There are various theories developed over more than a century that would explain delinquent behavior among juveniles. They focus on different factors, including internal or external factors that influence an individual. This paper aims to introduce three sociological theories and to discuss one of them to understand why the problem of juvenile delinquency arises, as well as to offer ways how specialists may solve it.
Theories of Delinquent Behavior
Strain theory is one of the ways to describe how society may push people to engage in criminal activities. It was developed by R. K. Merton in the 1930s by analyzing American culture as it was at the beginning of the XX century (Burfeind & Bartusch, 2016). It implies that people are expected to achieve success but do not always have the means for it, which results in strain. Seeing adults achieving success illegally may push juveniles towards delinquent behavior.
The labeling theory also discusses the strong effect of society on the individual’s choices. It was developed in the 1960s by H. Becker and implied that the second and the following cases of offensive behavior occur after a person was formally called delinquent (Shoemaker, 2018). Juveniles, who are usually sensitive to their public image, may develop a deviant personality in response to the labeling practice.
The theory of social disorganization builds around the idea of an individual’s surroundings. C. Shaw and H. McKay researched Chicago in the first half of the XX century and connected delinquent behavior with ineffective institutions of social control (Shoemaker, 2018). School and family are extremely important to juveniles regarding their worldview, and the failure of those communities to guide them may result in turning to questionable ideals and morals.
Resolving the Issue of Juvenile Delinquency
The theory of social disorganization may be one of the ways to explain why juveniles start to cause legal problems. According to the literature, it is a “result of a breakdown of institutional, community-based controls” (Shoemaker, 2018, p. 98). One of the main points of this theory is that the environment causes individuals to act in a certain way. Thus their behavior is a natural response rather than inner deviations.
Moreover, social disorganization happens in areas affected by such processes as industrialization and population growth, which allows assuming that it is typical for urban territories. However, studies demonstrate that some elements like ethnic background and family state are also significant in rural places, making the theory partially applicable there (Moore & Sween, 2015). In other words, it is worth analyzing any environment, which plays an important role in the life of juveniles in a researched area to understand the reasons behind their delinquent behavior.
There are several characteristics of a community that may become a basis for the development of an area of a delinquent. They include such elements as income rates, ethnic homogeneity, residential mobility, and others. As industrialized cities attract a workforce, they rapidly become overpopulated, and the areas with dense communities of mixed backgrounds appear. In such conditions, it starts to be more difficult for organizations of informal control to be as effective as previously.
In the case of juveniles, they include such places as families, neighbors, and schools. In turn, the areas which fail to keep the effectiveness of social control forces are later transformed into delinquency territories with specific values and traditions. The absence of conforming values shared by a community leads to the inability to cooperatively solve issues and provides ground for the development of subcultures.
The processes that spur delinquent behavior among juveniles include several patterns of interactions between young people and their peers and society. Some of the earliest assumptions made by Saw and McKay offer four of them, beginning as disorganization and resulting in the lack of social control (Burfeind & Bartush, 2016). When young people are not engaged in socializing within a normative community, they are more likely to be exposed to delinquent behavior. Failure to bond with friends and family also results in a lack of control. Low participation in community activities prevents youth from acquiring positive social norms and values, pushing them towards seeking alternative ones.
Regarding the factors listed under the overview of the social disorganization theory, it is ultimately important for specialists to solve the issue of delinquent areas. Sociologists are one of those who may use their theoretical knowledge and practical skills for this purpose. The strategy would include several steps targeted at finding the origin of delinquent behavior among juveniles, properly analyzing the information, and offering ways of changing the situation.
Firstly, it is important to carefully study the area where young people are causing legal problems. A sociologist must carry out an analysis of a community that lives on the determined territory. The characteristics that should be examined would be structures of families, their income levels, as well as population density, ethnic and cultural variability, and residential mobility. The data can be taken from a local statistics office specializing in demographics.
Secondly, it is important to evaluate the effectiveness of social institutions within the studied community. A sociologist must analyze whether there are enough schools for the size of the population and how does youth spend the time after classes. If the place is highly populated, it is likely that the neighborhood controls are weak. Thus, it is the task of a sociologist to evaluate the affordability of afterschool activities. Religious institutions and hobby clubs may also play an important role for young people.
Finally, a sociologist should identify the weakest points in a community where informal social control is not effective. Depending on the case, the corresponding action plan must be offered. The theory implies that there are many factors that result in the development of delinquent areas. However, some of them cannot be resolved by sociologists as they rely mostly on external factors. For example, residential mobility is something that specialists cannot control since the process occurs due to the economic conditions of a region and the demand of people for housing based on their workplace.
At the same time, there are factors that can be influenced by collective effort. For example, a sociologist may create a counseling program for families that wish to have a better understanding of proper interaction patterns between parents and children. Depending on the demographics, specialists may also offer options of programs or services for youth that the community lacks. The described actions are targeted at creating forms of informal control in a situation where the high density of the population does not allow such societies as neighborhoods to perform the task.
Conclusion
Different social theories explain delinquent behavior based on various factors, including the environment, social expectations, labeling, and others. Each case may be described either by one or by a combination of them. Young people often find themselves at risk of adopting a negative attitude. It is the task of a sociologist to properly evaluate the reasons behind delinquent behavior among juveniles and to develop a corresponding action plan.
References
Burfeind, J., & Bartusch, D. J. (2016). Juvenile delinquency: An integrated approach (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Moore, M. D., & Sween, M. (2015). Rural youth crime: A reexamination of social disorganization theory’s applicability to rural areas. Journal of Juvenile Justice, 4(1), 47-63.
Shoemaker, D. J. (2018). Theories of delinquency: An examination of explanations of delinquent behavior (7th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.