Developmental Difficulties and Young Offenders - Essay Example

As the review is based entirely upon research, we would examine each issue in the light of scientific findings supported by well-known theorists. In the end the evaluative findings would be summarised by a brief conclusion. In order to measure the depth of psychological influence on young offenders, it would be a mistake if we lag behind in considering the developmental changes that indulge young children into several difficulties, which reveal only when they become offenders. These difficulties having more to do with psychology, and the issues, which are related to it, are psychiatric disorders escorting towards bullying, crime, depression and suicidal behaviour, take place mostly between the ages of 12 to 25 years.

If we analyse the stages of development according to Freud's theory, he believed the early years of life to be the most crucial determinants of personality formation and that every child passes through defined stages of development, each of which is dynamically different. So Freud felt that each of us must successfully negotiate these stages of development. If we fail, personality difficulties of various degrees are likely to appear. Piaget's theory advocates children's understanding of right and.

Lawrence Kohlberg borrowed Piaget's two stages of moral reasoning into three developmental levels. Level 1, 'Preconventional Morality' refers those youngsters who avoid punishment and do things for the sake of their own personal gain, the second level 'conventional morality' is the level of reasoning in which right and wrong are defined by conformity to law and moral rules while third and highest level 'post conventional morality' refers to those who allow moral rules to be changed or broken for the sake of higher order moral principles.

So it is clear that young offenders uphold in the third category where their perception allows everything fair and morally right for them. Kohlberg's theory distinguishes between "what is right" and "why do right" and research suggests that such offending attitude lies in between 'what' and 'why'. Piaget's theory depicts cognitive development from infancy to childhood as a series of four stages, each characterised by distinctive modes of thoughts that differ qualitatively from thinking in earlier and later stages.

It is from those distinctive thoughts we can visualise each and every child reacts in a different manner to different circumstances. Some children perceives an offending attitude when they are subjected towards negligence and are sensitive while others not. So, it is very easy to associate youth with offending attitude but according to researchers to highlight the major aspects behind the scene is probably a difficult task. The concern is not the young offenders but the difficulties they are confronted to and the reasons behind such attitude is the major task, which is often neglected by us.

According to Inhelder and Piaget the main area to be emphasised upon is the psychological