Youth Vs. Society

1985 Words8 Pages
YOUTH vs. SOCIETY A SOCIAL PROBLEM TO OVERCOME The concept of delinquency is perceived as antisocial or violent behaviour in young people, often involving criminal acts. There is a wide range of seriousness of delinquent behaviour including but not limited to shoplifting, vandalism, running away from home and not paying for public transportation. As you can readily ascertain, delinquent behaviour does not always involve violence. Although it can be argued that delinquents and criminals are predisposed to antisocial behaviour based on biological composition, there are many subjective theories supporting that delinquency is constructed by society and that the understanding of deviance is the reaction of Society. Youth subjected to stigma, internalize the label, which results in deviant behaviour and delinquency. Many young people who are involved in criminal acts and deviant behaviour usually outgrow this stage. As children mature during adolescence, they develop an ego identity, that is, they identify themselves based on the belief that they understand “who they are and what they stand for”. This transformation tends to be the turning point for most delinquents. This brings to front a major element in identifying the premise as to why some youth are more predisposed to engaging in deviant behaviour than others. It is clear that for decades crime was traced to social circumstances and many surveys indicate that 85% of Criminologists remained true to their beliefs that in fact, crime is a result of environmental factors. Many theoretical conflicts relating to the definition of crime and the causes of crime have surfaced through a number of disciplines. Some researchers suggest that crime is a biological matter; however, it is difficult to consent to this theory because crime is a norm, created by consensus of society. That is, social groups create
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