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CHAPTER OBJECTIVESCHAPTER OBJECTIVES
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:1. Identify three main ways that juvenile crime is measured
in the United States.2. Analyze strengths and weaknesses of victimization
surveys and self-reports for juvenile crime.3. Demonstrate an understanding of juvenile crime and
victimization in the United States.4. Describe the concepts of risk factor and protective
factor.5. List the various risk and protective factors and explain
how these relate to juvenile delinquency.
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2.1 Issues in the Measurement of Juvenile Crime
Juveniles are more and more perceived by the general public as potential offenders. Despite the media’s sharp focus on a recent string of shootings at suburban schools, the nature and extent of juvenile delinquency in the U.S. remains elusive for several reasons:
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Issues in the Measurement of Juvenile Crime
Measuring total crime in the U.S. is extremely difficult. Singling out juvenile crime presents its own sent of unique problems.
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Issues in the Measurement of Juvenile Crime
• The juvenile justice system is decentralized.• Record-keeping in the juvenile justice system is still subject
to confidentiality and sealing restrictions.• There are many options available for juveniles who come
into contact with the system, which makes it difficult to measure the true extent of delinquency.
confidentiality and sealing restrictions: Laws that keep juvenile records confidential to prevent them from being viewed.
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Issues in the Measurement of Juvenile Crime
There are mechanisms in place to measure juvenile delinquency. • Each has its strengths and weaknesses.• Each presents different issues in measurement and
interpretation.
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Issues in the Measurement of Juvenile Crime
This chapter will examine:• Ways in which juvenile crime is measured• The extent of juvenile crime and victimization• Some of the correlates of juvenile delinquency
correlates: Variables that are related to each other and are said to be correlated. Correlates should not be interpreted to imply causation.
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Issues in the Measurement of Juvenile Crime
Research on delinquency has led to a variety of conclusions about what causes, and what correlates with, juvenile crime.• There are many risk factors in juvenile offending• There are also many protective factors that keep people
from committing delinquent acts.
risk factors: Variables that research has found to be correlated
with juvenile delinquency.
protective factors: Variables that research has found to protect or
insulate a juvenile from becoming a delinquent.
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SELF CHECKSELF CHECK
What factors help explain the elusive nature of juvenile delinquency in the United States?
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2.2 Measuring the Extent of Juvenile Crime
The question of how much juvenile crime exists is typically answered through three main methods of gathering crime statistics:
• Official records• Victimization surveys• Self-report surveys
official records: Statistics and data collected by law enforcement agencies,
courts, and correctional institutions.
victimization surveys: Survey research conducted using victims
or potential victims of crime.
self-report surveys: Survey research conducted with offenders
or potential offenders.
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Official Records and MeasuresOfficial statistics and measures are data collected by city, county, state, or federal governmental agencies. The primary storage agency for juvenile records is typically the juvenile probation agency.• Typically, each county has its own system of record-
keeping.
• Official records of juvenile crimes outside of the county or state itself are based almost exclusively on police records and counts of crimes.
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Law Enforcement StatisticsThe most comprehensive official measure of crime in the U.S. is the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR).
Uniform Crime Reports (UCR): Statistical report compiled by the FBI using reports from
law enforcement agencies across the country. The report is broken into two main categories of
offenses: Part I and Part II crimes.
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Law Enforcement Statistics
• Part I Offenses
• Part II Offenses
Part I Offenses: Also known as the index offenses. The counts of the most serious crimes in the UCR (felonies), including murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated
assault.
Part II Offenses: The less serious crimes counted in the UCR, mainly misdemeanors.
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Law Enforcement StatisticsThe UCR collects data from police agencies throughout the U.S. that count the number of crimes reported for each category of offense.• The FBI then counts the number of crimes
committed each year throughout the U.S. and the number of arrests.
• From the arrest data, the FBI estimates how many juvenile offender arrests the police have made.
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Law Enforcement Statistics• The total number of juvenile arrests for Violent
Crime Index offenses has been declining.
• In contrast, the Property Crime Index rate has remained relatively constant over the last 16 years.
• Status offenses have risen sharply over the last several years.
Violent Crime Index: The violent crimes included in the Part I offenses—murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
Property Crime Index: The property crimes included in the Part I offenses: burglary, motor vehicle theft, larceny-theft, and arson.
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Juvenile Arrest Rates 1981-1998 FIGURE 2-1
Note: The Property Crime Index includes burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.
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FIGURE 2-1 (continued)
Juvenile Arrest Rates for Curfew and Loitering Violations 1981-1998
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Juvenile Court StatisticsThe Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) collects data from state and local agencies.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP): A component of the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. Primary federal agency responsible for addressing the issues of juvenile
crime and delinquency and the problem of missing and exploited children.
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Juvenile Court StatisticsThe office collects both automated case-level data and aggregate data from juvenile courts around the country.
These statistics are estimates and should not be viewed as a comprehensive count of court activity.
automated case-level data: Data collected by agencies at the individual case level
containing details on the offender, victim, disposition, and other relevant items.
aggregate data: Data collected by agencies on how many crimes or
dispositions they possess. No individual-level data are collected, only summary statistics and counts.
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Juvenile Court StatisticsThese statistics reveal several interesting patterns, including a demonstration of the funnel effect in processing these cases.
funnel effect: Way in which the number of cases processed through the juvenile justice system decrease
at each successive step.
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MYTHMYTH FACTFACTJuveniles are responsible for most crimes in the United States.
According to arrest data, juveniles are only involved in 18% of all crimes in the U.S. Juveniles were involved in 17% of all violent crime arrests and 33% of all property crime arrests in 1998.
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Juvenile Court Processing of Delinquency Cases 1987-1996
FIGURE 2-3
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Juvenile Correctional Statistics• Another official measure of delinquency in
the U.S. is based on correctional statistics: the tabulated number of juveniles committed to public and private facilities.
• These counts accurately indicate how many juveniles have been incarcerated for delinquency.
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Strengths and Problems with Official Records and MeasuresThe chief strength of official records is that they are reliable counts of juveniles who have been arrested, processed, and incarcerated by the justice system. • Summary counts give a clear idea of the workload the
system must handle.• Official statistics present the national picture of juvenile
crime and allow comparisons between jurisdictions.• Official statistics can clearly show trends in arrests and
processing.
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Strengths and Problems with Official Records and MeasuresThese statistics are limited by the fact that many juvenile dispositions occur outside formal processing and very few juvenile offenders are ever sent to a secure correctional facility.
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Strengths and Problems with Official Records and MeasuresThe UCR depends on accurate counts from law enforcement agencies. • Yet not all enforcement agencies report to the UCR. • Sometimes counts are inaccurate, and do not include the
dark figure of crime.
dark figure of crime: The phrase used to describe the number of crimes committed but undiscovered or
unreported.
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Strengths and Problems with Official Records and Measures
The UCR underestimates crimes for several reasons:• Not all crimes are reported to police, particularly victimless crimes.
• Crimes go unreported because incidents are handled informally.• The UCR uses a hierarchy rule.• The broad discretion and variety of dispositional options leave
incidents undocumented or unreported.
victimless crimes: Crimes in which the victim is often a willing participant, for example in crimes of
prostitution and drug use.
hierarchy rule: Rule used in collecting data for the UCR that states only the most serious crime in any one criminal event will be counted. For example, if a person kidnaps, rapes, and then murders another
person, the crime is counted as one murder.
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Strengths and Problems with Official Records and Measures
Victimization surveys document that less than 40% of all serious crime is reported to the police.
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Percentage of Violent Percentage of TheftCrime Reported To Reported To
Victim’s Age Police Others Police Others
12 20% 28% 7% 36%
13 22 23 8 35
14 26 17 12 32
15 31 13 11 30
16 33 9 10 23
17 38 6 14 17
SOURCE: Snyder, Howard N. and Melissa Sickmund. 1999. “Children as Victims,” Juvenile Justice Bulletin May 2000. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.c
Percentage of Crime Reported by Juveniles Aged 12-17
FIG
UR
E 2
-5
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Strengths and Problems with Official Records and MeasuresA new system of data collection that solves many of the problems with official statistics is the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).
National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS): Data collection system implemented to
collect individual-level data on offenders, victims, and crime from police departments. It is designed to address
many of the problems with the UCR.
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Victimization Statistics and Measures
Another way juvenile crime is measured is through victimization surveys. • People are randomly selected throughout the
country to be surveyed about any criminal victimizations they have experienced over the last 6 to 12 months. The statistics gathered are then used to generate estimates of the amount of crime that occurs.
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Victimization Statistics and MeasuresThe longest and most well-known victimization survey presents a better picture of the dark figure of crime. It is the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS).
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS): A national survey of households on the subject of victimization,
conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
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Victimization Statistics and Measures
A better measure of juvenile crime comes from data taken from self-reported victimization at schools.
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Strengths and Weaknesses of Victimization Statistics and
Measures• Victimization studies do capture the dark
figure of crime.
• They also tend to show a more realistic picture of the total number of crimes committed annually.
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Strengths and Weaknesses of Victimization Statistics and
Measures• The main drawback in the measurement of
juvenile crime is that victimization surveys are sent to homes, asking that the head of household complete the survey.
• Because juveniles rarely report victimization, it is unlikely that the head of household knows the true extent of victimization affecting their children.
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Strengths and Weaknesses of Victimization Statistics and
Measures• For victimization studies to be accurate
measures of juvenile crime, the victim must know the offender was a juvenile.
• For most crimes reported in the NCVS, the offender is unknown.
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Self-Report Statistics and Measures
• Self-report statistics are gathered from surveys of youths who volunteer information about their criminal and drug histories. These are the only research projects specifically targeted at juveniles.
• These probably provide the most accurate picture of juvenile crime.
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Self-Report Statistics and MeasuresAn important self-report research endeavor is the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency Program, a combination of three surveys:
• Denver Youth Survey
• Pittsburgh Youth Study
• Rochester Youth Development Study
Denver Youth Survey, Pittsburgh Youth Study, and Rochester Youth Development Study: Three interrelated studies designed to assess the level
and correlates of juvenile crime.
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Self-Report Statistics and Measures• The study is designed to improve the
understanding of serious delinquency, violence, and drug use by examining how youth develop within the context of family, school, peers, and community.
• It constitutes the largest shared-measurement approached ever achieved in delinquency research.
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Strengths and Weaknesses of Self-Report Statistics and Measures
• Self-report data has shown that individuals commit many more offenses than those for which they are arrested.
• Self-reports allow researchers to probe juveniles’ backgrounds for reasons they may have for committing delinquent acts.
• The data allow an examination of trends in juvenile offending and juvenile risk-taking behavior.
• Self-reports give a detailed picture of juvenile crime and offenses.
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Strengths and Weaknesses of Self-Report Statistics and Measures
• One common criticism of self-report research is that the data may not be exact because of inaccurate memory, exaggeration, confusion over definitions, and lying.
• Another problem is that chronic truants and habitual delinquents are excluded from surveys taken in schools.
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Strengths and Weaknesses of Self-Report Statistics and Measures
Questionnaires can cause problems with self-report research:• Questionnaires focus on non-serious offenses• People confuse crimes, such as robbery and
burglary• Responses such as “often,” “sometimes,”
“occasionally,” and “never” can be interpreted differently.
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Comparison of the Three MethodsNotable differences between self-report data and official statistics are:• Self-report data show that nearly all juveniles
break the law at one time or another. However, only a small percentage go on to become serious or habitual delinquents.
serious or habitual delinquents: Juveniles who persist in delinquency. Research has shown that a small number of habitual
delinquents commit a disproportionate amount of crime.
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Comparison of the Three Methods• Self-reports show less impact on juvenile
offending of gender, race, and social class than official statistics show.
• The best measure of juvenile crime and juvenile offending comes from self-reports. Victimization surveys are probably the worst.
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SELF CHECKSELF CHECK
1. Explain the concept of victimless crime.
2. Why do you think the report percentage for crimes involving juveniles is low compared to that of crimes involving adults?
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2.3 Juvenile Victimization Rates and Trends
Determining the level of juvenile victimization is as difficult as determining the amount of juvenile crime.
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Juvenile Victimization Rates and Trends
• Juveniles are more likely to be victims than to commit crime.
• Recently, the number of serious violent victimizations involving juveniles has decreased.
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Juvenile Homicide and Serious Violent Victimization in the U.S.
FIGURE 2-7
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FIGURE 2-7 continued
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Juvenile Victimization Rates and Trends
• Juveniles were the victims in 25% of all violent crimes and 20% of all family violence incidents in 1998.
• 66% of the violent crime committed by juveniles was committed against juvenile victims.
• Juveniles were twice as likely as adults to be victims of serious violent crime and three times as likely to be the victim of a simple assault.
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Juvenile Victimization by Type of Crime, Percentage of All Crimes Against Juveniles
FIGURE 2-9
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Juvenile Victimization Rates and Trends
Many crimes committed by and against juveniles occur at school.• In a recent survey, nearly 75% of students reported
being aware of a crime being committed at school.
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Proportion of Students in Grades 6-12 Reporting
Victim of Aware of Witnessed Worried AboutCrime Crime Crime Crime
Total 12% 70% 57% 25%
Gender
Male 14 71 58 25
Female 9 70 54 26
Race/Ethnicity
White 12 72 57 24
Black 12 69 56 27
Hispanic 11 65 51 30
Other Race 12 64 48 26
SOURCE: Poe-Yamagata, Eileen. 1993. Student Victimization by Sex and Race. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Juvenile Victimization at School (Physical Attacks, Robbery, Bullying)
FIGURE 2-10
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Juvenile Victimization Rates and Trends
There are few differences based on race or gender in awareness, witnessing a crime, or being worried about crime.
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MYTHMYTH FACTFACTMost crimes committed against juveniles are reported to police.
Only a small
percentage of crimes against juveniles are ever reported.
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SELF CHECKSELF CHECK
Between 1985 and 1995, what was the percentage of juveniles in the number of victims of violent crimes?
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2.4 Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile Delinquency
What’s wrong with kids today?It’s a question that adults have asked for generations.
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Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile DelinquencyIn the U.S., the answers have typically been simplistic: • rock and roll, rap, and punk music
• pornography• the Internet• television violence• violent video games• media coverage of crimes• crime and violence in movies
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Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile Delinquency
• The fact is that juveniles have always been crime-prone. However, in recent years, the trend toward violent juvenile crime has increased.
• Juvenile crime should be considered multivariate; there is no single variable, such as music and television, that causes a juvenile to commit crime.
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Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile Delinquency• A new area of research focuses on risk and
protective factors, as well as causal factors.causal factor: A factor that is said to cause another factor or outcome.
• A risk factor is a variable that, by its presence or absence, is correlated with the youth’s becoming delinquent, but does not cause the delinquency.
• A protective factor is a variable or characteristic that correlates with not committing delinquent acts.
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Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile Delinquency
It is important to remember that:
•Risk factors do not cause delinquency.
•Protective factors do not prevent delinquency.
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Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile DelinquencyResearch has attempted to identify risk and protective factors in an effort to design a delinquency prevention program. These factors may be:
• Variables out of the child’s control: race, gender, socio-economic status, school district
• Behaviors juveniles display when very young: hyperactivity, lying, acting out
• Activities juveniles engage in: substance abuse, unprotected sex, dangerous driving
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Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile Delinquency
An at-risk youth may be defined in several ways.Boys Town has this definition:
Any youth who is in danger of placement outside of the home; has had negative contact with law enforcement, schools, churches, or other agencies; or who has been impacted directly by substance abuse, sexual promiscuity, or physical abuse.
at-risk youth: A youth who is in danger of becoming a delinquent.
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Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile Delinquency• Researchers are not able to say that certain
factors cause or prevent delinquency. • For every at-risk youth who becomes a
delinquent, another does not.• Risk and protective factors are best
understood as being interrelated.
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Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile DelinquencyIn general, risk and protective factors can be categorized into six areas:
• Biology and genetics• Personality• Family
biology and genetics: A set of hereditary factors correlated with juvenile
delinquency.
personality: A set of factors focusing on psychological make-up and attitudes correlated with
juvenile delinquency.
family: A set of factors focusing on parents, siblings, extended family members, and the inner-workings of the family, correlated with juvenile
delinquency.
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Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile Delinquency
• Social environment• Ecological environment• Educational environment
social environment: A set of factors focusing on the juvenile’s peers, social
class, and activities and interests, correlated with juvenile delinquency.
ecological environment: A set of factors focusing on the community and
neighborhood correlated with juvenile delinquency.
educational environment: A set of factors focusing on the juvenile’s school, attitudes
toward education, and academic behavior and performance, correlated with juvenile
delinquency.
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Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile Delinquency• Research has shown that risk and protective
factors are predictive of who will and who will not become delinquent.
• The model should be viewed as predictive and not causal.
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Biology and GeneticsResearchers are still studying biological and genetic explanations for delinquency.• Low IQ has been found to be related to
delinquency independently of socioeconomic status, ethnicity, neighborhood, and impulsivity. How we develop IQ is not understood.
IQ: Intelligence Quotient. Standardized test score used for measuring intelligence.
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Biology and GeneticsAnother area of contention has been the connection between race and crime.
• Some research has shown that African-American boys are more likely to commit delinquency than Caucasian boys at age 6.
• Differences gradually developed as the boys aged, with African-American boys 8% more likely than Caucasians to be seriously delinquent.
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Biology and Genetics• Gender is a genetic risk factor that is clearly
a predictor of delinquency. Boys are more involved in more serious forms of delinquency than girls.
• However, in recent years there has been a marked increase in female involvement in delinquent acts.
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FamilyA large body of research has assessed many family characteristics and found that several are related to delinquency and drug use, including:
• Parental criminality• Child maltreatment• Poor family practices• Absence of parental supervision• Parental rejection• Lack of parental involvement with the juvenile• Parental marriage status and relations• Parental discipline• Parental health
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Family• The presence of a father reduces the
chances of a delinquent son.• First-born children are less likely to be
delinquent.
• The larger the family size, the more likely it is that a child in the family will be delinquent.
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Family• A large study found that there was a
minimal impact from a broken home on delinquency.
• The factor that best explained delinquency was poor supervision.
broken home: A home that is plagued by a variety of serious problems such as abuse or neglect; a correlate of juvenile delinquency.
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FamilyThe Rochester Youth Study found that:• Children more attached to and involved with their parents
were less involved in delinquency.
• Poor parenting increased the probability of delinquent behavior and delinquent behavior further weakened the relationship between parent and child.
• The impact of family variables appeared to fade as adolescents became older and more independent from their parents.
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Family
A link has also been found between childhood victimization and delinquent behavior.
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Family
• The overall effect of family on delinquency is difficult to assess definitively.
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Most research is still in its infancy in the area of personality characteristics and their relationship to youths being at risk. Some personality characteristics are common to delinquents: • Hyperactivity
• Restlessness• Risk-taking behavior• Aggressiveness
Personality
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Social EnvironmentA young person’s social environment includes peers, social class, and activities and interests.• Associating with
delinquent peers is strongly and consistently related to delinquency.
• Accordingly, having peers who disapprove of delinquency is a protective factor.
peers: Classmates, friends, and associates.
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Social Environment• The idea that social class influences
delinquency has been hotly contested.
• Findings from self-report research show that youths from all backgrounds participate equally in delinquency.
social class: The socio-economic level of a juvenile’s family, typically sorted as underclass, lower class, working class, middle
class, upper-middle class, upper class, etc.
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Social Environment
An old proverb says, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” In other words, the more time juveniles are involved in extracurricular activities, the less time they have to be delinquent.
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Ecological EnvironmentThere is a strong correlation between community crime rates and delinquency. Particular risk factors in delinquency are areas with:
• High crime rates• High poverty rates• Easy access to drugs and firearms• Social disorganization
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EducationThere are three broad areas related to education that are either risk or protective factors related to delinquency:
• The school itself• The juvenile’s attitude toward education• The juvenile’s behavior and performance at
school
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EducationOne study found that:• Weak school commitment and poor school
performance were associated with increased involvement in delinquency and drug use.
• School success was associated with resilience.
• Involvement in delinquency reduced commitment to school.
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Behavior and Lifestyle
Juveniles who possess risk factors tend to engage in different behaviors than juveniles who possess protective factors.
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Behavior and LifestylePittsburgh Youth Study researchers identified three developmental pathways in which progressively more serious problem behaviors are displayed:
• Authority conflict Stubbornness prior to age 12, then defiance and avoidance of authority.
• Covert Minor covert acts, such as lying, followed by property damage and moderately serious delinquency, then by serious delinquency.
• Overt Minor aggression followed by fighting and violence.
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Behavior and Lifestyle• The progression to more serious
delinquency leads to a certain lifestyle.
• Once a juvenile has adopted a particular lifestyle, the lifestyle reinforces itself and leads to subsequent risky or protective behavior, depending on the lifestyle.
lifestyle: Pattern of individual behaviors, attitudes, and outcomes.
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Behavior and Lifestyle• The risk and protective factors involved in a
lifestyle also relate to the odds of becoming the victim of crime.
• Juveniles who adopt a risky lifestyle also put themselves at greater risk of being victims of assault, robbery, rape, and murder.
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Drugs and AlcoholThe question of whether drug use or delinquency comes first is still unanswered.
• Drug use has been found to be a risk factor in a variety of delinquent and violent behaviors.
• Drug use is a risk factor in becoming a victim of violent behavior at school.
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Contact with the System
The early initiation of the juvenile into criminal or drug-using behavior, accompanied by early serious contact with the criminal justice system, is one of the most predictive risk factors associated with delinquency.
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Social Behavior
How juveniles behavior in society and how they interact with others is also a risk factor.• Those who lie, cheat, and steal are at more risk
than those who don’t.• Anti-social and aggressive behavior in young
children is a risk factor for future delinquency.
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Social Behavior• Youths who join gangs, regardless of the
reasons, are substantially more at risk for becoming arrested or becoming a victim of crime.
• Those who remain in gangs for a long time have extraordinarily high rates of delinquency.
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Other Behaviors
Other risk factors include:
• Sexual promiscuity
• Poor diet and health care, including smoking, drinking, and using drugs
• Unsafe conduct, including carrying a weapon
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Cumulative Effects of Risk Factors
It is not any one risk or protective factor that determines delinquency. Instead, the cumulative effect of risk or non-risk behavior, background, and attitude is more important.
cumulative effect: The total result of combined risk factors.
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Cumulative Effects of Risk Factors
• The probability of delinquency increases as the number of risk factors increases.
• When the number of risk factors exceed the number of protective factors, the juvenile’s chance of having a delinquency-free adolescence will be small.
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Outcomes and OpportunitiesEngaging in risky behaviors or lifestyles typically leads to certain outcomes and opportunities or the lack of them.
outcomes and opportunities: The consequences of a person’s particular lifestyle; low-risk lifestyles lead to different outcomes and opportunities than high-risk lifestyles.
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Outcomes and OpportunitiesFor juveniles already involved in risky behavior, serious and bad outcomes may be likely:
• Teenage pregnancy• School failure• Trouble with the criminal justice system• Unemployability• Poor self-concept• Chemical dependency
Once a youth adopts a certain lifestyle, it tends to either open or restrict access to opportunities.
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Outcomes and Opportunities• Risk and protective factors do offer a partial
explanation for delinquency.• For this reason, identified risk and
protective factors have found their place in programmatic interventions and initiatives designed to reduce juvenile delinquency and violence.
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SELF CHECKSELF CHECK
What is the difference between a causal factor and a risk factor?
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