Juvenile Delinquency And Family Structure Essay

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Juvenile Delinquency and Family Structure There are three classes (trauma theories, life course theories, and selection theories) in which help explain the relationship between families and delinquency. Many seem to believe that juvenile delinquency is a reflection of a weak family structure. In todays society many minors that are committing crimes come from broken families/households. By saying that I would consider broken households to include single parent homes, minors being raised by other family members or even minors having to find survival means for themselves. The blame cannot always be placed on the juvenile’s family but the family structure is a large contributor to one’s behavior. The trauma theory is when a child suffers from the loss of a parent during their life. It has a major impact because the child had some form of a bond/attachment to their parent. After suffering the loss of a parent many teenagers tend to turn to the streets for guidance. They join gangs to try and fill the gap of the loss of their parent and rely on the gang as family. Everyone knows that joining gangs lead to nothing less that illegal activity and crimes. As a young juvenile it’s often easy to be …show more content…

This theory covers so many situations that can lead to juvenile delinquency. Many teenagers tend to have conflicts with their parents and end up running away from home. They often tend to illegal activity (prostitution and drug sales) and crimes as a form of income to support themselves. Other young adults are often pressure into trying to help support their families in the time of need. When a minor comes from a low-income household they will go through drastic measures to get money, whether it legal or not. Selection theory is a great example of how juveniles are often pressured in life at a young

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