Factors Contributing to Juvenile Delinquency

Document Type:Research Paper

Subject Area:Criminology

Document 1

These categories include status offenses such as smoking, property crime, and violent criminal activities. Some factors have contributed to the increase in the number of young people who engage in crime. Key among the factors is age, substance abuse, family problems, and gangs. This paper tries to explain how each of these factors contributes to juvenile delinquency. Studies in of juvenile delinquency have concluded that there are two main phases of crime based on age. Researchers suggest that as young people get older, they tend to be guilty of the pain they cause others when they engage in crime. Because of the remorse, most of the youths tend to bow out of crime thus reducing the crime rate (Bacon et al, 4-9).

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Participating in crime exposes one to numerous risks that range from physical injury to imprisonment. As one gets older, he/she gets to understand the risks better, and as a consequence, the get discouraged from engaging in crime. Another reason that discourages people in the aging out phase from engaging in criminal activities is the acquisition of skills. Excessive consumption of drugs results in addiction. Therefore, it becomes difficult for addicts to stay for long hours without the drugs. It is important to note that some of the drugs they use are expensive. However, due to their tender age, some of these youth lack jobs to provide money to buy the drugs. As a result, they opt for crime, as it is the easiest channel to raise cash (Tolan & Thomas, 17-25).

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It is the right of every child to enjoy proper parental care. It is, therefore, the duty of parents to offer good parenting, which includes supervision to their children. Unfortunately, in the present days parents tend to spend most of their time on their careers than on their children. As a result, most children are neglected (Gaines and LeRoy Miller 280-284). To make matters even worse, some of the parents abuse their children either physically, emotionally or even sexually. In addition, some gangs have specific people who have specialized in certain forms of crime, and therefore they achieve a lot. The gangs' perceived success has succeeded in attracting more young people to join them. As a result, the crime levels have significantly increased.

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