Juvenile Delinquency

A traumatic childhood may predispose a child to violence against themselves or against others, in adolescence or adulthood. This information is and has been off the records, but so far no known relationship between the magnitude of traumatic experiences and different forms of violence at puberty. A study published in Pediatrics, which involved 136,549 U.S. students between 12 and 17 has been commissioned to evaluate this relationship. The researchers sought to determine six adverse experiences for which they had passed the boys in childhood and physical and sexual abuse, witnessing abuse or problems at home by alcohol or drugs taken by a relative. Then he saw the violent behavior at puberty: crime, harassment, bullying, dating violence, carrying weapons at school and auto violence, including the attempt or suicidal ideation. Katner , 2006)

There have been cases where children have experienced a traumatic event in childhood, mostly related to the consumption of alcohol by a relative. Each traumatic event increased 35 percent to 144 the risk of committing a criminal act. Among girls the risk of committing violence increases between 1.7 and 5 times compared to those who had a happy childhood, regardless of how off the event. In the case of boys the risk is 77 times larger.

Discussion

In common parlance, there is an understanding of juvenile delinquency as meaning adolescents breaking the law or participating in mischievous behavior. Defining juveniles as being under the age of 18 years is the general rule of thumb because, in the current legal system, upon reaching this age individuals can be tried as adults, serve in the military, and, in some states, consume alcohol. (Reckless, 1972)

One may ask why juvenile delinquency is vi...

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... norm violation, and finally providing credible research to influence social policy. (Watson, 2009)

References

Henry B. (2000) “Juvenile Delinquency and the Schools”, University of Chicago Press.

Tappan W. (2003) “Juvenile Delinquency,” McGraw-Hill.

Rosenquist, M. (2000) “Delinquency in Three Cultures,” University of Texas Press.

Katner D.(2006) “The Mental Health Paradigm and the Macarthur Study: Emerging Issues Challenging the Competence of Juveniles in Delinquency Systems,” Journal of Law and Medicine.

Reckless C. (1972) “The Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency: An Experiment, ” Ohio State University Press

Bradshaw A. (1995) “The Juvenile Justice System: Is It Working?, ” FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin

Smith G. (2009) “Criminology, ” Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia

Watson S. (2009) “Juvenile Crime Soaring, ”Newspaper article