has not been enough attention paid to the family dynamics which causes delinquency. Parents are the first relationship chi...
The presentation of negative stimuli has been found to be one of the forerunning causes of delinquency amongst juveniles. Some examples of undesirable stimuli that an adolescent could be facing are child abuse, neglect, and exploitation, hostile relationships with parents teachers and peers, negative academic experiences, neighborhood difficulties, and poverty. If a juvenile is surrounded by individuals who sell drugs in order to finance a way of life that is easier and more financial than their current way of life, the adolescent id more likely to imitate that behavior by association.
The study finds that during school times, crimes, especially against persons for juveniles, were at highest. The study explores factors expected to influence delinquent behavior such as the presence of peers. The study finding also shows that crimes among juveniles are to some extent influenced by timing. The article chooses the policy issue of crime intervention. Based on the time certain crimes occur, the study suggests that this can be used in preventing crimes. The study also suggests measures of reducing or preventing youth victimization by enhancing the school structure since most crimes especially those against persons occurs at school. The authors suggest that identification of effective strategies and specific programs which address issues related to crime have shown promise as far as reducing crimes and antisocial behaviors. The study suggests programs such as enhancing school management, clarification and communication of norms about behavior, teaching competency behavior, and employing cognitive behavior to teach social competency skills as means of addressing crimes among juveniles (Gottfredson & Soule,
Simons, R. L., Johnson, C., Conger, R. D., & Elder Jr., G. (1998). A test of latent trait versus life-course perspectives on the stability of adolescent antisocial behavior. Criminolgy, 36(2), 217-243. doi: EBSCHOhost
Thompson, W. E. and Bynum J. E. (2010). Juvenile Delinquency: A sociological Approach Eighth Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
According the Rogers (2013), there are causal factors at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels that can lead youth to engage in delinquent activity. At the micro level, the factors that predict delinquency involve: being male, low educational achievement, low impulse control, childhood aggression, antisocial behavior, and hyperactivity. At the mezzo level, family conflict, lack of family support and appropriate discipline, and negative peer pressure can be risk factors for juvenile. On a macro level, youth that live in poverty or in high-crime urban neighborhoods, and are exposed to violence at home and in their neighborhoods, have a higher risk of engaging in delinquent behaviors. Many poor urban communities often lack adequate schools, which can lead to poor academic performance and students disconnecting from
Families serve as one of the strongest socializing forces in a person's life. They help teach children to control unacceptable behavior, to delay gratification, and to respect the rights of others. Conversely, families can also teach children aggressive, antisocial, and violent behavior. In adults' lives, family responsibilities may provide an important stabilizing force. Given these possibilities, family life may directly contribute to the development of delinquent and criminal tendencies. Parental conflict and child abuse correlate with delinquency. Though not all children who grow up in conflictive or violent homes become delinquent, however, being exposed to conflict and violence appears to increase the risk of delinquency. At this point, researchers have not pin pointed what factors exactly push some at-risk youth into delinquency. A child with criminal parents faces a greater likelihood of becoming a delinquent than children with law-abiding parents. However, the influence appears not to be directly related to criminality but possibly to poor supervision.
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.
There is no one certain theory, regarding juvenile delinquency, that can completely distinguish all the determining factors that makes youth turn to crime; although, the study of all these theories and ideas can bring criminologist one step closer to uncovering the truth about juvenile delinquency. Only the further understanding of juvenile delinquency can help the prevention of future juvenile offenders. This paper will focus on the individual factors of delinquency, as well as the social elements, and provide an explanation of how the combination of the two elements may cause children to engage in criminal activity.