Juvenile Delinquency

Juvenile delinquents are defined as children or adolescents who engage in illegal acts (Berk, 2006). This does not imply that all adolescents who break the law are doomed to a life of crime. One study found that when teenagers are asked directly and confidentially about lawbreaking, almost all admit to having committed an offence of some sort (Flannery et al., 2003). The small percentage of juvenile delinquents who become repeat offenders often commit more serious crimes and, without intervention and rehabilitation, are at risk for a life spent cycling in and out of the criminal justice system. The juvenile delinquents who make up this small percentage contribute to thirteen percent of violent offenses that are documented in the United States (U.S. Department of Justice, 2005).

There are many factors that contribute to juvenile delinquency. Some factors are present outside of the juvenile delinquent in the environments and family structure that influence youth at risk. One of the most consistent findings about juvenile delinquents is that their families are low in warmth and emotional responsiveness, high in conflict, and use parenting methods that are defined by harsh and inconsistent punishment (Berk, 2006).

The buffering factors that could potentially protect juvenile delinquents from the negative effects of a tumultuous family life, such as a positive role model outside of the family, positive peer relationships, high quality teachers in school, and a community with healthy economic and social conditions (Berk, 2006) are often absent from the lives of youth who are at the greatest risk of becoming juvenile delinquents. The contributing factor of poor family structure is a difficult one to overcome.

The family situations that produce juvenile delinquents provide little supervision. This could be the result of too many children, too few adults, or adults preoccupied with their own careers or their own social problems (Schneider, 1995). Lack of supervision is a huge contributing factor to the situation of juvenile delinquency. It has been found that crimes committed by juveniles increase on weekdays between 2:00 and 8:00 PM when many children and adolescents are unsupervised (Berk, 2006).

Poor parenting and family structure can also facilitate aggression in youth and make aggressive behavior a permanent characteristic of some high risk juveniles. Berk states:

Boys are more likely than girls to be the targets of angry, inconsistent discipline because they are more active and impulsive and therefore harder to control. When children who are extreme in these characteristics are exposed to inept parenting, aggression rises during childhood, leads to violent offences in adolescence, and persists into adulthood (422).