Causes of Juvenile Delinquency - Research Paper Example

Cynthia (2008) further highlights that the juvenile court systems are driven by the idea that children who violate the law and get into problems should be assisted, guided and helped instead of being punished. This system was formed around the parental concept which advocates that the court should act as a parent, and develop an interfered part to protect the juvenile rather than seeking to determine guilt or innocence. However, different states in the world have established juvenile courts, which have age limits that are used to determine the extent of the offence charged.

This is because some crimes committed by juvenile can be heard and determined by criminal courts and trials listened as those of adults (Cynthia, 2008). Globally, there has been an increase in juvenile delinquency in many countries which can be attributed to many cases. This paper shall present and analyze the causes of juvenile delinquency and highlight some of the dependent and independent variables and the criminological theory concerned with cases. There are several theories which are used to explain the causes of juvenile delinquency. . Vitaro, Bredger and Trembley (2002, as cited in Mandela, 2008) argue that the family has a big influence on a child’s development which can be positive or delinquent.

In the light of family influences, the world youth report highlights that minors who are given proper supervision are unlikely to be involved in criminal activities. Therefore, juvenile delinquency can be linked to abnormal or undesirable family settings which are usually characterized by lack of parental guidance. Juvenile delinquency is influenced by poor internal guidance, premature autonomy and frequent conflict. Juvenile delinquency is influenced by some of these factors because they influence the family background which they live in.

Changes in the family institution in the society today are influencing how minors grow. The family institution form is becoming modified with time (Mandel, 2008). For example, single parent families have increased. The absence of one parent to guide the child, especially boys, leads them to seek and acquire behavior from the group they interact with, such as peers. These groups end up taking the family institutions roles, and they influence the morals of a minor and contribute towards acquiring of negative behavior such as cruelty (United Nations, 2004).

In addition, the capacity of parents in a family to provide children with what they require for their daily lives, such as books and others things, influences the behavior of the children. Some may feel excluded, and they can be motivated to join juvenile delinquent groups to satisfy their needs. Finally, communication in a family can also influence juvenile delinquency (United Nations, 2004). Moreover, if there are adult offenders in a family, they can