ABSTRACT
The question still remains as to the correlation between behavioral variables such as drugs, gang violence, unstableness of families, etc. and how they are important tools when explaining deviant behavior. These tools are often developed into theories in order to attempt an explanation and prevent initial and/or future deviant behavior in juveniles. All causation theories will be explained through the content of this research paper because no single theory is sufficient in trying to explain why juvenile delinquent behavior exists. However, this paper will significantly highlight on the psychological theories. Next, certain treatment and prevention interventions will be addressed as it relates to the attempts of controlling delinquency.
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Psychological theories of juveniles focuses on various explanations of deviant behavior including: juveniles do not identify what they are doing is criminally wrong because they are morally insane; due to personality traits that are developed in early childhood years, the future behavior of a juvenile is determined in early childhood; and certain individuals have strong personalities so deviant that they have little or no control over their impulses. Defining psychological theories would consists of explanations that link criminal behavior with mental conditions, antisocial personality traits, and early psychological or moral development (Champion, p. 89). As such, psychoanalytic and the social learning theories are two great theories that will focus on the human psyche to help explain …show more content…
As such delinquency prevention programs often are designed towards early interventions with at-risk youths. Many attempts are implemented by public agencies and professionals to intervene by way of early training and educational programs within the public school systems as well as community intervention programs. OJJDP offers a Model Programs Guide which is a database of evidence-based programs that provide strategies for delinquency prevention and intervention. The categories of prevention and intervention include: immediate and intermediate sanctions, residential and reentry. The model measures risk and protective factors in the five areas of community, family, school, peers, and the individual and as such ascertains which programs are best according to the needs of the delinquent youth (Champion, Merlo and Benekos, 2013). Additionally, the Blueprints for Violence Prevention Initiative is The Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP) comepresenhive effort to provide communities with certain programs wherein their effectiveness has been scientifically demonstrated. The Blueprints for Violence Prevention Initiative was launched by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (SSPV) at the University of Colarado at Boulder. The initiative provides the
It is guided by six principles. These include strengthening the family in its primary responsibilities to instill moral values and provide support and guidance to children, supporting core social institutions, such as schools, churches, and community organizations, to help develop capable, mature, and responsible minors, promoting crime prevention as the most cost-effective approach to reducing juvenile lawlessness, intervening immediately and effectively when delinquent behavior first emerges to prevent it from becoming worse, establishing a system of graduated sanctions that holds each juvenile offender accountable, protects public safety, and provides programs and services that meet treatment needs, and identifying and controlling the small percentage of serious, violent, and chronic juvenile offenders who commit the majority of felony
The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Office of Prevention and Victim Services provides voluntary youth crime prevention programs through the state of Florida. The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice mission is to increase public safety by reducing juvenile delinquency through operative prevention, intervention and treatment services that builds up families for a turn around of a brighter future of a troubled youth. The main functions of these programs as will be indicated in this paper are designed to reduce juvenile crime and protect public safety. These programs that will be stated main focused is to help those high-risk juveniles and those who display problem behaviors such as ungovernability, truancy, running away from home and other pre-delinquent behaviors. The state of Florida addresses these problems by contracting this delinquency programs prevention services and awarding grants to this local providers throughout the state of Florida.
Juvenile institutions and programs have changed over time. There are also juvenile programs that necessarily do not punish juvenile’s delinquents but instead help modify their behavior to avoid recidivism. Certain treatments and methods regarding how to deal with these dangerous young offenders were fixed and improved to make these institutions and programs more effective in changing the lives of these young
The authors, in Preventing Juvenile Delinquency: Early Intervention and Comprehensiveness as Critical Factors., use determine factors of different programs, and to see what works and what does not. In this way, the most successful programs can continue to be implemented and improved. They looked at poor child-rearing practices, poor parental supervision, criminal parents and siblings, low family income, large family size, poor housing, low intelligence, and low educational attainment to determine cause of delinquency behavior in juvenile.
The utilization of evidence based programs have proven to have positive outcomes for youth such as; reduced anxieties, and depression, academic success, support systems and skills for employment. Characteristically, juvenile delinquency follows a route comparable to that of usual adolescent development. Delinquent behavior is a path followed and not just something that children randomly engage in and therefore, through the understanding of the developmental paths of at-risk youth, researchers believe that early interventions can help to increase positive outcomes (Youth.Gov, 2017).
One if the “best ways” viewed by society of addressing the issue of juvenile delinquency is early intervention with the family. Use of state and federal funded agencies attempt to intervene using both community and independent sources seeking new and alternative ways to combat the problem of juvenile delinquency. As stated by Florencio Ramirez “the focus in the juvenile system is not on punishment or retribution but rehabilitation and restitution” (n.d.). By offering support for the family, in the community and addressing issues such as education, employment services/training, and substance abuse counseling for the family, an early intervention provides the offender with options to change the direction in which he/she is headed (Juvenile Delinquency
When a juvenile commits a crime, it is not considered a crime, however it is considered juvenile delinquency. A massive problem throughout the US is juvenile delinquent acts. Juveniles acting out in a delinquent manner can be caused by many things. However, there is not just one reason why a juvenile may commit these acts. Instead there are many reasons that could lead up to delinquency. In this essay, I will be discussing a few theories as well as ways juveniles may receive treatment.
Among those who work in the juvenile justice system there is much discussion on how to effectively determine the appropriate consequences and or treatment for their actions. There are those who believe in punishment that includes incarceration and boot camp and there are those who believe in treatment programs with the goal of rehabilitation. There are various treatment models in place that are designed to address the problems in a youth’s life that may contribute to the causes that influenced them to commit crime. An assessment of the resources that are in
Deviance among adolescents in our society has many different causes and multiple theories throughout the history of criminal justice have been developed to attempt to explain, prevent and reduce incidents of status offenses and juvenile delinquency. There are theories varying from individual, to social and environmental. All of these theories have their merits and contribute in one way or another to the advancement of the understanding of juvenile delinquency and the treatment and prevention of delinquency within our society. Those that have proven to be successful we have applied in our justice system while those that are proven over time to be ineffective or defective we have discarded. There is no single theory that applies to all delinquent behavior in all situations. It is best to determine what theory may work best in each specific case based on the individual and the specific situation. Dodge’s information processing theory of social problem solving (Crick and Dodge 1994) was developed by Kenneth Dodge in an attempt to explain the interaction between the child’s cognitive development and their social environment. This theory combines elements of both the individual and the social environment and examines how these two variables interact with each other to present a model for juvenile delinquency. During my investigation of this topic I discovered that an adapted model of Dodge’s theory existed that seemed to be more encompassing of the causes of juvenile delinquency,
For many years juvenile delinquency has been a difficult topic to be debated among psychologists, criminologists, and as well sociologists. There’s has been many theories that have come up with many different explanations on why juveniles do what they do. Some of these theories associate with some of the factors such as race, poverty, and economic status. Others also deal with childhood event, abuse, or even peer group influence has also a big affected on some juvenile crimes. The juvenile delinquency theories that help us understand the motives of some of these delinquencies. Some of those theories that associate with some of these factors are Classical theory, Biological theory, Psychoanalytic theory, and Sociological theory. Each of these theories explain different points of views based on the delinquent crime and tell us why they did it and what made them get to that point. It gives us a view point on a juvenile.
This assignment will illustrate that by understanding the fundamentals of combatting juvenile delinquency and applying the theories to command practice will enhance the overall knowledge of the material. This document will demonstrate the juvenile delinquency reduction efforts and programs currently in operation in the Tampa area community. In addition, I will propose ways to improve the Tampa area community’s juvenile delinquency prevention efforts. Next, this paper will attempt to apply the main sociological theories that underlie these interventions that shape the community’s public policy for delinquency prevention. Finally, this paper will identify an appropriate strategy geared toward preventing delinquency that in consistent with the Behavioral theory.
Through an understanding of causes of juvenile delinquency society may come to deal preventively with delinquency; certainly treatment of the offender needs to be based upon an understanding of the causal mechanisms that have produced him. In this paper we'll describe three theories of juvenile delinquency such as Social Learning Theory, General Strain Theory and Behavioral Theory and discuss appropriate preventive programs based upon these theories.
Next, Hirschi explains commitment. Commitment may be hard for a person with deviant behavior. If you commit to want to do well you may succeed. But if you do not commit to anything then you may be involved in delinquency. Reason for this is that you do not have anything to lose. When you really do not have much to lose in life, then you tend to have a negative outlook on life. Commitment involves the time, energy and effort. For example, commitment on getting a great education involves putting your all, giving energy to anything that needs to be done for school and showing that you care by never being late for classes. But if an individual does not care about there future they are more likely to be involved in deviant behavior. Individuals who drink and engage in deviant behavior are more likely to fail in school; kids who fail in school are more likely to later drink and engage in deviant behavior. But a individual who commits to want to do good in the future who always bye pass the negative features in life. They would only commit to the right people. And once you commit to sometime and never give up deviant behavior would never play a role in your world, because you wouldn’t give up what you always worked hard for. If a person chooses not to commit to anything, then they will have nothing to lose. Due to the lack of loss, a person is willing to commit illegal acts.
Deviance is defined as any conducts that violate social norm, and those engage in deviant behavior are referred to as deviants. We must understand that deviance differs from crime. Those who engage in deviant behavior does not always violate a law, however committing a crime always involves violating a law. Crime can only be behavioral in nature, while deviance may involve unacceptable behaviors, and eccentric beliefs and mind-set. Deviance can be minor in nature (such as a traffic violation) to something major, such as murder. Deviance does not have to be a real behavior for it to be labeled deviant; however the label itself is what makes an individual deviant. People who are rich and hold more power have a great opportunity for labeling others as deviants. There are many behaviors today which are considered deviant, some of the more common ones include: stealing, cross-dressing and excessive drinking. Most crimes are measured as deviant because they go against informal norms in addition to breaking the law as a formal norm.
The development of preventive strategies will necessarily follow from an understanding of delinquency's root causes. If social structure is a key factor in the development of juvenile delinquency, then prevention will entail addressing issues regarding place, identity, or socioeconomic status. For example, if poverty is considered a significant causative factor, then taking steps such as providing jobs, job training, and perhaps additional welfare benefits becomes an important social concern. By eliminating poverty, society will thus