Juvenile Delinquency

The study of juvenile delinquency has taken precedence over the investigation of adult crime. The most outstanding and significant researches have been made in the juvenile field. The greatest amount of expert social work and guidance has been applied to the treatment of young offenders. Moreover, it is now recognized that the beginnings of adult criminal careers have their sources in juvenile difficulties and behavior problems which have accumulated uncorrected from childhood and adolescence. As researches and treatment programs continue to concentrate on unadjusted children, increasing control over this problem is to be expected. More children will be adjusted before they graduate into a career of adult, professional crime.

Almost every educated person has his "pet" theories regarding the causes of and the cures for delinquency. These can be checked against the available facts to see to what extent they are applicable. Usually such theories will apply in part only, unless they are grossly medieval and hereditarian, in which case one must rule against them.

The facts clearly indicate that causation is multiple rather than single. In other words, the causes for delinquency in general or in a given case are compound and complex. The statistics and the cases bear out the contention that delinquent behavior is situational, that is, grows out of the total situation in which the child is a part. The data do not support the conclusion that delinquency is predetermined biologically. Delinquent behavior seems to be predetermined only in so far as the situation in which the child becomes an official problem is predetermined.

Juvenile delinquency does not have a constant or definite meaning. According to some psychologists, delinquents are those, whose pattern of adjustment, is contrary to the accepted rules. Some say that delinquents are those who violate the law, habitually disobedient or truant. But delinquents shouldn't be treated as criminals but as maturing persons who need outmost guidance, love and support while they find their way towards life.

It is important to note the distinction between crime and delinquency. Where as a crime is an act that breaks criminal code which is created by society though written law, delinquency and deviance can be acts that merely break 'cultural law' or norms. Delinquency is usually specific and descriptive of age. Tomovic cites Redl and Winelian, "The legal concept of delinquency simply states which type of behavior is forbidden by law, in which state, for which age group of children and so forth. The cultural meaning of the word might summarize all statements indicating that a piece of behavior is in contradiction with the value demands of the dominant culture within which a given child moves.

With so many theories, how do we as interested members of society decide which are most applicable? All theories presented here, as well as others that exist explain the social causes of juvenile delinquency in a certain manner. All of the theories presented hold merit. The key concept to understand is that when 'wading' through the different theories is that they could, and in many circumstances should, be used in conjunction with each other. As with any social problem, the causal factors are numerous, and there are always exceptions to every theory.

For example, Cultural Deviance theory does not explain why a juvenile may engage in criminal activity who lives in the suburbs and in a generally positive environment. The Structural perspective also does not explain why someone living in the suburbs commits delinquent acts.

Social Control theorists would view delinquents as acting out of their most primal inclinations. This perspective states that members in society form bonds with other members in society or institutions in society such as, parents, pro social friends, churches, schools, teachers, and sports teams, to name a few. "The social bonds identified by Hirschi include: the ties and affection that develop between children and key people in their lives, such as parents, teacher, relatives, and friends; commitment to social norms of behavior and to success in regard to such values as getting a good education, a good job, and being successful; involvement in activities because the more activities a person is involved in, the less time he or she will have to get into trouble; and finally the fact that most persons are brought up to believe in and respect the law"

Nature of Juvenile Delinquency

Have you ever felt like drinking, smoking or drug trafficking? Well, our stage right now is certainly the most clamorous stage in our modern life history. And that's why delinquent behavior in the Philippines is on the rise. Vandalism, petty theft, drug addiction, and drunkenness are some forms of misbehavior involving the youth of today.

But what exactly is juvenile delinquency? What, then, is delinquency? Certainly there is no more central question in this study and probably none more difficult to answer. Yet it is important to see the nature of delinquency as clearly as possible and to understand the problems that have impeded efforts at definition. It is important, because on the interpretation of the term depend all those vital differences which set off the juvenile delinquent from the adult criminal at the one extreme and from the non-offender at the other. In theory at least and, to a large degree, in fact, the delinquent child is dealt with differently from the criminal: in the conduct involved; the court and its methods employed; the treatment philosophy, purposes, and methods applied; and in the individual's status, reputation, and civil rights in the community after adjudication.

No less significant but far more difficult is the distinction between the delinquent and the individual who has no conflict with the law. Official delinquency usually implies involvement with the police, detention, court handling, damaging associations, semi-punitive correctional treatment, and a role and stigma that are ineradicable injurious--notwithstanding all the idyllic euphemisms to the contrary that embellish the literature on "rehabilitative therapy." One must decide to whom these measures need to be applied and also who, in the name of justice, should be exempt from them. Incidentally, the student of the problem would like to know what phenomenon it is that he studies, its frequency, what is being done about it, and what should be done about it. It is a major thesis of the present work that, to a considerable extent, ineffective dealing with young deviants arises from the failure to determine and classify their problems and then to apply treatment that