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Juvenile Delinquency Theories

Juvenile Delinquency Theories

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.

In 1977 Albert Bandura, a Stanford University psychology professor, published Social Learning
Theory, in which he postulated that human learning is a continuous reciprocal interaction of
cognitive, behavioral, and environmental factors. Sometimes called observational learning, social
learning theory focuses on behavior modeling, in which the child observes and then imitates the
behavior of adults or other children around him or her (Wiesner, Capaldi, Patterson, 2003, p. 318).

In his research on social learning theory, Bandura studied how violence portrayed in mass media can
have a tremendously Halo Capital church financing negative impact on the behavior of certain types
of children watching violent television shows. What he noted was that some children will observe
and then imitate the behavior of the characters on the television screen. From these observations,
we can conclude that juvenile delinquency is the result of imitation of aggressive actions. Bandura
determined that certain types of children learn to perform violent and aggressive actions by
observing and then modeling their behavior after what they have seen. He referred to this as direct
learning through instantaneous matching of the observed behavior to the modeled behavior
(Wiesner et al, 2003, p. 320). Therefore, social learning theory states that learning can occur
through the simple process of observing and then imitating others' activities.

Merton (1957) formulated a social strain theory of criminal involvement (Broidy, 2001, p. 10).
Merton proposed that a society instills in its citizenry aspirations for upward mobility and a desire
for selected goals. However, when legitimate avenues to goal attainment are blocked, anomie or
strain sets in, which in turn compels the individual to violate the law in order to attain these goals.
Lower-class persons are viewed by Merton as more susceptible to the ravages of anomie because
they are more regularly thwarted in their efforts to participate in the economic rewards of the wider
society (Broidy, 2001, p. 12).

Merton assumed in his theorizing that humans are conforming organisms who only violate the law
when the disjunction between goals and means becomes so great that the individual believes he or

she can no longer pursue socially sanctioned goals via legitimate channels. Society and certain
social variables are, according to strain theorists, responsible for the majority of crime being
committed in the world today. According to Merton, a society that emphasizes goals over the means
to obtain these goals, and that restricts access to opportunities for legitimate advancement, is
establishing the conditions for anomie and future criminality. Strain theorists have long argued that
once a person is removed from a situation of anomie or frustration, negative behavior will recede
(Henry, Tolan, Gorman-Smith, 2001, p. 173).

Agnew's (1992) general strain theory offers a promising framework for understanding juvenile
delinquency. A major type of strain, according to Agnew's general strain theory, consists of
experiencing unpleasant events or circumstances, including aversive situations at home, particularly
arguments and violence (Broidy, 2001, p. 21). The theory proposes that adolescents are pressed into
delinquency by negative emotional reactions that result from being situated in an aversive situation
from which they cannot escape. This blockage frustrates the adolescent and may lead to desperate
avoidance and/or anger-based delinquency (Broidy, 2001, p. 23).

Behavioral theory was studied by J. Watson, I. Pavlov and B.F. Skinner. It describes the outcomes of
the consequences of a certain behavior on occurrence of such behavior in the future. Operant
conditioning developed by Skinner is one of the learning methods according to which the likelihood
of behavior is increased or decreased by the use of reinforcement or punishment. In case of positive
reinforcement a certain behavior becomes stronger by the effect of experiencing some positive
condition. In case of negative reinforcement a certain behavior becomes stronger by the outcome of
stopping or staying away from some negative condition. In case of extinction a certain behavior is
becomes weaker by the outcome of avoiding to experiencing some positive condition or stopping
some negative condition.

Negative and positive reinforcements and extinction


strengthen certain kinds of behavior of individuals.
Punishment is a big form of operant conditioning used all
over the world. When people are punished, it is to decrease
that certain behavior produced by the individual.
Therefore, behavioral theory refers to conditioning which
leads to different behavioral pattern of juvenile offenders.

Preventive programs based on the social learning theory require placing an individual in favorable
environment where he/she would be less tempted to imitate violent behavior. One of the examples of
such environment is the social services of the church. The actual role of contemporary religion in
delinquency prevention is not easy to evaluate. Its potential role is tremendous, but the fulfillment of
that potential depends on the vitality of a religion in the lives of its professants. The formulation
through religion of a standardized morality that is in conformity with the law (not all religious beliefs
and practices in the United States are legal, of course, but the exceptions are in small minority faiths

for the most part) establishes a system of social control norms that overlap substantive legal norms
(Wiesner et al, 2003, p. 320). The social services of the church can do much--and some of them do-in
providing more experimental, intensive, and therapeutic assistance to delinquents than public
resources customarily are equipped to perform.

Also, community behavior can influence behavior modeling of juvenile delinquents. Community
organization and planning represent tremendously significant possibilities for the development of
delinquency-deterring measures.

According to the General Strain Theory, the major causes of juvenile delinquency are aversive
atmosphere at home and school. The emotional atmosphere, the hostilities, and the inadequacies
expressed in the parent-child relationships do greater injury to the child than do physical hurts.
From a preventive point of view, then, it seems clear that the greatest hope for discouraging
delinquency must lie in efforts to improve the quality and harmony of the family system.

Preventive programs based on the General Strain Theory refer to effective family social work: a field
designed to strengthen family life through assisting individuals and family units and, so far as
possible, to improve the community circumstances essential to wholesome family living. Private
agencies, and governmental services (chiefly departments of public welfare) contribute to this work;
many of them today, especially in moderate-sized cities, merge child-welfare services with their
family case work for more completely integrated assistance (Asetline, Gore, Gordon, 2001, p. 257).

Family counseling, which is carried on in large part by the old established social agencies but which
is also coming to be practiced increasingly by individual practitioners and clinics, offers much
promise and some dangers. In an area where the divorce rates alone are a sufficient indication of the
widespread need for help, trained and specialized skills focused specifically on the medical,
emotional, and broader psychological requirements of the family can help to resolve difficulties
before they become too serious (Asetline, Gore, Gordon, 2001, p. 258). Provisions should be
available in the community for the individual who feels the need for advice about his family
relationships. Such facilities should be competent of course. Traditionally much of this advisory
function, when performed at all (of course, many persons needing help have refrained from seeking
it either out of pride or a lack of available and known resources), has been done informally by family
physicians, attorneys, or friends. It hardly need be said that none of these roles, taken by itself, gives
any assurance of qualification to deal with the often subtle, profound, and technical problems
involved in family pathology. Today, though specialized skills for this work are being developed and
counseling bureaus are being established.

One of the commonest characteristics observed among delinquent children is the dislike of school
and teachers. It would seem that any real solution to this problem lies not in penalty classes or
special schools with long hours-or even incarceration but in such preventive measures as vigorously
attempting to adapt the educational process to the needs and interests of children. The docile rote

learner-so dear to the heart of the educator-and the non-aggressive but apathetic conformist, as well
as the resistant problem child, could all profit by a vitalized education. If classroom organization,
program of study, and teaching methods are planned to meet the interests and needs of children and
adolescents at their level of development, with rich and varied opportunities for the expression of
diverse abilities and sufficient elasticity to allow the individual some freedom in adaptation, there
would be far less aversion and passive indifference to school (Houchins, Guin, Schroeder, 2001, p.
110). Again it should be noted that flexible programs and good teaching are largely a matter of
adequate budgets and careful selection.

Ideally every school system should have attached to it or continuously available to it the facilities of
a psychiatric clinic or study home to which cases of juvenile delinquency might be referred for
observation and assistance. If teachers can be trained sufficiently and selected as personalities
sensitive to the needs of childhood, they should be able to refer a large proportion of unadjusted
children for clinical assistance early and thus prevent the development of serious conduct problems
and delinquency (Houchins et al, 2001, p. 108).

For most instances of children with psychological or conduct problems, the school must continue to
provide formal education to meet their particular needs as well as possible. Thus arises a perennial
problem in pedagogical and administrative technique: Should "problem children" be segregated in
separate classes and separate schools where groups of unadjusted and delinquent boys are massed
together, or should they be brought as much as possible into contact with normal children in the
regular schools? According to General Strain Theory, in cases where the problems of personality are
serious enough and classroom environment becomes the source of frustration for children, children
should be treated for their special requirements in groups established according to their needs. If
these individuals are to be taught separately they need programs and teachers that are adapted to
their peculiar needs.

According to the Behavioral Theory, juvenile delinquency preventive programs should be based on
positive and negative reinforcements. Some of the examples of preventive programs with the use of
negative reinforcements are confinement, boot camps and waiver. Although not as restrictive as
confinement in a secure facility, boot camps are known for their rigid militaristic style. Juvenile
participants are commonly organized into platoons and required to wear uniforms and to participate
in daily regimens of drill exercises and physical training. Daily routines may extend from 5:30 or
6:00 A.M. to lights out at 9:00 or 10:00 P.M (Fagan, Zimring, 2001, p. 88). This program is focused
upon changing attitudes and behavior through discipline.

Another popular program of achieving delinquency prevention or reduction has been waiver of
juvenile offenders to adult court. By waiving juveniles to adult court, there is an increased chance
that they will come into contact with adult felony offenders and, consequently, after this contact the
juvenile should learn to be better.

Unlike boot camps and waiver, mentor programs involve mostly positive reinforcements in changing
juvenile behavior. Most programs involve volunteer staff who see themselves as giving something to
or sharing something with the youths who are being mentored (Colvin, Cullen, Vander Ven, 2002, p.
20) Mentor programs are less costly than other approaches to delinquency prevention because often
the mentors are volunteers who may or may not receive reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses
related to mentoring activities. As a juvenile justice strategy, mentoring is an opportunity to provide
support where it is missing and to supplement it when it is weak.

In conclusion, the contributing factors that make a child delinquent are numerous and varied; they
are often complexly interwoven in a single case. One single theory cannot explain the complex of
conditions and circumstances producing delinquency. Similarly, application of one single preventive
program will not significantly reduce juvenile delinquency. Therefore, juvenile delinquency
preventive programs should be based upon several theoretical approaches and developed for every
particular case of juvenile delinquency.

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