Juvenile Delinquency - Research Paper Example

Juvenile Delinquency Introduction Childhood delinquency is a term used to broadly ify diverse antisocial behavior in children and adolescents.The antisocial behavior may be expressed either aggressively or non-aggressively. This Criminal behavior in children will be manifested in various forms such as burglary, robbery, vandalism, drug use, and in extreme cases violence (Farrington, 1987). Delinquency is a growing problem all over the world, urgent measures are necessary to combat the growing problem as the small percentage involved in delinquency cases are at risk of becoming serial criminals later in life.

Routine Activities Theory This theory stipulates that crime occurs when an opportunity arises and when the reward is justifiable. In children lack of efficient monitoring will lead to development of antisocial behaviors, thus delinquency develops in children when the parents and guardians capability to monitor the children is not sufficient. This would give the children all the opportunities to indulge in crime without any restraint. It is the role of the parents to instill discipline in the children through an efficient monitoring and disciplinary system that will keep the child away from crime.

The guardian must instill good moral beliefs in the children and be a good role model to be able to effectively mentor the child. Social problems in the society promoted by poverty, drug & substance abuse, and the media will make supervisory roles very difficult and when the chance occur most kids will start committing petty crime. The institution of marriage should be the corner stone of good upbringing but majority of marriages end up in nasty divorces where the kids are left with one parent.

This reduces the chances of bringing up the kids in a good and positive way. To effectively monitor and mentor children, the society must take an informal role of reducing crime opportunities and instilling good moral beliefs in kids. It is the responsibility of every one to minimize all opportunities and avenues of crime by being responsible and alert. The Psychodynamics Theory This is psychological theory that is based on a person’s conditioning process. There are two premises of the psychodynamics theory that explain the criminal nature in children i.e. the psychoanalytic theory and the social learning theory.

In the psychoanalytic theory, abnormal development of the psyche results in the inability to inhibit antisocial behavior and this is spurred by traumatic experiences during childhood that can be caused by child abuse, violence, and harassment (Champion, 2004). Children should be shielded from violence, sexually explicit scenes especially in the media and cyberspace. In the social learning theory, the ability of a child to conform to the accepted norms and laws of the society determine the likelihood of developing delinquency.

In a positive environment characterized by good role models in the parents and community, the child develops good social behavior. When the child is exposed to violence in a continued basis from his immediate environment and from the media, he learns to solve his problems through violence and steadily accepts it as a normal way of life (Champion, 2004). To stem the rise in child delinquencies, the society must change its attitudes and authorities must provide means for its citizens to live in relatively good living standards.

This will reduce poverty and create a stronger social fabric that will be able to take care of the young. Reference List Champion, D.J. (2004). The Juvenile Justice System: Delinquency, Processing, And The Law. (4th Ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall Inc. Farrington, D.P. (1987). Implications of Biological Findings for Criminological Research. New York: Cambridge University Press.