Families and Juvenile Delinquency - 1992 Words

Introduction Families serve as one of the strongest socializing forces in a persons 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†¦show more content†¦The same study shows a high prevalence of personality disorder but since a key element of the definition of personality disorder is aggressive or anti- social behavior it seems to add little to our understanding of the problem. In much of the li terature the terms mental illness are used reflecting a medical model perspective which is problematic for explanations of offending behavior since the literature largely supports a social learning explanation (Farrington, 2005; Smith Farrington, 2004; Mack et al., 2007). In order to take a stance on this the current author prefers to use the terms psychological distress. Assumptions about the heritability of juvenile crime are one of the illogical conclusions drawn from the general belief about family links to crime. There have been many critiques of the limitations of behavioral genetics particularly in regard to crime yet despite the social, psychological and environmental confounds in their studies some authors still choose to argue a genetic explanation (Kakar, 2005; Tuvblad, Grann Lichtenstein, 2006). It was argued that behavioral genetic methods are necessary to move research on antisocial behavior beyond the identification of risk factors to the establishment of causality. Theorists adopting this approach are willing to admit that perhaps 50% to 60% of the variance in antisocial behavior may haveShow MoreRelatedFamily Structure And Juvenile Delinquency1671 Words   |  7 Pagescrime is mostly known as juvenile delinquency. Juvenile delinquency is defined as young adults, people under eighteen, braking or violating the law (Websters). Family structure can affect juvenile delinquency in numerous ways. Family structure can include family support system, home environment, and family unity. The independent variable is family structure and the dependent variable is juvenile delinquency. Home environment plays a role in the production of juvenile delinquency. Kierkus and HewittRead MoreFamily Structure And Juvenile Delinquency1626 Words   |  7 Pagesincreasing the number of crimes committed by minors. Family structure can affect juvenile delinquency in numerous ways. The independent variable is family structure and the dependent variable is juvenile delinquency. Home environment plays a role in the production of juvenile delinquency. Kierkus and Hewitt (2009) in The Contextual Nature of the Family Structure/Delinquency relationship discussed how family structure is an important factor in delinquency but there might also be other factors that influenceRead MoreEssay on Family Structure and Juvenile Delinquency1612 Words   |  7 Pages Traditional families are becoming a thing of the past. Women are no longer staying at home and assuming their womanly roles that society once expected from them. Due to their choices and living environment, they have to do what they can to raise the children that being into this world. Women nowadays are becoming mothers at an early age and often have to the raise the child on their own. Due to this hardship, they must improvise when it comes to adjusting to the change of now raising a child andRead MoreThe Relationship Between Family Dynamics And Juvenile Delinquency1851 Words   |  8 PagesAbstract What is the relationship between family dynamics and juvenile delinquency? Can the family environment really affect the delinquency of a juvenile? A broken home is one of the first factors that will be looked at. Do single parents have more juveniles involved in delinquency than families with two parents? Do families with just a mother present have more delinquency than a family with just a father? The second factor that will be looked at is drugs and alcohol in the home. How does drugsRead MoreThe Impact of Gender and Family on Juvenile Delinquency in the United States888 Words   |  4 PagesJuvenile delinquency is of great concern in the United States. In 2007 over 2 million arrests were juveniles. There are two types of juvenile delinquency. The first type of offense is a behavior that would be a criminal violation for an adult. The other offense is called a â€Å"status† offense. Status offenses are delinquent actions that do not apply to adults, like running away a nd truancy. This paper will discuss the impact of gender and family on delinquency and the treatment by gender in the juvenileRead MoreJuvenile Delinquency Is Affected By The Family Circumstances, Activities, And Gender Of The Individual2675 Words   |  11 Pagescrime and delinquency are distributed through many variables such as family circumstances, activities, and gender. This literature review aims to analyze juvenile delinquency through these variables from research done in three specific articles. It was found that some of these variables have a direct affect on the amount of juvenile delinquency while others need further research for a conclusive answer to be found. Although theses are not all of the factors affecting juvenile delinquency, it is aRead MoreRochester Youth Development Study: Relationship Between Family and Juvenile Delinquency1052 Words   |  5 PagesThe behavior among juveniles and family problems among their homes is a major issue at hand in our society t oday. According to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (2010), in the year 2010, 784 juveniles were arrested for murder, 2,198 for rape, and 35,001 for aggravated assault. The amount of juveniles being involved in violent crimes is very detrimental to all aspects of our society, but environmental factors are a major component of this issue that needs to be analyzed. The questionRead MoreJuvenile Delinquency And The Social Control Theory940 Words   |  4 PagesJuvenile delinquency is very prevalent especially among adolescents because studies have shown that during the time of adolescence that is when delinquency tends to increase and once adolescence has passed at about 17 years of age then it tends to decrease (Adolescent Delinquency, 2002). There are many factors that can contribute to the increase of delinquency during adolescence, some of the factors can be personality, mental disorders, genetics, economic status, environment, family, and cultureRead MoreThe Chara cteristics Of Juvenile Delinquency1111 Words   |  5 Pages The Characteristics of Juvenile Offender and Corresponding Measures in Japan. All through the ages, juvenile delinquency exists. However the tendency of characteristics has varied across the ages and social change. Even though it should be addressed, the counterplan the government prepares are only a semblance and seems to not address essentials, so the government should be dealing with juvenile delinquency and children juveniles should be treated in a fundamental way before they commit criminalRead MoreJuvenile Delinquency Is A Crime967 Words   |  4 PagesJuvenile Delinquency is a crime categorize mainly based on age. Juvenile delinquency the definition under the criminal law it generally refers to behavior which shall be subject to criminal penalties for people age under 18 being implemented. Juvenile delinquency is an increasingly common social problem facing the U.S currently. The problem of juvenile delinquency is also very prominent, and the severity of their crimes have been gaining awareness of the whole society. Poor social environment is