Factors Affecting The Juvenile

Crime Rates

What is Juvenile Delinquent
Is a person who is typically under the age of 18 and commits an act that otherwise would have been
charged as a crime if they were an adult. Depending on the type and severity of the offense committed,
it is possible for persons under 18 to be charged and tried as adults.
Age
Youth nowadays, regardless of gender, social origin or country of residence, are subject to individual
risks but are also being presented with new individual opportunities some beneficial and some
potentially harmful. Quite often, advantage is being taken of illegal opportunities as young people
commit various offences,
Ex. become addicted to drugs, and use violence against their peers.
Economic Factors
It seems logical that when the economy turns down people (especially those who are unemployed) will
become more motivated to commit theft crimes. Kids who find it hard to get jobs or find employment
after they leave school may be motivated to seek other forms of income such as theft and drug dealing.
As the economy heats up, delinquency rates should decline because people can secure good jobs.
Abortion
The link between delinquency rates and abortion is the result of the following:
1. Selective Abortion on the part of women most at risk to have children who would engaged in
delinquent activity.
2. Improve child rearing or environmental circumstances, because women are having fewer
children.
3. Absence of unwanted children who stand the greatest risk of delinquency because children
unwanted by their mothers do commit more delinquency than children who were wanted or
planned.


Guns
These juveniles, like many other participants in the illicit-drug industry, are likely to carry guns for self-
protection, largely because that industry uses guns as an important instrument for dispute resolution.
Also, the participants in the industry are likely to be carrying a considerable amount of valuable
product drugs or money derived from selling drugs and are not likely to be able to call on the police if
someone tries to rob them. Thus, they are forced to provide for their own defense; a gun is a natural
instrument.
Gangs
Another factor that affects delinquency rates is the explosive growth in teenage gangs. Boys who are
member of gangs are far morelikely to possess guns than non-gang members: criminal activity increase
when kids join gangs
Drugs
Some experts tie increase in the violent delinquency rate to the crack epidemic. As the crack epidemic
subsided these well-armed gangs did not hesitate to use violence to control territory, intimidate rivals
and increase market shares. A sudden increase in drug use, on the other hand may be a harbinger of
future to increase the delinquency rate.
The media
Media bring an individual to violence . Many researchers have concluded that young people who watch
violence tend to behave more aggressively or violently, particularly when provoked. scientific studies
show that children may imitate behavior, whether it is shown in pictures of real people or in cartoons or
merely described in stories.
First, movies that demonstrate violent acts excite spectators, and the aggressive energy can
then be transferred to everyday life, pushing an individual to engage in physical activity on the
streets.
Second, television can portray ordinary daily violence committed by parents or peers As a
result, children are continually exposed to the use of violence in different situations and the
number of violent acts on television appears to be increasing.
SOCIAL FACTORS
Family structure - Family characteristics such as poor parenting skills, family size, home discord, child
maltreatment, and antisocial parents are risk factors linked to juvenile delinquency the strongest
predictors of later convictions for violent offenses were poor parental supervision, parental conflict,
and parental aggression, including harsh, punitive discipline.
Peer influences -Peer risk factors refer to the problems that may arise when a young person associates
with a friend who is already engaging in offending or other anti-social behavior. These friendships can
become a training ground for anti-social behavior. Studies have shown that association with anti-social
peers increases the likelihood of offending
.
The risk from anti-social peers is a strong feature of
adolescent onset offenders who may have had positive childhoods, but begin to pick up several risk
factors in adolescence. Once they reach puberty the influence of the family decreases and the influence
of peers increases. In fact, of all the risk factors having causal relationships with youth offending, anti-
social peers was the strongest.