Juvenile Delinquency Essay

There argon numerous theories to why a person becomes who they ar and how they got there, what makes it difficult to understand is which correct theory to follow and believe. Listed atomic number 18 a brief analysis of a few theories and deuce case studies of 2 troubled youths that will help to open a window to nonice what is happening to societys youth and how they contribute to adulthood. Although, several theories be around regarding insipid delinquency, tapering them down to 1 solution is near impracticable.Knowing that a theory is simply an educated guess, one mint see there is not one single cause for delinquency in society today . However, there are several theories that should be con fontred and explored. We should make a to a greater extent in-depth look at figures and determine where criminal offence actu tot each(prenominal)yy begins. The following are two separate crimes and for many, the correct theories border them. I will explore theories such as the Rober t Agnus planetary Strain Theory which suggest that anger, frustration and adverse emotions are colligate to negative and destructive relationships.I will as well as explore Sigmund Freuds psychodynamic theory which suggests delinquent mien is a product of abnormal temper coordinate make early in life which consciously controls her choices. modern Delinquency I will begin with Lakeisha McCoy a 16 course old girl living in Malvern Arkansas, a rural field of battle in county seat of Hot Springs with the population of 9,021 (Wikipedia 2000) Lakeisha is from a single put up home with her mother and three other your female siblings surviving on the income $ 375 a week and no father figure in the home.Lakeishas mother works 40-50 hours per week at the Waffle House and has no daycare for the jr. children . Therefore Lakeisha is unoverseervised for better part of (6) hours afterwards school due to her mothers schedule. Lakieshas mother has an coarse criminal record possible ment al illness, and was a troubled youth. She chooses boyfriends are less than desirable citizens most have little job protective covering as well as drug and alcohol tendencies. Lakiesha was recently arrested for steal at the local dollar store after stealing two pairs of shoes and three shirts.Next subject is Martin, a 14 social class old male who lodges in Dallas Texas, a large metropolitan city with the population of 1,299,543 (Wikipedia 2008) Martin is from a two parent household with one younger sister living on the annual income of $100,000. 00 a year. Martins parents are both employed, however, they work opposite shifts to ensure at least one parent is available for direction at all times. Both parents celebrate the children at home after school and they are not tortuous with any after school or extra family functions.Martin was arrested for breaking and immersion into a neighbors home during the day when his mother was a doctors appointment with his younger sister. Wha t would society believe to be the reasoning behind both Lakeisha and Martins crimes? Some would say There s gittily troubled kids or maybe would say Its because neither had supervision. However, research and theorists view it in a completely different way. lets look at Sigmund Freuds psychodynamic theory which suggests delinquent air is a bi product of abnormal personality structure formed early during the beginning stages of life.This theory would thence explain her choices in relationships and how she feels roughly herself . Example mental torment can lead children into violence and assault . An neglected child attention from peers will introduce them to a family structure or gang. This theory indicates that children act on unconscious needs and desires. With id, egos ,and super ego functioning unitedly a child can live a normal in the aspects of personality if one becomes dominate then abnormal personality traits can be viewed in a god like complex. (Siegel et al. 2003).A rousal theorists believe that obtaining thrills is a motivation of pointting crimes. They believe children commit crimes like shoplifting for the thrill of possibly getting away with it . They also believe this flat conjugate environmental and genetic reasons and this group responds to a different brain stimuli. This might indicate that some children need more stimuli to feel comfortable which links higher degrees of excitement . The theories do not stop with just a chemical thrill seeking side of these children there are a few other facts to consider. (Siegel et al., 2003).Robert Agnus command Strain Theory explores the notion that anger, frustration and adverse emotions are directly conjugated to negative and destructive relationships. Example, Lakeishas mother is one with abusive tendencies, she is ridiculed and called names which affects her behaviors both inside and outside the home by harboring a since of fear. Disappointment and anger. This eventually leads to antisocia l behavior. He indicates that the negative behavior is linked to a certain peer group which might lead the teen to riskier behavior such as drug use.(Siegel et al. , 2003). Also Edwin Sutherlands differential coefficient association theory suggest children exposed to and learn prosocial and antisocial attitudes and behavior meaning that the definitions of violating the constabulary outweigh the definitions of being rightfulness abiding . Lakeishas mother has a long criminal record including , shoplifting , looting and drug dealing. Since Lakeisha was exposed to this behavior most of her life, she begin to understand the law differently than a child whose parents were law abiding citizens.Terrence Thornberrys reciprocal theory suggests most onset of criminal activity is linked to the debilitative of social bonds during adolescence marked by the deterioration of attachments of function within a society. It also believes that seriously delinquent children form a counter heatheni sh belief system that justifies their behavior they interact with peer groups that that reinforce the resembling type of behavior and beliefs. This reinforces the term Birds of a feather flock together .Together they may look for excitement and engage reckless behavior and by doing so they will justify their actions by stating we have to do something for enjoyment (Siegel et al, 2002). In Lakeishas case all three theories can be tied to her behavior, individual sociological and developmental stages have all been tainted . From birth Lakeisha was statistically predisposed to commit crimes and have a delinquent youth. Today, there are 100,000 children incarcerated throughout the United States and the number in continuing to rise. Studies show that in 19999 there were nearly (2) million insubstantial adjudicated in the United States courts.That is an increase of 27% since 1990. The number of drug law violations increased by 168% public order increased by 74% and offenses of a person increased by 55% (Puzzanchera, 1999). Martins case is linked more towards the interactional theory and arousal theory than the opposite. His behaviors seem easier to knock over towards the positive aspect than the latter. After several years of juvenile justice the general consensus should consider exploring there issues first. look in and around all the theories and perhaps children can avoid obstacles in their way. REFERENCES Foster care and juvenile delinquency (n. d. )Retrieved July 24, 2010 , from http// www,ark. edu/psyc112/fostercare/. Pussanchera, C (1999) The national juvenile court data archives. Retrived Oct 19, 2005 from teenage Court Statistics Web site http//www. ncjrs. org/pdffiles I /ojjdp/201141. pdfsearch=Juvenile%20statistics Siegel, L (2002) Juvenile delinquency, The Core, Belmont, CA Wadsworth Sigel. J. , Welsh, B, C, & Senna, J. J. (2003) Juvenile Delinquency Theory, practice, and law (8th Ed. ). United States Thomson Wikipedia (2002). Retrieved July 27, 201 0 from the desolate Encyclopedia Website Wikipedia (2006) Retrieved July 27, 2010 from The free Encyclopedia Website