Delinquency and Violence
QUICK LOOK AT THE CHAPTER AHEAD
Delinquency, aggression, and violence have many roots: physical, temperamental, attitudinal, psychological, and sociocultural.
Contrary to popular belief, increased testosterone does not by itself cause aggression.
Bullies need to dominate their victims, for whom they feel no empathy even at close range.
A lack of self-control in young children may foreshadow troubled behavior in adolescence.
Positive youth development refers to the opportunities for adolescents to become engaged in their communities and to interact with competent peers and adults.
TERMS
Delinquency
Impulsive behavior
The increasing violence in U.S. society has focused attention on the issues of juvenile delinquency, youth gangs, random aggression, and drug use in this country. Although most youths never become involved with law enforcement agencies, the extent of youth crime and violence cannot be ignored. The 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey indicated that 18.5% of U.S. youth carried a weapon, 5.4% carried a gun, 6% avoided school out of fear, and 36% had been in a physical fight (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007). Bullying has become a public health problem. Youths who are African American or non-white Hispanic are disproportionately represented among troubled adolescents and their victims.
The 2005 National Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey indicated that 18.5% of U.S. youth carried a weapon, 5.4% carried a gun, 6% avoided school out of fear, and 36% had been in a physical fight. Bullying has become a public health problem. Youths who are African American or non-white Hispanic are disproportionately represented among troubled adolescents and their victims.Delinquency may be defined as behavior that the public at any specific time thinks is in conflict with its best interests. (This definition includes behavior that is personally nonadaptive, albeit legally sanctioned.) The causes of delinquency defy easy categorization. Usually it is difficult to identify just what propelled a boy or girl along the troubled path to delinquency. One of the most disturbing characteristics of juvenile crime is its increasing tendency toward violence.
THE ROOTS OF DELINQUENCY, AGGRESSION, AND VIOLENCENot all aggression is meant to be violent, but all violence is aggressive and meant to cause harm. Theories that address the roots of aggressive and violent behavior include ethology, biology, social learning theory, self-control, and developmental contextualism (Table 63-1).
Not all aggression is meant to be violent, but all violence is aggressive and meant to cause harm.In their massive and now-classic study of crime and human nature, Wilson and Herrnstein (1985) found clear evidence of a positive association between past and future antisocial behavior; that is, the best predictor of violence is past antisocial behavior. Although the causes of violent and criminal behavior are multiple and complex, most modern scientists believe that a tendency to commit crime is established early in life, perhaps as soon as the preschool years, and that the behaviors of these children provide ample clues to their possible future antisocial behavior.
A critical age for early signs of emerging delinquency is 7 to 12 years, when children begin to develop self-schemas that are aligned with risky behavior and to search for friends who may affirm this behavior. They may be drawn to a particular group because a friend is a member; it may be a sign of rebellion (“My mother doesn’t like those kids, but I think they’re neat”); or it may just seem a daring thing to do.
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