DATE- 28th August 2015

NATIONAL LAW INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY

BHOPAL

PROJECT ON

“Different Delinquency Patterns in Different Societies”

FOURTH TRIMESTER

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

PROF. (Dr.) P.K. Shukla KANISHK DEVESH

Asst. Prof. (Dr.) Divya Salim SECTION- A

ROLL NO. - 2014BALLB02

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My Vocabulary falls short on words to express my heartily gratitude towards my Criminology

professors (Dr.) P.K. Shukla and (Dr.) Divya Salim who gave me such a wonderful project to
work upon which made me know more about different patterns of delinquencies prevalent in
different societies.

Also I would like to thank the Prestigious Library of NLIU with the material of which I was
able to supplement this Project.

I would like to take out this moment lastly but certainly not the least to thank my Parents and
the almighty under whose blessings I concluded this Project. I acknowledge the support of all
the aforesaid.

Thank You.

Kanishk Devesh

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Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................................. 2

Statement of Problem............................................................................................................................. 4

Hypothesis............................................................................................................................................... 4

Objectives ............................................................................................................................................... 4

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 5

Delinquency ............................................................................................................................................ 6

Patterns of Delinquencies ....................................................................................................................... 7

Age and Sex Differences ..................................................................................................................... 7

Ecological Variations ........................................................................................................................... 8

Other Factors ...................................................................................................................................... 9

Criminological Theories Involved ..........................................................................................................11

Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................12

References and Bibliography ................................................................................................................13

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 Statement of Problem

How do different delinquency patterns differ because of societal factors?

Hypothesis

It is assumed at the beginning of this project report that different factors contribute differently
towards criminal or delinquent behaviour.

Objectives

 To understand what behaviour is classified as criminal behaviour.

 To understand the effect of age, gender, education, wealth, etc. over criminal behaviour.

 To apply relevant criminological theories and look for their relevance in present world.

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 Introduction

The crimes committed by children are not called crimes or offences but “delinquencies”. In
every penal system, the children are treated in a special way as compared to adults who commit
the criminal acts.1 In other words, the crimes and morally wrong acts or illegal or immoral
behaviour especially by young people are termed as delinquencies.2

Reasons for committing a crime include greed, anger, jealously, revenge, or pride. Some people
decide to commit a crime and carefully plan everything in advance to increase gain and
decrease risk. These people are making choices about their behaviour; some even consider a
life of crime better than a regular job—believing crime brings in greater rewards, admiration,
and excitement—at least until they are caught. Others get an adrenaline rush when successfully
carrying out a dangerous crime. Others commit crimes on impulse, out of rage or fear.

The desire for material gain (money or expensive belongings) leads to property crimes such as
robberies, burglaries, white-collar crimes, and auto thefts. The desire for control, revenge, or
power leads to violent crimes such as murders, assaults, and rapes. These violent crimes usually
occur on impulse or the spur of the moment when emotions run high. Property crimes are
usually planned in advance.3

But, sometimes it is the SOCIETY which becomes the prime factor behind the commission of
crime. Some factors include climate, poverty, sex, age, education, wealth, etc. Sociologists like
André-Michel Guerry and Adolphe Quetelet investigated in the cause of criminality and
became the fathers of what is today known as the “cartographical school of criminology”.

1
Srivastava, S.S.; Criminology, penology and victimology; fourth edition; Central law agency; Allahabad; 2014
pp 50
2
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/delinquency; last visited on 24-08-15 at 20:32:47 hours
3
http://law.jrank.org/pages/12004/Causes-Crime.html; last visited on 24-08-15 at 22:11:00 hours

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 Delinquency

Juvenile delinquency is that behaviour on the part of children which may, under the law, subject
those children to the juvenile court. As such, it is a relatively new and legal term for a very old
phenomenon. The legal status of “juvenile delinquent” is important in defining, but does not
fully encompass, the social role of “juvenile delinquent.” That is, a youngster who has been
taken into custody by the police, or committed to an institution, or otherwise disposed of by
the court is likely to be defined as a delinquent by many people—his parents, friends,
neighbours, teachers, or employers. The legal process, whether or not it officially defines a
youngster as delinquent, may be important in establishing and reinforcing both the
community’s and the individual’s definition of himself as a delinquent (Tannenbaum 1938).
These, in turn, may be important factors in determining the nature of his subsequent experience,
and hence the likelihood that he will engage in behaviour that is considered delinquent.

The very broad specifications of behaviour defined by the statutes as delinquent give rise to
the question: Who is not delinquent? The question is important, however, only if we assume
that there are only two classes of children—“delinquent” and “non-delinquent”—that need to
be described and understood. In reality, children vary in a great many ways in the types of
delinquent behaviour in which they engage and in the relative frequency, regularity, and
versatility of such behaviour. In other words, there are different patterns of delinquent
behaviour and different degrees of involvement in them.

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 Patterns of Delinquencies

The methodology of delinquency studies has been subject to extensive criticism. While it is
true that most studies in any substantive field exhibit methodological weaknesses, the field of
juvenile delinquency has perhaps been especially vulnerable in this respect. The more
fundamental problem has not been methodological, however. Rather, delinquency studies have
tended to lack both methodological and theoretical rigor because they have not been associated
with the mainstream of behavioural science developments. This was not so much the case in
the 1920s and early 1930s, when delinquency studies were an important part of the “Chicago
school” of developing urban sociology.

Following this period of intensive activity, the empirical study of delinquency dropped off
sharply and was largely uninformed by the main body of sociological thought. Clinical studies
also lacked the discipline of systematic inquiry, and their impact on sociological interpretations
was minimal and marginal. Sociological theory concerning delinquency was greatly stimulated
by the publication of Albert Cohen’s Delinquent Boys in 1955. Still, empirical inquiry lagged
until grants from private and federal agencies made possible investigations of sufficient scope
to contribute markedly to the development of knowledge in this field. Passage of the Juvenile
Delinquency and Youth Offenses Control Act by the Congress of the United States in 1961
focused unprecedented public attention on juvenile delinquency and provided additional
impetus for large-scale social action and research programs directed at the acquisition of new
knowledge concerning juvenile delinquency and its control.

Some of the factors were given by André-Michel Guerry and Adolphe Quetelet like age and
sex differences, ecological variations, etc.

Age and Sex Differences

Throughout the world, juvenile court cases tend to be in the older age categories specified by
law. Official cases of delinquency thus tend to be a phenomenon of adolescence and young
adulthood rather than of childhood. In countries that have experienced increases in
delinquency, however, the average age of court appearance has tended to decrease. As services
to delinquents and “potential” delinquents become more elaborate, younger children are
brought before the court in the interest of delinquency prevention as well as rehabilitation.

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In most countries young people are involved in a high proportion of property offenses. In the
United States, offenses for which persons under the age of 18 contribute more than one-half of
the arrests annually are typically auto theft, burglary, and larceny4. Concern is great in some
countries over the involvement of juveniles in crimes of violence, in the general disregard for
social order, as in cases of property destruction and mass rioting, and in the use of alcohol and
narcotics.

Boys and girls are not equally involved in delinquency, and sex ratios are not the same for all
types of delinquency. The ratio of boys to girls appearing before juvenile courts is very much
related to the over-all social structure of a society, as well as to variations within it. As the
social status of women approaches that of men and women gain greater freedom to participate
in the affairs of the larger society, socialization patterns in the family and other institutions
change and more girls come to the attention of the courts. Present ratios in the United States,
for example, are about five boys to each girl; this is a considerable decrease since the early
1900s, when ratios of 50 or 60 to 1 were common.5 Sex ratios tend to be lower among groups,
and in areas, with high delinquency rates. Since World War II increasing proportions of female
offenders have been noted especially in Japan and Turkey, where the emancipation of women
has proceeded with considerable rapidity.

Boys tend to be arrested for offenses involving stealing and mischief of one sort or another.
And while studies indicate that more boys than girls engage in illicit sex behaviour, far higher
proportions of girls are arrested and brought to court for sex offenses and for other offenses,
such as running away, incorrigibility, and delinquent tendencies, which very often involve
problems of sex behaviour.

Ecological Variations6

There appears to be a direct relationship between urbanization and juvenile delinquency.

Although it is not always true that urban areas with the largest populations and highest densities
have the highest delinquency rates, urban areas tend to have higher rates than do “semi urban”
areas, and these areas, in turn, have higher rates than do rural areas. Exceptions within the
general pattern, at least in the United States, modify but confirm it. Thus, rural areas and

4
https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/crimestats
5
Ibid.
6
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/juvenile_delinquency.aspx#1

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smaller communities that are near urban centres have been shown to have higher delinquency
rates than do those that are further removed from such centres. Similarly, delinquency rates in
relatively less populated areas have been found to be directly related to the size of their nearest
urban centre. Other studies have found higher proportions of preadolescent and female
offenders in more urbanized areas.

Within cities, juvenile delinquency tends to be concentrated in areas characterized by extreme

physical deterioration, poverty, and social disorganization. These areas have been called
“delinquency areas” because they have been found to be characterized by high delinquency
rates and high rates of recidivism over time; they are usually areas in which major shifts have
taken place in racial and ethnic residential composition. In high-rate as compared with low-
rate areas, age at first delinquency of youngsters appears to be lower, and proportions of female
offenders are higher. Organized vice and political corruption flourishes in high-rate areas, but
there are important variations in these respects between delinquency areas.

Other Factors

Racial and ethnic groups have been shown by many studies to have widely varying delinquency
rates. Numerous studies have found greater variation within than between these groups,
however, depending especially on the type of community areas in which they are located.
Newly arrived ethnic groups characteristically locate in high delinquency areas, and their
delinquency rates reflect this fact. When these ethnic groups move to areas with lower
delinquency rates, their rates become lower. Variations in this pattern serve only to confirm the
hypothesis that the amount of delinquency in a racial group is a function of its basic
socioeconomic position. Negroes in the United States, despite some improvements in
socioeconomic position (which are reflected in variations in delinquency rates within the Negro
population), for many years have had high delinquency rates. These rates are closely associated
today, as they have been historically, with high rates of unemployment and economic
uncertainty and with family disorganization. By contrast, the Chinese in the United States have
had very low delinquency rates. These have been associated with strong family and community
organization and with the relative isolation of Chinese Americans from the mainstream of life
in the United States.

The association of poverty with high delinquency areas and studies of the socioeconomic
background of offenders have led to much speculation concerning the influence of social

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stratification patterns on young people. Studies suggest that both delinquency rates and the type
of delinquency vary in different ecological areas. Delinquency rates even of middle-class and
upper-class persons are higher in high-rate areas than in low-rate areas.

Delinquency rates in the more technologically and economically advanced countries appear to
be the highest in the world. Studies of the relation between delinquency rates and cycles of
economic depression and prosperity have yielded inconsistent results (Bogen 1944; Fleisher
1963; Glaser & Rice 1959; Gibbs 1966). In large cities of these same countries high
delinquency rates are associated with poverty, as reflected in ecological distributions and rates
for persons in different social classes, but in smaller communities delinquency appears to be
more evenly distributed throughout the class structure. There is growing interest, but little
evidence, concerning increases in delinquent behaviour on the part of “middle-class”
youngsters in prosperous and technologically advanced countries.7

https://books.google.co.in/books?id=r3IMdD2xZ8MC&pg=PA129&lpg=PA129&dq=guerry+quetelet+delinquen
cy+theories&source=bl&ots=A_ncj-UvJv&sig=HOU8Xq1UFSHyGcR6XW-
QA72d7mM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEAQ6AEwB2oVChMIta_K_JzHxwIVQboaCh2-FQPU#v=onepage&q&f=false;
last visited on 26-08-15 at 00:20:11 hours

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 Criminological Theories Involved

1. Differential Association Theory: By Edwin H. Sutherland. This theory states that a person
learns from the environment he or she lives in. The person interacts and learns different
behaviours and thus there are differences in delinquency rates in different areas.

2. Theories by Guerry and Quetelet: They found that sociological factors were more relevant
than biological ones.

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 Conclusion

Thus, it can be said that different societies witness variations in the patterns of delinquencies
and hence our hypothesis proves right.

Guerry and Quetelet found that places with higher education had higher propensity of violent
crimes but quantitatively people who are poor and uneducated committed crimes.

In general we found that social factors play a vital role in determining the delinquency rates in
the society.

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 References and Bibliography

 Criminology Course material, NLIU; Dr. P.K. Shukla and Ms. Divya Salim

 Criminology, Penology and Victimology; Dr. S.S. Srivastava

 https://books.google.co.in/books?id=r3IMdD2xZ8MC&pg=PA129&lpg=PA12
9&dq=guerry+quetelet+delinquency+theories&source=bl&ots=A_ncj-
UvJv&sig=HOU8Xq1UFSHyGcR6XW-
QA72d7mM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEAQ6AEwB2oVChMIta_K_JzHxwIVQb
oaCh2-FQPU#v=onepage&q&f=false

 https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/crimestats

 http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/juvenile_delinquency.aspx#1

 http://law.jrank.org/pages/12004/Causes-Crime.html

 www.miriam-webster.com

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