Juvenile Delinquency Case Study

Discussion

So much of who a child is, is their mindset. A child’s belief in his or her own capabilities is a powerful influence on his or her development and achievement. This is unfortunate for juvenile delinquents in America, because their beliefs cannot be altered even if they participate in a Juvenile Awareness program such as Scared Straight. Despite an overall decrease in juvenile arrests recently, juvenile delinquency remains a serious societal issue (Loeber & Farrington, 1998; Snyder & Sickmund, 1999; Snyder, 2006). Criminal activity such as underage drinking, gang violence, and bullying are budding concerns (Shoemaker, 2013). Society often refuses to give juvenile delinquents a chance. They remain shunned and people find it difficult

A parent would easily prefer that their children not develop a fixed mindset about their capabilities because that would prevent them from responding well to obstacles. By focusing on a child’s effort, parents can encourage the development of a growth mindset. Children would benefit from understanding that their hard work can pay off when life starts getting difficult. If a child is thriving, however, it is imperative not to provide them with too much admiration for their efforts otherwise they may consider themselves having low ability. This can be equated to a soccer player who is congratulated for having the best effort on the team rather than being the team’s most valuable player. In order to foster growth mindsets, parents must convey to their children that what they accomplished was done through hard work and perseverance. Looking back at the Sally Forth comic example, it was not the best idea for Sally to tell her daughter what she did. As discussed before, it would have been better for Sally to inform her daughter that her abilities are malleable and will grow with hard work, instead of suggesting that her abilities were fixed and she had them even if she “were a full-blown idiot” (Marciuliano & Keefe,