Juvenile Delinquency Cumulative Final Exam Notes Exam 1 Thinking about Delinquency o delinquency concept developed in 1818 as a way of differentiating minor offenders 18 from adult offenders o An entirely new and separate court system was developed to process delinquents o Who is delinquent A person who has violated the law before reaching 18 years of age unless the individual has been sentenced as an adult o Differences between minor and adult offenders Juveniles processed by a different legal system Juveniles are seen as needing treatment not punishment Juveniles can get into trouble for committing status offenses truancy etc Parents can be held responsible for children s delinquency The Social Construction of Delinquency o Like adult crime there is much variation in what is considered a delinquent act o There is much variation and discretion in who will be punished for committing delinquency o May depend on offenders Sex Race ethnicity Social class Attitude behavior including prior reward o Youth are more likely than adults to be offenders Those aged 15 19 make up 7 of the population In 2010 according to the FBI 14 of those arrested for violent crimes were teens 22 for property crimes Age and Crime o Youth are more likely to be involved in illegal behavior than adults o Why are young people more likely than adults to commit illegal behaviors They like to pursue thrill and risk seeking activities Kids don t have as many responsibilities or things to lose fewer stakes in conformity They are trying to mimic adult behavior Adolescent delinquency is more visible and more likely to result in detection o Why do young people age out of delinquency They become more future oriented They learn how to deal with problems pro socially Take on more responsibilities They become more aware of and concerned about risks and consequences of crime Personalities change brains develop The Nature of Delinquency o Youth commit illegal acts at high rates In 2010 1 6 million youth arrested Violence is second largest leading cause of death for ages 10 24 Juvenile arrests are declining o o What types of crime are juveniles most likely to be arrested for Larceny theft disorderly conduct vandalism Non violent Drug use abuse Violent Minor assault o Robbery aggravated assault o Rape and murder much less common o Where do we find info about rates of juvenile delinquency how reliable and valid are these sources Types of Crime Data Official statistics law enforcement measures o FBI Uniform Crime Report UCR Reported by most law enforcement agencies Provides number of crimes known to law enforcement and arrest rates for 29 offenses Detailed info on 8 of these offenses o National Incident based Reporting System NIBRS Reported by law enforcement agencies in 31 states Provides detail on 56 offenses Official data o What do these data tell us Not how many are committing offenses but how many are getting caught by law enforcement o What are their limitations They re not valid source regarding number of crimes Do not capture all offenses underestimate delinquency Subject to errors or bias by law enforcement agencies Can t provide all the details about offenses that we may low validity low reliability want o What are their strengths Provides data on large populations Depicts changes over time Gives some details about the offenses NIBRS Cheap and easy to access Survey Self report Data o Limitations reliability scale o Strengths crime Subjects may lie and over or under report offending or victimization affects validity Subjects may not remember all offenses May not understand the questions affects validity and Difficult and expensive to collect especially on a large Small studies have less generalizability Most valid source of information on the dark figure of Especially good for collecting data on most hidden offenses Potentially less biased than law enforcement measures Can provide rich details about offenses Who is most likely to be delinquent o Do demographic characteristics cause delinquency No they are correlates of offending o Gender and Delinquency Males are more likely than females to be arrested Girls made up 29 of all juvenile arrests in 2010 Gender differences are greatest for violent and serious crimes Are there delinquent acts for which girls are more likely than boys to be arrested Prostitution Possible explanations for gender differences Differences in biology o Testosterone crime link has not been proven Differences in mental health o Some evidence that girls are more likely to have internalizing disorders and boys are more likely to develop externalizing disorders Differences in gender socialization o There is evidence that girls and boys differ in Opportunities for crime Parenting practices Exposure to delinquent peers Influence of delinquent peers There are similarities in male and female delinquency Both sexes are least likely to commit very violent crimes National crime trends are similar for both sexes Other demographic characteristics of offenders are similar for males and females risk factors for delinquency are similar for both sexes o Race and delinquency What is the relationship It depends on the source of data Juvenile arrest records 2010 UCR data 66 of all arrestees were white o 47 violent crimes o 64 property crimes make up of all arrests for o Robbery 67 o Murder 56 o Simple assault 38 o Burglary 36 o Drug abuse violation 24 o Vandalism 20 Blacks make up about 17 of population aged 10 17 But black youth Race ethnicity and substance abuse Whites more likely reported drinking smoking marijuana followed by blacks and Hispanics What can explain race ethnic differences in arrest rates Differential processing by the juvenile justice system Minority groups may hold attitudes less favorable to police and resist or protest police encounters What might explain race ethnic differences in delinquent behaviors Social factors such as education and poverty Neighborhood residence What might explain race ethnic differences in substance abuse Access to different substances Differences in cultural norms and role modeling o Social class and crime What is the relationship between income and crime It is very difficult to get good information on this topic Generally lower income is associated with more offending But o The relationship is stringer according to official data o The relationship is stronger when examining more serious crimes o The relationship may be indirect and related to other factors o The Saints