Reference no: EM133910446

Assignment:

1. Do you purport that there is a strong sense of validity in explaining juvenile delinquency and behaviors through development and neuroscience?

2. Culpability has often been discussed in various circles pertaining to adolescence. What age, if any, do you gauge is a "good" age to state a juvenile is culpable for their actions, particularly delinquent/criminal?

3. Do you agree that waivers helps decrease criminality among adolescents or does it increase?

UMC. (n.d.). Delinquency Theory.

This week focuses on several theories of delinquency. According to these theories, the reason juveniles commit delinquent acts is that they choose to do so or because of some biological factor or psychological malady. We will review the classical and positive schools of thought and describes the major biological factors that lead to delinquency, including genetic, biochemical, and neurological factors. We will also discuss the major psychological theories about why juveniles break the law. The two major schools of thought are the classical and positive schools. They are based on specific assumptions about individuals and their actions. The classical school of thought controlled judicial policy for juveniles in the United States until the late 1800s. According to the classical school, behavior is rational and a product of free will; juveniles choose to commit delinquent acts.

Cesare Beccaria believed that people are naturally hedonistic, which means that people attempt to maximize pleasure and minimize pain by performing acts that are pleasurable and avoiding acts that are painful. This is sometimes referred to as the pleasure-pain principle-or hedonistic calculus. The positive school of thought began to influence juvenile justice practices in the late 1800s. Proponents of this school believe that behavior is beyond an individual's control. The influence of the positive school of thought increased for two reasons: First, the emergence of the scientific method as a means to study phenomena helped to convince scholars of the validity of the positivist approach through scientific techniques. Second, there was a growing perception that the punishment agenda encouraged by the classical school had failed to reduce crime. The morphological approach, the oldest of biological theories of crime, views criminals as biologically inferior to noncriminals.

Cesare Lombroso, the father of the positive school of criminology, thought criminals were an atavistic throwback to a primitive type. Other writers like William Sheldon attempted to link physical appearance to delinquency. Sheldon focused on somatotype (body type) as the link to delinquency. The first somatotype was endomorph. Endomorphic body structures are soft, round, and fat. The second somatotype was mesomorph. Mesomorphic body structures are muscular, firm, and strong. The third somatotype was ectomorph and consisted of a thin and frail body structure. Ectomorphs have introverted personalities and a strong ability for self-control. Biological theories on twins and adoption studies are also explored in this chapter. Biochemical and neurological studies are presented. Issues such as dietary influences, fetal alcohol syndrome, prenatal drug use, hormone studies, autonomic nervous system studies, learning disabilities, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are introduced. Let's turn our attention to the psychological theories.

Freud's analysis of the id, ego, and superego and the conflict created by the overdevelopment of one and the underdevelopment of the other is one of many psychological based theories. Additionally, Kohlberg's six stages of moral development, personality disorders and antisocial personality disorders can be relevant. Next, we have the four major social theories of delinquency. These social theories focus on factors that influence delinquency, including association with delinquent peers, lack of opportunity, and family relationships. Four major types of social theories of delinquency are social structure theories, social process theories, life course theories, and social reaction theories. Social structure theories examine why lower-class youths are more likely to commit crime than middle- and upper-class youths. Middle- and upper-class youths do commit crime, but their crimes are usually less serious than those committed by lower-class youths. Basically, social structure theories focus on two major factors that influence delinquency: socioeconomic conditions and cultural values.

Three social structure theories include ecological theory, strain theory, and subculture theory. Ecological theory seeks to explain delinquency based on where it occurs. The environment of an area has an impact on delinquency. The most prominent ecological theory is Clifford R. Shaw and Henry D. McKay's social disorganization theory. The second major type of social structure theory is strain theory. Strain theorists see delinquency as a result of a lack of opportunity, in particular of economic opportunity. American society instills in its citizens a desire for financial success, but it does not provide all individuals equal opportunity to achieve that financial success. Those who do not have equal opportunity are "strained" and therefore more likely to be delinquent. The most prominent example of strain theory is Robert Merton's five modes of adaptation.

The third major type of social structure theory is subculture theory. A subculture is a set of values, norms, and beliefs that differs from those within the dominant culture. According to the subculture theory, delinquent youth hold values, norms, and beliefs in opposition to those held in the dominant culture. Three subculture theories are Cohen's delinquency and frustration theory, Cloward and Ohlin's differential opportunity theory, and Miller's lower-class focal concern theory. Social process theories focus on the relationship between socialization and delinquency. Social process theories analyze the relationship to delinquency of certain factors, such as peer group relationships, family relationships, and failure in school. Two primary branches of social process theory, learning theory, and social control theory focus on the relationship between socialization and delinquency. According to learning theory, juveniles commit delinquent acts because they learn the attitudes, skills, and rationalizations necessary to commit these acts. This learning may take place in interaction with parents and peers. Delinquents differ from nondelinquents in the extent of their exposure to definitions and situations that portray delinquent acts as appropriate.

Three learning theories are Sutherland's differential association theory, Aker's differential reinforcement theory, and Sykes and Matza's techniques of neutralization/drift theory. Social control theory seeks to answer the question, "Why don't juveniles commit delinquent acts?" Social control theory assumes that people will violate the law. So why don't they? The answer to this question, according to social control theorists, lies in the strength of an individual's ties to the foundations of society (family, friends, and school). Reckless's containment theory, Hirschi's social control/social bonding theory, and Hirschi's self-control theory are all examples of this reasoning. The last set of theories is social reaction theories. Social reaction theories examine the role that societal institutions, including the juvenile justice system, play in perpetuating delinquent behavior. These theories argue that the reaction of society to delinquent behavior may lead to continuation of the behavior. Two major types of social reaction theory are labeling theory and conflict theory.