In fact, this theory does well to explain the prevalence of modern youth gangs. First, gang members oftentimes engage in behavior that is absolutely contrary to the norms and rules that they have learned at home, but, because of a lack of belief in society, at large, they allow themselves to discard those norms. Therefore, delinquents are "free to engage in virtually any opportunity for deviant behavior that presents itself." (Simon, Simon, & Wallace, 2004, p. 22). In addition, social control theory does not suggest that being friends with a delinquent leads to delinquency; on the contrary, it suggests that people seek out the companionship of similar people, so that delinquents will frequently seek out the company of other delinquents. Therefore, delinquents will flock together and will be willing to commit a wide-range of delinquent behaviors. Moreover, they may become bonded to the gang in a way that they were unable to bond to straight society, with relationships, commitment to gang-oriented goals, involvement in gang-related activities, and a belief in the gang way of life. Therefore, one can see how a gang can quickly come to influence a child's behavior even more than the child's family.
However, it still seems logical that a child's family would have a tremendous influence on behavior. Gerald Patterson's coercion model demonstrates how mutual training between a parent and a child can lead to juvenile delinquency. They believe that delinquency and crime have their root in an irritable, explosive parent who engages in verbally abusive behavior towards a child, even when the child is exhibiting neutral behavior. The child responds to the verbal abuse in an angry and defiant manner, which creates a spiral of negative behavior. The parent's response escalates the child's antisocial behavior, while the child's response escalates the inept parenting. At least half of the time, the parent capitulates, which teaches the child that he can get his way if he is nasty enough. This teaches the child to be oppositional and defiant, and they carry this behavior into interactions with others. Moreover, this behavior works, because most people give in to...
Families, Delinquency & Crime The fundamental changes occurring to families in the 21st century can be classified into two different categories, depending on the internal or the external perspective that is used in the analysis. The external perspective proposes an analysis of the sociodemographic changes that have occurred to families under the impact of the external factors of the 21st century. The sociodemographic changes are characterized both by the numbers, by
Less dramatically, in my own personal experience I have known people who have engaged in minor acts of delinquent behavior, for no apparent reason, and I have (successfully, I believe) had to deal with peer pressure to engage in antisocial acts. In this course I would like to learn more about the juvenile justice, theories of why young people commit crimes, and how someone's family influences the likelihood that they
Reclaiming Children and Youth.. Retrieved October 02, 2009 from HighBeam Research: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-206794465.html Wester, K, MacDonald, C & Lewis, T. (2008). A glimpse into the lives of nine youths in a correctional facility: Insight into theories of delinquency.(Report). Journal of Addictions & Offender Counseling. American Counseling Association. 2008. Retrieved October 02, 2009 from HighBeam Research: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-178713105.html Gibbs, J., Potter, G.B., DiBiase, a.M. & Devlin, R. (2008). The EQUIP program: Helping youth to
If the child is punished for small infractions of the rules and other children are not, this makes him feel that life is unfair, and makes him act in the ways that he is expected to act. Formal labeling is manifest when teachers treat students labeled as gifted as brighter, which motivates the children to perform better on tests, or when students labeled as 'special education' or 'ESL' are
It is possible that an individual who was abused as a child was able to recover from the trauma of his/her experience, and tried to convert his/her negative experience into a positive one by helping out abused children, with the goal of helping them to also recover and develop as psychologically healthy individuals. This kind of psyche abolishes the phenomenon of double jeopardy, and provides a counter-argument to the
He has been expelled from three school since he began his education and is currently attending junior high school after last attending a small charter school in his community. The shoplifting incident also caused his mother to ask his father to take him back into his home, he has lived with mostly his mother with infrequent visitation from his father, except for a year period where he lived with
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now