Juvenile Delinquency in America
...roup can be processed as delinquents” (Murrel, 1981: p.9). “Another characteristic concerns the type of activities in which the child has engaged. Therefore, the age and the actions of the child, then, will determine whether he or she is delinquent or in need of supervision” (Murrel, 1981: p.9). “In addition to crimes, juvenile delinquency often covers such acts as running away from home, truancy, and incorrigibility” (Murrel, 1981: p.9). Influences and causes of delinquency “Theories of human behaviors fall into three categories: sociological, psychological, and physiological. Sociological theories emphasize the role of social structure and social environment in the study of causes of juvenile delinquency. Psychological theories concentrate on how experiences within the family contribute to the development of deviant behavior patterns and antisocial personality traits, the basic assumption being that delinquency may have a biological basis” (Murrel, 1981: p.21). Environment Genetics “Perhaps the most frightening aspect of today’s juvenile crime is that the deviant behavior appears to be more mechanically performed and more vicious than it was in the past. This view attributes violent behavior more to physiological factors than to environmental causes. Some experts have theorized that violent behavior may someway be genetically determined” (Landau, 1990:p.17). Childhood “The social configuration that usually exerts the most profound influence on every human being is the family dislocation in a youth’s family; the absence of the family’s positive-effect or any severe disturbance in one or both parents can produce devastating negative impact including juvenile delinquency” (Haskell and Yablonsky, 1974: p.79). “The parents may be physically abusive or rejecting. Some young people have been subjected to parental abuse and neglect for much or all of their lives. Without knowing why, these young individuals may act as brutally as they were treated1-18. Because they are enraged over their parents’ abuse of them, they may lash out at innocent victims” (Landau, 1990:p.19). Social Class “Not all offenders come from abusive environments, violent behavior among young people transcends both radical and class lines. For example, youngsters from high-middle class have ease and privilege life and this can have negative impact on them. They grow up by believing that society’s rules don’t apply to them and they entitle to whatever they wish becaus...