Delinquency in Adolescents, Essay Example

Delinquency has been a very common term in the society; the term has widely used to describe the irresponsible behavior that has been observed in different age groups of people in the society. Delinquency is more common among the adolescents in the society thus labeling them as the delinquent group. Delinquency tend to dominate the young people in the society especially the adolescents because this is the stage in life where peer pressure makes decisions for the individual instead of the individual making his or her own decisions. This is the stage in life where most young people find themselves doing things that they cannot actually account for, for instance many of the young men who are involved in crime or drug abuse blame their age mates friends for the influence (Tolan, & Gorma, 2007, p 405).

Various researches posit that there are many factors that can be attributed to delinquent behaviors among the adolescents, some of these factors include the following; personality characteristics, cultural factors, biological and genetic make up the individual, mental conditions of the individual and socioeconomic influences. Studies also posit that the genetic elements influence certain things such as social characteristics of somebody and the level of aggressiveness in the individual. Science proves that the interplay between environmental forces and genetic factors determines how somebody behaves, while the level of aggression and temper is subject to things like hormonal reactions in the body. The other assertion that endeavors to explain why more youths involve in delinquent acts bases its facts on the complication that are related to neurological issues, as the it is more prevalent during the early stages of life hence exposing the youth to more delinquent behaviors. Adolescents would involve in delinquent behaviors so because they would like to conform to the behaviors and pressures of their age groups or peers, for instance they may be involved in drug abuse to be able to respond to the demands of the peer pressure.

Parental roles also play a greater in determining delinquency in the child. The roles played by the parents to guide and counsel the child determine the level of involvement in delinquent activities. Children who are lack proper guidance and counseling from the parents is likely to associate with ill motivated peers who may drive them into defiant behaviors. The issue is not about just guidance but more work should be done through closer and clear supervision of the child at the early ages of life. The level of delinquency is likely to increase in a child who was mistreated or abused in either way. Studies show that 8 of 10 abused children turn to delinquent behaviors at their adolescent’s stage. However at adult hood the trend tend shift as more of the abused children shy away from crime at adult stage.

The environmental facet has also its shares of blames in determining delinquency in an adolescent, taking a case example whereby one has been brought up in a poor set up such as a slum where there is overcrowding of people with insufficient resources, and the child also witnesses crimes which are attributed to the limited resources, then such a child is likely to develop a delinquent character than the child from a good environmental setting where there is sufficiency for the resources. Even though peer pressure has been the major reason behind delinquency among the adolescents, it is however very imperative to note that adolescents only do things that they seen in their peers who they admire and would like to be like those peers. In as much as Proper discipline should be ensured by the parents to avoid delinquent behaviors in the adolescents, cruel punitive measures should be avoided as they may also lead to delinquent behavior in the children (Snyder, 2009, p 234).

The Prevalence of delinquency in adolescents tends to decline as they grow and mature. Many researches in this field show that they tend to avoid the delinquent behavior as they reach the marital age or in some cases proper guidance and counseling makes they change their behaviors. It is argued that involvement of the adolescents in delinquent behaviors is due to the drive to define their identity in the society and once they have been bestowed the identity, they shy away from it as they reach adult stage.

Juvenile delinquency is another issue that has raises eyebrows in every corner of the society. Juvenile delinquency results from delinquent behaviors of the youth in the society. A juvenile delinquent is an offender or a breaker of the laws of the land is has not reached the 18 years universal adult age. The issue of juvenile delinquency is a preserve of the juvenile justice system in every state. Juvenile delinquency can also be subject to factors such as the environmental forces, sex of the individual or the risk factors involved.

The major theories that elaborate this issue is the crime theories which have various categories sub theories, for instance the self choice theory asserts that an individual is driven by his or her own desires to commit a crime rather than external influences. The culture disorganization theory posits that the collapse of social institutions that are charged with the duty of instilling good behavior in an individual leads to delinquent behavior. The other sub theory under the crime group of theories is known as self autonomy theory, which posits that interaction with people in the society enables the individual to acquire self regulations skills that will enable him or her to avoid indulgence in delinquent behavior. The other is theory which defines how individuals relate with their peers, and how the behaviors of their peers lead to them to commit crime. This theory is known the theory of group association. The theory can be supported by the common observation made in day to day life whereby those if one associates with criminals then there are high chances of him or her becoming a criminal due to the influence exerted by the group members.

Conclusion

Adolescent delinquency calls for serious attention from the adult responsible members of the society to be transform the youths into responsible good people within the society. This should start at the early stages of life by ensuring good parental care and guidance. There is need to inculcate guidance and counseling programs in our social institutions spanning from the schools to churches. There is need launch campaigns and sensitization programs on issues such as crime and drug abuse which many of adolescents have fallen victims through delinquent behaviors. These strategies will ensure that the adolescents are able to comply to the rules and regulations in the society.

References

Snyder, (2009). Juvenile offenders and victims: National Report. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.2, 234-245.

Steinberg, L., & Morris, (2001). Adolescent development. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 83-110.

Thornton (2000). Best practices of youth violence prevention: A sourcebook for community action. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.7, 90-98.

Tolan, & Gorma, (2007). Treatment of juvenile delinquency: Between punishment and therapy. In D. M. Stoff, Breiling, J., & Maser, J. D. (Ed.), Handbook of antisocial behavior (pp.405-415). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Vitaro, & Tremblay, (2001). Friends, friendships, and conduct disorders. In J. Hill, & Maughan, B, (Eds.), Conduct disorders in childhood and adolescence (pp. 346-378). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Widom, (2009). Does violence beget violence? A critical examination of the literature. Psychological Bulletin, 106, 3-28.