Factors and Causes of
Juvenile Delinquency
CHAPTER III
LEARNING OUTCOMES
• Explain how socialization contributes to
the development of juvenile delinquency
• Cite different social groups that shape the
behavior and personality of juveniles
• Analyze how family, peers, environment,
school, mass media, and other social
groups can contribute to the delinquency
problem
COURSE CONTENT
• Individual Factors
Early antisocial behavior
Emotional factors such as high behavioral
activation and low behavioral inhibition
Poor cognitive development
Low intelligence
Hyperactivity
COURSE CONTENT
• School and Community Factors
Failure to bond to school
Poor academic performance
Low academic aspirations
Living in a poor family
Neighborhood disadvantage
Disorganized neighborhoods
Concentration of delinquent peer groups
Access to weapons
COURSE CONTENT
• Family Factors
Parenting
Maltreatment
Family violence
Divorce
Parental psychopathology
Familial antisocial behaviors
Teenage parenthood
Family structure
Large family size
COURSE CONTENT
• Peer Factors
Association with deviant peers
Peer rejection
• Other Contributory Factors & Causes to
Juvenile Delinquency Problem
Individual Factors
• Early antisocial behavior -has its origins in
childhood behavior problems, particularly those
characterized by aggressive and destructive
behavior. Deficits in self-regulation across
multiple domains of functioning, from the
physiological to the cognitive, are associated
with early behavior problems, and may place
children at greater risk for the development of
later antisocial behavior.
• Emotional factors such as high behavioral
activation and low behavioral inhibition
-either “internalizing” (emotional
disorders such as depression and
anxiety) or “externalizing” (disruptive
behaviors such as ADHD and CD).
• Poor cognitive development
-lack of proper nutrients and interaction
during vulnerable stages of cognitive
development, particularly during infancy.
• Low intelligence
-lacking in intelligence, common sense,
or just in general awareness; clumsy or
idiotic.
• Hyperactivity
-the state or condition of being overly
active
School and Community Factors
• Failure to bond to school
– adolescents who fail to establish this social
bond to engage in a variety of prosocial
behaviors and achieve up to their potential
academically, and less likely to engage in
problem behaviors such as fighting, bullying,
truancy, vandalism and substance use.
• Poor academic performance
-who fails to attain a set standard
performance in a given evaluation
exercise such as test, examination
or series of continuous assessment.
• Low academic aspirations
-are less likely to take advantage of these
opportunities, thus limiting their future
educational opportunities (Arbona, 2000).
• Living in a poor family
• Neighborhood disadvantage
-living in a neighborhood where
danger, trouble, crime and incivility are
common apparently damages health.
• Disorganized neighborhoods
-are those characterized by
disadvantaged residents and a lack of
resources. Research shows that
disorganized neighborhoods can have
higher crime rates.
• Concentration of delinquent peer groups
-School and community risk factors
• Access to weapons
FAMILY FACTORS
-Studies have found that the majority of
drug users have had an unhappy childhood,
which included harsh punishment and
parental neglect.
Family Factors
• Parenting -poor parenting practices are
important risk factors for delinquency.
Ex;
neglect or the absence of supervision
throughout childhood and adolescence;
the presence of overt conflict or abuse;
discipline that is inconsistent or
inappropriate to the behavior; and
a lack of emotional warmth in the family
• Association with deviant peers
• Association with deviant peers
-Earlier involvement with deviant peers
and involvement with groups defined by
severe conduct problems and
substance use were related to the
greatest risk for substance use disorder
at time.
• Peer rejection
-is a global term that encompasses
the many behaviors used by children
to exclude and hurt one another,
including overt forms of control and
exclusion and more subtle tactics,
such as gossiping and spreading
rumors.
THREE TYPES OF DELINQUENT
GANGS BY CLOWARD AND OHLIN
• The Criminal Gang -devoted themselves
in obtaining something, especially money,
through force or threats.
Ex: Organize criminal group
• The conflict/violent gang -
The Retreatist Gang -When criminal
opportunities do not exist, conflict
gangs fight to gain social status and
protect their integrity and honor.
Retreatist gangs do not possess the
skills to be considered criminal gangs.
They retreat into a role on the fringe of
society that usually involves heavy drug
use and withdrawal from social
interaction.
THANK YOU & GOD BLESS!
