What Are The Causes Of Juvenile Delinquency

It is understood that there is no one single cause for juvenile delinquency. There are many factors involved, including biological, environmental, social, and punitive influences. Nathan Fisher acknowledges this in the article “Factors Leading to Bad Juvenile Behavior,” written for Demand Media. Recognizing that there is not a single issue related to why juveniles become offenders helps develop effective prevention and intervention techniques to address the issue of delinquency. Fisher took an unbiased approach in his study of juvenile delinquency causes. His references and resources were valid and reliable, including the U.S. Department of justice, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the Florida Department of Juvenile

“Failure to make friends at school or poor academic performance can often be the cause of juvenile delinquency. Poverty and living in a dangerous neighborhood will sometimes lead children to engage in criminal activities” (Fisher, 2015). Environmental factors take their place in many theories of criminality, including juvenile criminality. Sociological theories maintain that “lack of education, poverty-level income, poor housing, slum conditions and conflict within home and family increase crime commission” (Hess et.al, p.76). Fisher also manages to hit at the social ecology theory and anomie theory in his final sentence on the topic of environmental factors: “If your child has easy access to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes or weapons, he may turn to risky behavior as a way to escape the pressure of what he feels is an unhappy life.” Delinquent behavior becomes both a normal reaction to the environment (social ecology) and a means to attain the American dream (anomie). The factor most linked to societal issues discussed by Fisher is social. In this section, Fisher manages to describe the social learning theory. “Nothing happens in a vacuum, and children often assimilate the behavior of those around them” (Fisher, 2015). Children being influenced in a negative way by their peers or poor role models is explained in the social learning theory. Criminal behavior is learned, like any other behavior, in small groups or by watching others (Hess et.al, 2015). This is addressed by Fisher during the discussion of abusive behavior and