JUVENILE DELINQUENCY - A REVIEW OF THE PAST AND A LOOK AT THE FUTURE

• NCJ Number: 54254
• Journal: Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic Volume: 42 Issue: 3 Dated: (MAY 1978) Pages: 252-260
• Author(s): D B RINSLEY
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 9 pages
• Corporate Author: Menninger Foundation
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE PSYCHOSOCIAL ETIOLOGY OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IS DISCUSSED, AND SPECULATION IS OFFERED ABOUT FUTURE MANIFESTATIONS OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY.

Abstract

STUDIES DEALING WITH THE CAUSES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY SHOW DELINQUENT YOUTHS TO BE PSYCHOSOCIALLY DEVIANT INDIVIDUALS WHO FAIL TO ACCULTURATE, WHICH RESULTS FROM PATHOGENIC PARENTING BY ADULT SURROGATES WHO THEMSELVES NEVER ADEQUATELY ACCULTURATED. JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IS UNDERSTANDABLE IN TERMS OF A NEXUS OF INTERRELATED INDIVIDUAL, FAMILIAL, AND SOCIOCULTURAL DETERMINANTS. IRRESPECTIVE OF THE SPECIFICS OF SYMPTOMATIC BEHAVIOR OR DIAGNOSIS, THE DELINQUENT IS FUNDAMENTALLY EGOCENTRIC, WHETHER FUNCTIONING INDIVIDUALLY OR AS A MEMBER OF A NARCISSISTICALLY SELF-SERVING PEER GROUP. DURING THE 1960'S AND THE EARLY 1970'S, THE NARCISSISM THAT FUELS JUVENILE DELINQUENCY APPARENTLY SWEPT THROUGH THE GENERAL POPULATION AS SEXUAL, FAMILIAL, RELIGIOUS, AND SOCIAL STANDARDS REQUIRING A DEGREE OF SELF-DISCIPLINE AND RATIONAL UNSELFISHNESS IN THE INTEREST OF FULFILLING AN IDEAL FOR COLLECTIVE LIVING GAVE WAY TO DEMANDS FOR INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM THAT HOPEFULLY WOULD LEAD TO IMMEDIATE EMOTIONAL AND MATERIAL GRATIFICATION. IN THE ABSENCE OF CLEAR STANDARDS FOR COLLECTIVE LIVING, REFLECTED PARTICULARLY IN THE BREAKDOWN OF THE FAMILY, JUVENILE DELINQUENCY REACHED EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS. STATES THROUGH CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS AND SOCIAL SERVICES ATTEMPTED TO FILL THE VACUUM LEFT BY THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE FAMILY. FAILING AT REHABILITATION, THE PUBLIC NOW ADVOCATES PUNISHING THE JUVENILE DELINQUENT IN THE SAME MANNER AS AN ADULT CRIMINAL. THE LATTER PART OF THE 1970'S HAS SEEN A SWING BACK TO AN APPRECIATION OF MANY OF THE RELIGIOUS STANDARDS AND CULTURAL MORES THAT WERE REJECTED. THIS TREND, PLUS AN EXPECTED REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF JUVENILES IN THE POPULATION, SHOULD RESULT IN A LESSENING OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM. REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (RCB)