The next reason why juveniles commit delinquent acts is child abuse. If a child is constantly being abused it is highly likely that they will turn violent to protect themselves. Once they turn violent they are most likely to commit delinquent acts. The next reason is drug abuse if they are hooked on drugs they will commit delinquent acts so that they support their habit. Drug use will cause a juvenile to act violent.
University of Phoenix Crime Causation and Diversion paper CJA/374 Crime Causation and Diversion Paper There are many more juveniles in society today involving themselves in some form of illegal activity. There are varieties of signs, which are physical, emotional, social and academic that should be a concern of parents as these signs might be beginning of juvenile delinquency within our children. Academically there might be unexpected drops in grades, absenteeism, repeated tardiness, or other disciplinary problems, using exceptionally violent similes and subject matter in writing and art, Other early warning signs to look and include are; low self-esteem, a child from a dysfunctional family, and those connecting with undesirable peers. Although parents should keep in mind that not every slip mean a child is headed for delinquency. Emotionally those who have been teased, bullied, those who bully schoolmates are in jeopardy of using aggression towards others and themselves, those who have been sexually, physically or sexually abused.
Forcible rape is defined as the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will. Attempts or assaults to commit rape by force or threat of force are also included. Robbery is defined as the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care custody, or control of a person or persons by force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear. Aggravated assault is an unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury”(fbi.gov). Why do people engage in these violent criminal acts?
They act violently when people pick on them, threaten them, or they are exposed to direct pain. The people that have seen violence rewarded react violently when provoked to. Personality and crime involve a disturbed personality structure. They are antisocial and are described as sociopaths and psychopaths. It begins in early childhood and continues into adulthood.
Victimology: A Study of Crime Victims 1 Victimology is an important element in the process of learning about crime victims, the needs of the victims, and even about the perpetrator of the crime. It identifies the victims, reveals their physical and mental state before and after the crime, their social interactions, and ideas as to why they were a victim. Victimology does not give the reasons why a particular person is chosen by an offender, however it will give general overview of victim selection (Petherick, “Victimology” 2010) The definitions of victimology vary in the use of words within the definition, such as victim, crime victim or behavior of crime victim. Victimology as an academic term containing two elements; the Latin word “victima” which translate into victim and the Greek word “logos” which means a system of knowledge (Dussich “Victimology ‘Past, Present and Future’”2000). In it’s simplest definition, victimology is the study of the victim or victims of a particular offender (Wallace & Roberson 2011: 3).
Status offenders, delinquents, and juvenile superpredators. A status offender is a child who has committed an act or failed to fulfill a responsibility for which, if he or she were an adult, the court would not have any authority over him or her. A delinquent is a juvenile accused of committing an act that is criminal for both adults and juveniles. A Juvenile superpredator is a term used to describe juveniles who commit violent felony crimes (Fagin 231). In order to create and operate successful rehabilitation programs for juvenile delinquents we need to understand what causes juvenile delinquency.
Criminals need to be punished to the extent if it’s a serious crime. I see serious crimes as murder, rape or abuse of any kind. Many people claim that the child did not know any better, or that they were brought up with the conception that this behavior is acceptable. Some even believe that it is a behavior that they inherit which they tend to call it the “Choice Theory”. In my eyes the criminal knows what they were doing and decided to go through with it.
Examine the role of access to opportunity structures in causing crime and deviance. Opportunity structures are seen to be one of the biggest factors that can lead to deviant behaviour or criminal activity such as stealing and selling drugs, an example of this would be a person not being successful in their education and unable to achieve socially approved goals by opportunity structures, this may result them to illegitimate opportunities such as crime so that they get what they want such as materialists things. Mertons strain theory helps explain this, he argues that people engage in deviant behaviour when they may become frustrated and stressed this often leads to criminal means of getting what they want by taking their anger out on someone else or also taking drugs to comfort them from their failure. Merton explains that there are two elements to this theory; Structural factors, which is society’s unequal opportunity structure and cultural factors, which is the strong emphasis on success goals and the weaker emphasis on using legitimate means to achieve them. Merton argues that deviant behaviour starts from the structure of society and because they are unable to gain something from socially approved goals by legitimate means.
This study will also try to offer suggestions as to how further studies can be improved and how to solve the problem of juvenile delinquency. It will also present some of the limitations that can be faced when conducting studies on this topic of juvenile delinquency. Definition of terms Juvenile delinquency- this is the broad-based term given to juveniles who commit crimes. Juveniles are defined as individuals who haven’t reached adulthood or the age of majority. (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-juvenile-delinquency.htm) Delinquency- this is defined as, failure or omission of duty; a fault; a misdeed; an offense; a misdemeanor; a crime.
Crime is know as any behavior which breaks known laws. This behavior can be learned and usually stems from aggression or anti social behavior. There are various theories for crime and the cause of it but they all fit into 3 main catorgries psychological, social, and biological. One theory of crime is eysnecks personality theory. He has composed a test to measure different aspects of a persons character.