Posted: April 15th, 2022

Juvenile Crime Causation Factors

Juvenile Crime Causation Factors

Criminologist have always come up with studies and advanced theories to explain why some children engage in criminal activities and not others. Through collaborative effort with officers from juvenile courts, different educational bodies, child welfare associations, and other relevant stakeholders, a lot of data related to juvenile delinquency has be collected which facilitated to the development of various conclusions made about the likely causes of childhood delinquency (Hoffmann, 165). Understanding juvenile crime causation factors is very important because it facilitates the efforts of preventing future crimes. Moreover, by understanding the key factors leading to juveniles engaging in crime, appropriate actions can be taken to rehabilitate juvenile’s criminals at an early age so that they don’t engage in crime in their adult lives. This discussion seeks to explore the juvenile crime causation factors.
Poor education standards have long been thought to be a key contributing factor to juvenile delinquency. Studies have shown that the type of school a child attends can have a direct influence on their overall behavior (Lane, 4). For example, Lane argues that underfunded and overcrowded schools are likely to have a high level of disorder because there are not enough teachers to monitor the high student population, a factor that encourages indiscipline in such an institution. As a consequence, children attending such schools tend to have very poor discipline, a factor that heavily contributes to their engagement in crime.
Unstable families and violence at home is also another leading factor to juvenile delinquency. Various psychological studies show that when a child is exposed to violence at a young age and especially when the violence is coming from people they trust, and then such children tend to become violent people later in life (Lane, 7). As such, children exposed to violence at an early age are likely to engage in violence to express their frustrations at something, a contributing factor to them engaging in criminal activities in their teenage years. Moreover, when such teenagers are exposed to violence within their social circles, their likelihood of engaging in crime is also enhanced.
Peer pressure among teenagers is also seen as a major contributing factor to juveniles engaging in crime. Children whose friends are engaging in delinquent behaviors feel pressured to adopt the same behavior so that they can fit into their friends social circles. Peer pressure and crime is closely linked to drug abuse where studies suggests that children engaging in drug abuse tend to be violent as a result of the false illusion created by these drugs (Warr, 14). Moreover, Warr notes that children abusing drugs are likely to engage in crime to find resources that can sustain their drugs consumption. As such, peer pressure and drug abuse are among the leading juvenile crime causation factors
Socioeconomic factors have also been closely linked to juvenile delinquency where children in poor neighborhood are more likely to engage in crime compared to their counterparts in wealthy neighborhoods. Studies show that children in poor neighborhood are likely to engage in crime in order to fulfill their desire to prosper (Smith, 5). This explains why juveniles in poor neighborhoods have heavily been involved in petty crimes compared to their counterparts in rich neighborhoods.
In conclusion, adult influence or parental guidance is seen as one of the most significant factors in an effort to deter crime among delinquents. By adults interacts with children to show them the acceptable behaviors, they are more likely to comply and shun crime (Hoffmann, 176). As such, understanding the leading juvenile crime causation factors is important because it helps parents, and other relevant stakeholders have an idea on the areas to address in order to overcome juvenile delinquency.
References
Hoffmann, John P. “Parenting and Delinquency.” The Handbook of Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice, Jan. 2015, pp. 161–180., doi:10.1002/9781118513217.ch12.
Lane, Jodi. “Juvenile Delinquency and Justice Trends in the United States.” The Handbook of Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice, Jan. 2015, pp. 1–14., doi:10.1002/9781118513217.ch1.
Smith, Carolyn. “Juvenile Delinquency.” Encyclopedia of Social Work, Nov. 2013, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.214.
Warr, Jason. “Humean Causation and Crime Theory.” An Introduction to Criminological Theory and the Problem of Causation, 2016, pp. 13–19., doi:10.1007/978-3-319-47446-5_3.

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