Juvenile Delinquency: Definitions, Character, and Theory (From Criminal Behavior and the Justice System: Psychological Perspectives, P 70-80, 1989, Hermann Wegener, et al, eds. -- See NCJ-116624)

• NCJ Number: 116628
• Author(s): J P J Dussich
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 11 pages
• Sale Source: Springer-Verlag
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This overview of juvenile delinquency comments on definitions and theoretical explanations, with emphasis on delinquency in the United States.

Abstract

Juvenile delinquency is an ambiguous concept that is mingled with many criteria, especially those concerning age, sex, race, and the nature of the offense. Officially, a person is not considered a juvenile delinquent until adjudicated as such. Each State defines juveniles differently. The typical profile of the American delinquent has been a white, 16-year-old male whose main interest is in material gain. Recent trends indicate that both property and violent crime rates are leveling out from their peaks of the mid-1970's. The three main theories developed for delinquency have been strain theories, cultural deviance theories, and control theories. An approach that takes a greater variety of processes into account is the concept of 'significant spacerounds.' These are patterned behavioral phenomena that have special importance to individuals and that are affected by general factors like political systems, cultures, governments, groups, individuals, feelings and ideas. Interviews with German youths and focusing on the roles of two spacerounds -- 'community' and 'hangout' -- showed the usefulness of this concept. Figures and 20 references.