NCJ Number
207670
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 66 Issue: 6 Dated: October 2004 Pages: 153-156
Date Published
October 2004
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article provides an overview of how various criminological theories of delinquency have influenced relevant juvenile justice policies.
Abstract
Although several theoretical perspectives have been developed to explain justice, delinquency, crime, and punishment, there are two primary competing perspectives, classical and positivism, that have emerged to determine culpability and treatment of juvenile delinquent behavior. The classical approach holds that humans are rational beings who have free will and free choice, such that they are responsible for their individual actions. This theory leads to policies that emphasize deterrence, incapacitation, and, when feasible, retribution. The positivist view, on the other hand, posits that human behavior is largely determined by biological and cultural factors that condition and influence attitudes, emotional reactions, behaviors, and the management of behaviors. These lead to a policy of treatment and rehabilitation that focuses on changing the factors that underlie the criminal behaviors at issue. Within these general categories of theory, this article provides overviews of strain theory, social learning theory, social control theories, labeling theory, conflict theory, and differential oppression theory. This article suggests that although no one theory can adequately explain delinquency, the factors identified in most of the theories are played out within the family, which has the most immediate and powerful impact on a juvenile's behavior.