Magnusson (1988) and Brofenbrenner (1979) state that social environment in which a person is embedded is essential in the study of their behavior. The theoretical framework of developmental and life course theories of crime allow for the addition of the dynamic element of time and places an emphasis on the longitudinal processes of how the interaction between the individual and his or her social environments constrain and influence behavior. This longitudinal perspective opens up the possibility that the peer social environment is one that is dynamic. Friendships can be added and terminated resulting in the number of friends reported changes from childhood into and through adolescence. Children moving from intimate elementary classroom settings into a broader age range of adolescents in junior high and high school increases the potential for developing friendships with older adolescents. At the same time, the quality of the relationships with these friends may also be changing. Adolescent relationships are becoming more intimate than those of childhood with the sharing of intimate feelings and being aware of the needs of others becoming a prominent feature of friendship during adolescence. However, even though several aspects of the peer social environment may be undergoing transition and change during adolescence it is also during this time that friendships are hypothesized as becoming the most important social context in which an adolescent functions. Accordingly, time spent in the peer social environment occupies the greatest part of an adolescent’s day (Csikszentmihalyi and Larson 1984). If this is the case, a natural question to ask is what happens to the pattern of influence peers have on delinquent outcomes during adolescence? According to life course theory, peers will have a significant influence on delinquent behavior in early adolescence and this influence grows as the primary social environment in which an adolescent functions shifts from parents to peer networks but then diminishes in late adolescence as it shifts to an increased commitment to conventional activities. This explicitly points to a changing pattern of influence within the social institution of peers. Peer Influence on Delinquency During Adolescence Much of the prior research on the age varying influence of peers on delinquency during adolescence is based on cross-sectional studies which do not explore influence variation across the entire adolescent time frame. It is thus difficult to identify a discernable pattern of influence.
Across the wide body of studies delving into delinquency in America, it is easy to locate research on and analysis of minorities, underprivileged socioeconomic urban centers, and turbulent family structures. However, this leaves a significant section of the delinquent population largely neglected: white middle-class youth. Contrary to the factors shown to affect delinquency in others and the applications of theory applied to them, the issues plaguing this particular portion of adolescents are in many cases entirely unique, suggesting the necessity of a more nuanced approach from angles that have up until fairly recently remained unexplored.
al, 2015; Hoffman, 2003). It suggests that interaction with others teaches individuals certain values and attitudes. Youth may encounter those that engage in problem behaviors, thus they have a greater risk to become involved in that same behavior because they have learned the values, attitudes, techniques, and motives for criminal behaviors (Monahan, Rhew, Hawkins, & et. al, 2013). Peer groups are suppose to regulate peer group activity when there is a lack of community institutions. However, these peer groups could be quite negative to the individual. Like the theory states, those peers that involve themselves in criminal behavior will most likely cause the individual to follow in their footsteps. These types of peer groups are said to be found in high risk neighborhoods because there is a lack of surveillance and discipline due to financial instability. And peer groups tend to pressure other to join in on their delinquent behavior. No one wants to be the person left behind or made fun of for not being “man” enough to join them. So, unfortunately, individuals are forced into the situation that their peers involve themselves in, whether that be gang banging, selling drugs, or robbing a
“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.
...will be seen right away, for example the link between socioeconomic status, as well as between housing and delinquent behavior. The advantage of using this study design is that it can show protective factors that might deter delinquent behavior. If a student has a greater commitment to school they are less likely to have incidents with criminal behavior, or show less of a desire to associate with peers who commit specific criminal behavior. As a result of using the analysis, risk and protective factors could serve as basis for research in the future. In addition, interventions based on imparting strategies for coping could be developed. There is still much work to be done to fully explain why youths commit crimes, but this study will help gain insight and understanding of the ways that specific factors influence various types of violent and nonviolent delinquency.
Thompson, W. E. and Bynum J. E. (2010). Juvenile Delinquency: A sociological Approach Eighth Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Krohn, M., & Massey, J. (1980). Social control and delinquent behavior: an examination of the elements of the social bond. The Socialogical Quarterly, 21(4), 529-544.
Growing up in America comes with the opportunity to become anything conceivable to the imagination. The youth of this nation has become the topic of many discussions concerning their direction and ultimate demise when ending up inside the court system. Juvenile delinquency has proven to be an issue of much concern in America. The court system is not very well equipped to handle passing down judgment on children because to be honest, the system was not built to do so. The absence of adequate schools, disconnected communities, positive family-home reinforcement, and sufficient preparation to become viable adults links the precursor for problem behavior with adolescent delinquency; which will more than likely develop into serious adult criminology.
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...
Many in the juvenile justice field have tried to understand the cause of juvenile delinquency. There are many different theories describe the cause and effect of variables and how they react. However, through much research, we have concluded there is not just one single path or journey that determines the fate of the juvenile. There are many different risk factors that build in order to increase a youth's chance of becoming an offender. This is kind of like a domino effect. Risk factors are described as the characteristics that present themselves to determine if the individual or youth will become a delinquent. These factors may include; home life, income status, gender, and social. It can either be one or all that play a part in the way the
Across the nation, social scientists and criminologists have researched and hypothesized the main contributing factors that promote juvenile delinquency. The Strain/ Anomie theory introduced by Robert Merton and later revised by several other theorists, attempts to explain why juvenile subculture tend to behave certain ways when confronted with pressures from everyday life. Revised by other theorists, the Strain theory attempts to provide the framework of juvenile delinquency and its sources in order to analyze the effectiveness of this assumption, as well as to implement certain crime prevention policies and programs to curb this problem. This paper is going to analyze how the Strain theory contributes it’s principles of delinquency factors in order to explain and understand juvenile delinquency.
Thompson, W. E. and Bynum J. E. (2010). Juvenile Delinquency: A sociological Approach Eighth Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Many theories concerning the causes of juvenile crime focus either on the individual or on society as the major contributing influence. Theories centering on the individual suggest that children engage in criminal behavior because they were not sufficiently penalized for previous delinquent acts or that they have learned criminal behavior through interaction with others. A person who becomes socially alienated may be more inclined to commit a criminal act.
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.
... fact does matter as a predictor of juvenile delinquency. A national survey of seniors in high school found out that over 90% admitted to have tried alcohol and about 60-70 percent was frequent users (Johnson et al. 1995). Studies have shown that drug use and substance use has gone down in the last 5 years but research has also shown that exposure to peers and friends who use drugs are at higher risk to use and abuse. Reed and Roundtree suggest that peer pressure can be traced to differential association and situational group pressure along with socialization models. This is just an assumption they do not claim it has a direct correlation suggest that theorists have tried to explain criminal behavior through various theories in the past. This cross sectional analysis draws from these models and attempt to see what leads to substance abuse and then causing crime.