Culture and Delinquency
Culture & Delinquency
Culture & Delinquency
Obviously something is going on in today’s society if more and more children are committing delinquent crimes. Sometimes we must ask our self what provokes a child to become delinquent and what makes the child gravitate so easily towards this lifestyle? I believe families must transmit values so as to lead children to accept rules that they are likely to perceive as arbitrary. It should be no surprise, therefore, to find that family life bears a strong relation to juvenile delinquency. Family life can be viewed from three general perspectives. The first is structure: Who lives within a household? The second is interaction: How do the family members treat one another? And the third is social setting: What is the nature of the community in which the family can be found? Each of these perspectives contributes information relevant to understanding the impact of family life on juvenile delinquency. Culture & Delinquency
Family is the foundation of human society. Children who are rejected by their parents, who grow up in homes with considerable conflict, or who are inadequately supervised are at the greatest risk of becoming delinquent. If anything would play a large part in delinquency it would be a family. Understanding how the family and how the juvenile within the family works help us get to the core of delinquency. Families are one of the strongest socializing forces in life. They teach children to control unacceptable behavior, to delay gratification, and to respect the rights of others. Conversely, families can teach children aggressive, antisocial, and violent behavior. This statement alone could easily explain how the juvenile may end up becoming a delinquent. Wright and Wright (1994) suggest positive parenting practices during the early years and later in adolescence appear to act as buffers preventing delinquent behavior and assisting adolescents involved in
Culture & Delinquency
Obviously something is going on in today’s society if more and more children are committing delinquent crimes. Sometimes we must ask our self what provokes a child to become delinquent and what makes the child gravitate so easily towards this lifestyle? I believe families must transmit values so as to lead children to accept rules that they are likely to perceive as arbitrary. It should be no surprise, therefore, to find that family life bears a strong relation to juvenile delinquency. Family life can be viewed from three general perspectives. The first is structure: Who lives within a household? The second is interaction: How do the family members treat one another? And the third is social setting: What is the nature of the community in which the family can be found? Each of these perspectives contributes information relevant to understanding the impact of family life on juvenile delinquency. Culture & Delinquency
Family is the foundation of human society. Children who are rejected by their parents, who grow up in homes with considerable conflict, or who are inadequately supervised are at the greatest risk of becoming delinquent. If anything would play a large part in delinquency it would be a family. Understanding how the family and how the juvenile within the family works help us get to the core of delinquency. Families are one of the strongest socializing forces in life. They teach children to control unacceptable behavior, to delay gratification, and to respect the rights of others. Conversely, families can teach children aggressive, antisocial, and violent behavior. This statement alone could easily explain how the juvenile may end up becoming a delinquent. Wright and Wright (1994) suggest positive parenting practices during the early years and later in adolescence appear to act as buffers preventing delinquent behavior and assisting adolescents involved in
References: Gorman-Smith, Deborah and Patrick H. Tolan. 1998. “Relation of family Problems to patterns of Delinquent involvement among urban youth.” Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. 26: 319-34. Gorman-Smith, Deborah, Patrick Tolan, Ashli J. Sheidow, and David B. Henry. “Partner Violence and Street Violence among Urban Adolescents: Do the Same Family Factors Relate?” Journal of Research on Adolescence. Wright, Kevin N. and Karen E. Wright. 1994. Family Life, Delinquency, and Crime: A Policymakers Guide. Research Summary. Washington DC: OJJDP. 4-21. Siegal, Larry J. and Welsh, Brandon. 2009 Juvenile Delinquency Theory, Practice and Law: Social structure process culture and delinquency 115-145.