Module 2: Introduction to Juvenile Delinquency

Module Title: Introduction to Juvenile Delinquency

Course Title: Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice System
Course Number: CRM 215
Total Learning Time: 12 hours
Prerequisites: None

Overview
This module presents the Basic Concept, Definition and Nature of Delinquency. It also discusses the history of childhood
and delinquency, the theories that included in the delinquency and the behavior of juvenile delinquents. Youth offenders
were treated in the past the same way as adult offender but in the modern society it is expected to be child-centered and
protective to children. Juvenile delinquency continues to be one of the crucial social problems in the Philippines, yet also
the least given attention.

Lesson Outcomes
At the end of this module, the students must have:
1. Expounded how socialization contributes to the development of juvenile delinquency;
2. Familiarized with the different social groups that honed the behavior and personality of juveniles;
3. Internalized how family, peers, environment, school, mass media, and other social groups can contribute to the
delinquency problem.

Indicative Content
Lesson 1- Family, Peers, Environment, School, and Mass Media
Lesson 2- Other Contributory Factors to Juvenile Delinquency Problem

Let’s Discuss
FACTORS AFFECTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

Family, Peers, Environment, School, and Mass Media

The problem of juvenile delinquency is attributed to factors such as family, peers, environment, school, and mass media
that affect the socialization of children Socialization is the process through which children lean the ways of a particular
society or social group so that the can function within it.

FAMILY
The family is the first and most important social u to affect children; it is the first social world the child encounters.
Individuals learn the attitudes, behaviors and social roles considered appropriate for them from already socialized
individuals, typically parents and other family members. Through the socialization process in families, the personalities,
characters, values, and beliefs of children are initially shaped. Families help in the development of stable and emotionally
secure individuals and enhance the cognitive and language development of children by providing a variety of
intellectually rich and stimulating experiences. Parents and older family members also serve as role models, transmitting
educational values and providing environment in which children can safely develop a sense of independence.

Families, however, are not isolated group. Rather, they exist within a larger social and cultural context and reflect the
family's particular class, ethnic, religious, political, and regional characteristics. This means that a child's socialization is
somewhat selective, depending on the background of his or her family.

At a theoretical level, families are the primary source for teaching children self-control, a major point of delinquency. It
has been observed that adolescents who have low self-control are more attracted to delinquency behaviors than youth with
greater self-control. The primary cause of low self-control appears to be ineffective child rearing

One of the most critical aspects of socialization is the development of moral values in children. Moral education, or the
training of the individual to be inclined toward the good, involves a number of things, including the rules on the do's and
don'ts and the development of good habits. Youths who have developed higher levels of social moral reasoning, such as
behaving according to moral motives and internalizing values that would lead youth to act in ways that would benefit
others and society, are less likely to engage in aggressive behaviors and delinquency. Although the church and the school
complement the family in both teaching and setting examples of moral behavior, it is in the family where the development
of moral virtue or good character is effectively formed or left unformed.

Families traditionally have been the primary providers of the material well-being of their members. The family clothes,
feeds and provides shelter. Parents or older siblings provide supervision and monitoring of younger children to ensure the
latter's safety and obedience. In addition, the family provides for the physical security of its members and performs home
functions to protect its members from potential thieves, vandals and burglars. Finally, the family provides emotional
security to its members through giving encouragement, support and unconditional love.

Many families, however, fail miserably at achieving one or more of these goals. Unfortunately, some families transmit
values that promote violence or criminality and destroy the development of positive self-concept among its members.
They fail to inculcate moral values or virtues among children. Many families too, fail to provide adequate material,
physical and emotional security to their children when parents separate or fail to marry, and engage in rule violating
behaviors, thereby ignoring the primary needs of children

Family Conditions that Influence the Development of Juvenile Delinquency

1. separation of parents/broken home
2. family desertion
3. both working parents
4. parental rejection
5. single-parent household
6. in-law problems
7. lack of parental guidance
8. family displacement
9. low income of parents
10. teenage pregnancy
11. latchkey children

Family Structure
Both the family size and birth position had been found to have predictive effects on delinquency.

1. Family size
Parents of larger families tend to give less parental attention to their children. Children of large families are having a
greater chance to become delinquent, and this is a predictive factor. It was found that delinquency is associated with the
number of brothers in the family, but not with the number of sisters. Members of large families had been found to be
lacking in educational success. They perform poorly in school and score low in IQ test.

2. Child's Birth Order in the Family

Birth order affects the delinquent behavior with delinquency more likely among middle children than first or last
children.
The first child receives individual attention and affection of parents, while the last child benefits from the parents'
experience of raising children, as well as from presence of siblings who serve as models. In some cases, the delinquent
child is the first or last child.

Relations Between Parents and Children

The strongest predictive factor for delinquency is having criminal parents. While a very small part of this effect may be
accounted for by genetic factors, most of it must be related to the relationship of parents toward their children. It may be
that parents provide a model of behavior for the children to copy or a model of aggressive and antisocial behavior which
in turn leads to delinquency.

1. Family Rejection
Studies found significant relationship between parental rejection and delinquent behavior.

Some children are rejected by their parents. As a result, they are deprived of one or both of their parents through
abandonment, hospitalization, divorce, death, or intervention of public agencies.
According to John Bowlby, a British psychologist, even a short absence on the part of the mother could have
deleterious effects on the psychic well-being of the child. A child who is deprived of his mother goes through three
phases:
a. Protest - cries and screams for mother, shows panic, clings when she visits, and howls when she leaves.
b. Despair - after a few days, child becomes withdrawn, sucks thumb. c. Detachment loses interest in parents and is not
concerned whether they are there or not.

2. Discipline in the Home

Inadequate supervision and discipline in the home have been commonly cited to explain delinquent behavior.

Where discipline is erratic or harsh, children tend to become delinquent in adolescence. Such parents differ from normal
parents in punishing harshly, and in giving many commands. Certain children are difficult to discipline; shouting and
incessant commands are a parental reaction to the child's constant misbehavior.

The fact that parents of normal children can make their children behave worse simply by giving more commands is an
indicator that discipline is a shaping factor.
Three types of home that breeds three types of behavior:
a. A loving, friendly and just home that breeds conforming behavior
b. A loving, liberal and open-minded home that breeds Critical Behavior
c. A loveless, lonely and problematic home life that breeds Deviant Behavior

Family Model
1. The Corporate Model - The father is the chief executive officer. The mother is the operating officer and implements
the father's policy and manages the staff (children) that in turn have privileges and responsibilities based on their
seniority. The father makes the most; he is the final word in the corporate family. Intimacy runs to the profit motive.

2. The Team Model - The father is the head, the mother is the chief of the training table and cheerleader. The children,
suffering frequent performance anxiety, play the rules and stay in shape with conformity calisthenics. In the team family,
competition is in the name of the game; winning is everything.
3. The Military Model - The father is the general. The mother is the guard duty with a special assignment to the nurse
corps when needed. The kids are the grunts. Unruly children are sent to stockade, insubordinate wives risk discharge.
Punishment is swift, and sadism is called character building.
4. The Boarding School Model - The father is the rector or head master, and is in charge of training school minds and
bodies. The mother is the dorm counselor who oversees the realm emotion, illness, good works, and bedwetting. The
children are dutiful students.
The parents have nothing left to learn; there's but teach and test.
5. The Theatrical Model - The father is the producer and plays the role of the father. The mother, the stage manager,
doubles in the part of mother. The children, the stagehands, also act the roles of girls and boys. No writer is necessary
because the lines are scripted; the roles are sex stereotypes, the plot predictable.

Quality of Home
Poor family home life, measured by marital adjustment and harmony within the home, also affects the rate of delinquent
behavior among children more than whether or not the family is intact.

Happiness of marriage, good marital relationships and strong family cohesiveness in homes are the key whether or not the
children become delinquent.

1. Broken Home
This does not refer to the separation of parents leaving their children behind, but includes the presence of parents who are
irresponsible that children experience constant quarrel in the home. Broken homes are associated with an increase risk in
deviant behavior.

Effects of Family Breakdown to the Children:

a. Being brought up by one parent instead of two decreases the amount of surveillance, which protects against
delinquency.
b. Divorce plunges the family into poverty, which is associated with deviance and forces the family to find
accommodation in a high delinquency area.
c. People who divorce are less stable character than normal, and pass their instability unto their children.

2. Single Parent Family

Majority of single parent families are the products of divorce. Part of the effect is simply that of the strained
relationships between the parents prior to family breakdown.

Effects of Single-Parent Family:

a. Single parents are much more likely to be living in poverty, or living in a high-delinquency area than are married
persons.
b. Single-parents may find it more difficult to control their children during late childhood and adolescence. c. The fathers
of the children of single-mothers may have criminal behavior or alcoholism which may have influenced their children
prior to family break-down.

Parenting Styles
Another perceived delinquency factor is parenting style. Parents could manifest one of the following parenting styles:
1. Authoritative parents - They are warm but firm. They set standards for the child's conduct but form expectations
consistent with the child's developing needs and capabilities. They give high regard on the independent development of
the child and self-direction but assume the ultimate responsibility for their child's behavior. Authoritative parents deal
with their child in a rational, issue-oriented manner; engage in discussion and explanation with their children over rules
and discipline.
2. Authoritarian parents - They place a high value on obedience and conformity tending to favor more punitive,
absolute and forceful disciplinary measures. These parents are not responsive to their children and show little warmth and
support. Open and constructive discussion is not common in an authoritarian household because authoritarian parents
believe that the child should accept without question the rules and standards established by the parents. Parents tend to
discourage independent behaviors of children; instead, they place importance on restricting the child's dependence.
3. Indulgent parents - They behave in responsive, accepting, benign or kind, and more passive ways in matters of
discipline. They place relatively few demands on the child's behavior, giving the child a high degree of freedom to act as
he or she wishes. Indulgent parents are more likely to believe that control is an infringement or violation on the child's
freedom that may interfere with healthy development. Instead of actively shaping their child's behavior, these parents
consider themselves as resources the child may or may not use.
4. Indifferent parents - They are fairly unresponsive to their child and try to minimize the time and energy they must
devote to interacting with the child or responding to the child's demands. In extreme cases, indifferent parents may be
neglectful. They know little about their child's activities and whereabouts, show little interest in their child's experiences
at school or in his or her friends, and rarely consider the child's opinion when making decisions.

Parenting Skills

The following are ways of developing parenting skills:

1. Notice what the child is doing.
2. Monitor it over a long period of time.
3. Model social skill behavior.
4. Clearly state house rules/policies.
5. Consistently provide same punishments transgressions and disobedience.
6. Provide reinforcement for conformity.
7. Negotiate disagreements so that conflicts and crisis do not escalate.

Two General Views Concerning Family and Delinquency

1. The Alarmist View - this is the belief that the family is a very serious condition; it is in critical condition and is getting
progressively worse. Alarmists believe in the myth of declining family.

Five Trends Indicating that the Family is Declining:

a. Marriage is something that fewer and fewer people want.
b. Being a homemaker (housewife) is something that fewer and fewer women want.
c. Fewer and fewer people want a large number of children.
d. Sacrifice and self-denial are things that fewer and fewer people are willing to practice.
e. Hedonism and self-fulfillment are things that more and more people are pursuing. Hedonism is a cultural norm which
pursue or seeks only pleasure and gratification.

Arguments/Philosophy of Alarmists:
a. The trends on family mean that the family is weakening.
b. The family is the one institution that holds the society together.
c. If the family loses its influence, children will not get the guidance they need
d. Children will eventually grow-up unsocialized and disruptive.

Proposal of Alarmists:
a. The family should revert to the traditional form.
b. Parents should provide role models, authority and supervision.
If the preceding conditions are not satisfied, children might turn to:
1) Drugs
2) Sexual experimentation
3) Serious delinquency

2. Reassuring View - this view contradicts the belief of the declining family.

Arguments:

a. Today's family is alive and well, vital, and still the primary in raising the nation's young.
b. Declining family condition is just a natural consequence when the society is undergoing modernization.
c. The family condition would eventually improve as soon as the society's economy will stabilize.

Child Abuse
"Child abuse" can be defined as causing or permitting any harmful or offensive contact on a child's body; and, any
communication or transaction of which humiliates, shames, or frightens the child. Some any child development experts go
a bit further, and define child kind abuse as any act or omission, which fails to nurture or in the upbringing of the children.

Types of Child Abuse

1. Physical Child Abuse - is an act of deliberately inflicting physical injuries on a child. This may include burning,
hitting, punching, shaking, kicking, beating, or otherwise harming a child. The parent or caretaker may not have intended
to hurt the child; the injury is not an accident. It may, however, have been the result of over discipline or physical
punishment that is inappropriate to the child's age.
2. Emotional Maltreatment/Psychological Child Abuse - is when an adult demeans the child's worth or dignity as a
human being by constant scolding and ridiculing. This could lead to a child with very low self-esteem and many hang ups
and psychological problems.
3. Child Neglect - is the failure to provide for the child's basic needs. Neglect can be physical, educational, or emotional.
Physical neglect can include not providing adequate food or clothing, appropriate medical care, supervision, or proper
weather protection It may include abandonment. Educational neglect includes failure to provide appropriate schooling or
special educational needs, allowing excessive truancies. Psychological neglect includes the lack of any emotional support
and love, never attending to the child, spousal abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, including allowing the child to participate in
drug and alcohol use.
4. Sexual Child Abuse - is any act of maliciously molesting the child sexually whether the sexual act is consummated or
not. It includes fondling a child's genitals, making the child fondle the adult's genitals, intercourse, incest, rape, sodomy,
exhibitionism, and sexual exploitation To be considered child abuse these acts have to be committed by a person
responsible for the care of a child (for example a baby-sitter, a parent, or a daycare provider) or related to the child. If a
stranger commits these acts, it would be considered sexual assault and handled solely by the police and criminal courts.
Sexual abuse could lead to trauma, fear, and psychological problems on the part of the child.

Typology of Child Abusers

1. Mentally disordered abuser - a person who has defective mental ability.
2. Parentally incompetent abuser - an individual whose practice of disciplining the child is in the same way he was
disciplined.
3. Situational abuser - a parent who only abuses the child when he/she is confronted with a particular situation, one who is
usually non abusive but "fly off the handle" when some circumstance develops.
4. Accidental abuser - a parent who exercises poor judgment in his/her parenting decisions; poor judgment results to child
abuse.
5. Subcultural abuser - a group of people who share a number of values, norms and attitudes in common.
6. Self-identified abuser - parents who are abusive; although some of these kinds of abusers want to stop abusing their
children, they cannot and they are afraid to make their discipline practices known.
7. Institutionally prescribed abusers institutions are grounded with beliefs that are abusive to children. some

Child abuse may occur in:

a. Homes
b. Schools, public or private
c. Day care centers
d. Preschools
e. detention centers
f. correctional facilities

Mental health and delinquency experts have found that abused kids experience mental and social problems across their
life span, ranging from substance abuse to possession of a damaged personality. For example, victims of abuse are prone
to suffer mental illness such as dissociative identity disorder (DID) formerly known as multiple personality disorder
(MPD); research shows that child abuse is present in the histories of the vast majority of DID subjects.

One particular area of concern is the child's own personal involvement with violence. Psychologists suggest that
maltreatment encourages children to use aggression as a means of solving problems and prevents them from feeling
empathy for others. It diminishes their ability to cope with stress and makes them vulnerable to the violence in the culture.
Abused children who have fewer positive interactions with peers, are less well liked, and are more likely to have disturbed
social interactions.

It is to be noted though that not all abused children become delinquent. Many do not, and many delinquent youths come
from what appear to be model homes. Research shows that abused dolescents seem to get involved in more status offenses
than delinquent acts - perhaps indicating that abused children are more likely to "flee than to fight.

PEERS
For many juveniles the most important social institution, the one they truly spend the most time with and are closest to
emotionally, is the family. But for many others, it is their barkada or peer group. The peer group is a group of youths of
similar age levels and interest that often can empower young people in their sense of feeling worthwhile and important.
The social world of some adolescents revolves around their closest friends. They search for acceptance, status, identity
and meaning through interaction with others. Their friends' music, dress language, attitude, ambitions, and behavior often
become their own. Peer group activities reflect behaviors that are symbolic of adulthood and are viewed as signs that the
person is no longer a child, behaviors often having to do with drugs, sexuality and freedom. Wanting to be accepted and to
feel important and more grown up, many youths turn to delinquent activities because of their peer's influence.

The period of adolescence and intense peer-group activity is viewed by many as the time in a youth's life that is most
likely to lead to conflict with adults, social institutions and the law. As young people increasingly perceive a social and
moral distance between themselves and adults, they look to the peer group for camaraderie, acceptance and a sense of
purpose. Without close parental supervision and guidance, youths are susceptible to do what their peers dictate on them,
which may lead to minor or even major forms of deviance and delinquency.

Peer Relations and Delinquency

Research shows that peer group relationships are closely tied to delinquent behaviors. Kids who report inadequate or
strained peer relations, who say they are not popular with the opposite sex, are the ones most likely tobecome delinquent.
The weight of the empirical evidence indicates that youths who are loyal to delinquent friends, belong to gangs, and those
who have "bad companions" are the ones most likely to commit crimes and engage in violence. Reviews of the research
show that delinquent acts tend to be committed in small groups, rather than alone - a process called co-offending. The
group process may involve family members as well as peers; brothers are likely to commit offenses with brothers of a
similar age.

Delinquent groups tend to be small and transitory. Kids often belong to more than a single deviant group or clique and
develop an extensive network of delinquent associates. Multiple memberships are desirable because delinquent groups
tend to "specialize" in different types of delinquent activity. One group may concentrate on shoplifting while another
performs home invasions. Group roles can vary: An adolescent who assumes a leadership role in one group may be a
follower in another. A youth who may instigate the group to commit a criminal act in one context will be a follower in
another.

Some kids are particularly susceptible to peer influence. In one recent study, Richard Felson and Dana Haynie found that
boys who go through puberty at an early age were more likely to later engage in violence, property crimes, drug use, and
precocious sexual behavior. The boys who mature early were the most likely to develop strong attachments to delinquent
friends and be influenced by peer pressure. The earlier a youngster develops relationships with delinquent peers and the
closer those relationships become, the more likely the youth will become a delinquent.

The Structure of Peer Relations

Does having antisocial peers cause delinquency, or are delinquents antisocial youths who seek out like-minded
companions because they can be useful in committing crimes? There are actually five independent viewpoints on this
question
1. According to the control theory approach articulated by Hirschi, delinquents are as detached from their peers as they are
from other elements of society While they appear to have close friends, delinquents actually lack the social skills to make
their peer relations rewarding or fulfilling. Antisocial adolescent seeks out like-minded peers for criminal associations. If
delinquency is committed in groups. it is because "birds of a feather flock together." Peers have less of an influence on
delinquency than traditionally believed.
2. Delinquent friends cause law-abiding youths to get in trouble. Kids who fall in with a bad crowd are at risk for
delinquency. Youths who maintain friendships with antisocial peers are more likely to become delinquent regardless of
their own personality or the type of supervision they receive at home. Even previously law-abiding youths are more likely
to get involved in delinquency if they become associated with friends who initiate them into delinquent careers.
3. Antisocial youths seek out and join up with like-minded friends; deviant peers sustain and amplify delinquent careers.
Those who choose aggressive or violent friends are more likely to begin engaging in antisocial behavior themselves
psychological deficits. and suffer psychological deficit.
4. As youths move through their life course, antisocial friends help them maintain delinquent careers and obstruct the
aging-out process. In contrast, non-delinquent friends moderate adulthood brings close and sustaining ties to conventional
friends, marriage and family, the level of deviant behavior will decline.
5. Troubled kids choose delinquent peers out of necessity rather than desire. The social baggage they cart around prevents
them from developing associations with conventional peers. Because they are impulsive they may hook up with friends
who are dangerous and get them into trouble. Deviant peers do not cause straight kids to go bad, but they amplify the
likelihood of a troubled kid getting further involved in antisocial behaviors.

Peer Rejection/Peer Acceptance

While most research looks at the influence of deviant peers, there is also evidence that conventional, law-abiding peers
affect behavior. By snubbing kids whom they consider wild and unruly, peer rejection helps lock aggressive kids into a
cycle of persistent violence that is likely to continue into delinquency-producing traits. For example, rejected kids who
have attention and hyperactivity problems are more likely to suffer later conduct problems.

Peer rejection may help increase and sustain antisocial behaviors because outcast kids become suspicious of other people's
motives, see them as hostile, and become more likely to respond in an antisocial manner. Because the most popular kids
reject them, these troubled youths have fewer positive social options and may be drawn to lower status and deviant peer
groups. Hoping to belong and be accepted in at least one peer group, no matter its damaged reputation, they feel
compelled to engage in more antisocial activity in an effort to gain standing and approval.

If peer rejection promotes delinquency, can peer acceptance reverse its tide? As Sampson and Laub suggested in their age-
graded theory, having pro-social friends who are committed to conventional success may help increase social capital, an
end-product which helps shield kids from crime-producing inducements in their environment. In a national survey of
youth, John Paul Wright and Francise Cullen found that, as predicted, associating with pro-social coworkers on the job
helped hure kids away from delinquent peer networks, and consequently reduced their criminal behavior and drug use: the
effect continued on to their adulthood.

Gangs
As youths move through adolescence, they gravitate toward cliques that provide them with support, assurance, protection,
and direction. Peer group membership allows them to devalue enemies, achieve status and develop self-assurance. In
some instances, the peer group provides the social and emotional basis for antisocial activity, including crime and
substance abuse. In this instance, the clique is transformed into a gang.
Gangs are groups of youths who collectively engage in delinquent behaviors. Yet, there is a distinction between group
delinquency and gang delinquency. The former consists of a short-lived alliance created to commit a particular crime or
engage in a random violent act. In contrast, gan delinquency involves long-lived, complex institutions that have a distinct
structure and organization, including identifiable leadership, division of labor (some members are fighters, others
burglars, while some are known as deal makers), rules, rituals, and possessions (such as headquarters and weapons).
Other definitions of gang are as follows: Any congregation of youths who have joined together to engage in delinquent
acts

A cohesive group that holds and defends territory or turfs An interstitial group, a phrase coined by gang expert Frederick
Thrasher. He used the term to refer to the fact that gangs fill the "cracks" in the fabric of society. To be considered a gang,
a group must maintain standard group processes, such as recruiting new members, setting goals (such as controlling the
neighboring drug trade), assigning roles (appointing someone to negotiate with rivals), and developing status (grooming
young members for leadership roles).

Although a great deal of divergence over the definition of gang exists, Malcolm Klein argues that two factors stand out as
part of the concept of the youth gang:
1. Members have self-recognition of their gang status, and use special vocabulary, clothing, signs, colors, graffiti, and
names. Members set themselves apart from the community and are viewed as a separate entity by others. Once they get
the label of gang, members eventually accept and take pride in their status.

2. There is a commitment to criminal activity, though even the most criminal gang members spend the bulk of their time
in noncriminal activities.
Gang Names

When the early gangs were formed, they took their names from the neighborhoods where they started and carried on their
activities (for example, Southside Raiders, Twelfth Street Locos, Jackson Park Boys). Some used more colorful, non-
locality based names of their own choosing (Cobras, Warriors, Los Diablos, Mafia Emperors).

Gang Types
Gangs have been categorized by their activity. Some are devoted to violence and protecting their neighborhood
boundaries or turf; others are devoted to theft. Some specialize in drug trafficking; others are primarily social groups
concerned recreation, rather than crime.

Most gangs fall into one of four categories:

1. Social Gang - involved in few delinquent activities and little drug use other than alcohol and marijuana. Membership is
more interested in the social aspects of group behavior.
2. Party Gang - concentrates on drug use and sales, forgoing most delinquent behavior, except vandalism. Drug sales are
designed to finance members' personal drug use.
3. Serious Delinquent Gang - engages in serious delinquent behavior while eschewing most drug use, Drugs are used
only on social occasions.
4. Organized Gang - heavily involved in criminality and drug use and sales. Drug use and sales reflect a systemic
relationship with other criminal acts. For example, violent acts are used to establish control over drug sale territories.
Highly cohesive and organized, this gang is on the verge of becoming a formal criminal organization.

Gang Location
The gang problem has traditionally been considered an urban, lower-class phenomenon. Two types of urban areas are
gang-prone. The first is the transitional neighborhood, which is marked by rapid population change in which diverse
ethnic and racial groups find themselves living side by side and in competition with one another. Intergang conflict and
homicide rates are high in these areas, which house the so-called urban underclass.

The second gang area is the stable slum, a neighborhood where population shifts have slowed down, permitting patterns
of behavior and traditions to develop over a number of years. The stable slum more often contains the large, structured
gang clusters that are the most resistant to attempts by law enforcement and social service agencies to modify or disband
them.

Gang Age
The ages of gang members range widely, perhaps from as young as 8 to as old as 55. However, members of
offending groups are usually no more than a few years apart in age, with a leader, or instigator, who may be more
experienced and a few years older.
A recent survey of 3,348 youths, including almost 2,000 gang members, conducted by the National Gang Crime
Research Center, found that kids first hear about gangs at around 9 years old, get involved in violence at age 10 or 11, and
join their first gang at age 12. By age 13, half of the gang boys interviewed had fired a pistol, seen someone killed or
seriously injured by gang violence, gotten a permanent gang tattoo, and been arrested.
Gang experts believe the average age of gang members has been increasing yearly. This trend is attributed to
economic reasons. William Julius Wilson found that the inability of inner-city males to obtain adequate employment
prevents them from attaining adult roles; for example, they cannot afford to marry and raise families. Criminal records
acquired at an early age quickly lock them out of the job market. Remaining in a gang into their adulthood has become an
economic necessity. The weakening economy should prolong gang membership even further

Gang Formation
Gang formation involves sense of territoriality. Most gang members live in close proximity to one another, and their sense
of belonging and loyalty extends only to their small area of the city. At first, a gang may form when members of ethnic
minority newly settled in neighborhood join together for self-preservation. As the the group gains numerical domination
over an area, it may view the neighborhood as its territory or turt, which needs to be defended. Defending turf involves
fighting rivals who want to make the territory their own.

Once formed, gangs grow when youths who admire the older gang boys and wish to imitate their lifestyle "apply" and are
accepted for membership. Sometimes, the new members will be given a special, diminished identity within the gang that
reflects their inexperience and apprenticeship status. Joan Moore and her associates found that once formed, youth cliques
(klikas) in Hispanic gangs remain together as unique groups with separate names (for example, the Termites), separate
identities, experiences; they also have and distinct more intimate relationships among themselves than among the general
gang membership. She likens klikas to a particular class university, such as the class 94 not a separate organization, but
one that has its own unique experiences.

Moore also found that gangs can expand by including members' kin, even if they do not live in the immediate
neighborhood, and rival gang members who wish to join because they admire the gang's way of doing things. Adding
outsiders gives the gang the ability to take over new territory. However, it also brings with it new problems, since outsider
membership and the grasp for new territory usually results in greater conflicts with rival gangs.

Gang Leadership
Most experts describe gang leaders as cool characters who have earned their position by demonstrating a variety of
abilities - fighting prowess, verbal quickness, athletic distinction, and so on. Experts emphasize that gang leadership is
held by one person and varies with particular activities, such as fighting, sex, and negotiations. In fact, in some gangs,
each age level of the gang has its own leader. Older members may be looked up, but they are not necessarily considered
leaders by younger members.
Depending on the organizational structure of the gang, there appears to be a diverse concept of leadership. Less organized
gangs are marked by diffuse and shifting leadership. Larger and more organized gangs have a clear chain of command and
leaders who are supposed to give orders, plan activities and control members' behavior.

Gang Communications
Gangs today seek recognition both from their rivals and the community as a whole. Image and reputation depend
on a gangs ability to communicate to the rest of the world. One major source of gang communication is graffiti or writing
on walls. For example, among Latino gangs, the term rifa is used to assert power; "p/v" or por vida means the gang wants
to control the area "for life;" numeral 13 signifies that the gang is loco or "wild."
Gangs also communicate by ritualistic argot (speech patterns). The members speak a language exclusive only to them.
Another method of communication is clothing. In some areas, gang members communicate their membership by wearing
jackets with the name of their gang embroidered on the back.

Controlling Gang Activity

Gang control takes three basic forms:

1. The youth service program, in which traditional police personnel, usually from the youth unit, are given responsibility
for gang control. No personnel are assigned exclusively or mainly to gang-control work.
2. The gang detail, in which one or more police officers, usually from youth or detective units, are assigned exclusively to
gang-control work.
3. The gang unit, established solely to deal with gang problems, to which one or more officers are assigned exclusively to
gang-control work.

ENVIRONMENT
The outside environment where a youth resides is also influential. It is where the child is exposed to after his first highly
formative years. It may be a place where crime is a day-to-day event or a haven where the existence of crime is an unusual
occurrence. For an environment to become a factor in delinquency problem, children can be found in the street roaming
most of the time in the company of adults whose words and behaviors are not fit to be heard and seen by a growing child.
The negative influence that can be exerted by a place to minors can be adopted in so many ways as they grow up. The
reflection of the environment is ultimately manifested in the character and personality of a child as he or she becomes an
adult.

The following are the possible influences of the environment to the child:
a. associations with criminal groups
b. alcoholism and drug addiction
c. impulse of fear
d. crime inducing situation that caused criminalistics tendencies
e. imitated instinct like selfishness, violence and anti-social wishes
SCHOOL
The school, unlike the family, is a public instrument for training young people. It is therefore, more directly accessible to
change through the development of new resources and policies. And since it is the principal instrument to the goals and
values of our society, it is imperative that it be provided with the resources to compete with illegitimate attraction for
young people's allegiance. Anything less would be a serious failure to discharge our nation's responsibility to its youth.

Some instances of delinquent conduct to the school-child relationship are the following:
a. Failure of the school in character development of the children and youth
b. Use of methods that create the conditions of failure or frustrations on the part of the students
c. Lack of facilities for curricular and extra-curricular activities

Academic Performance and Delinquency

Poor academic performance has been directly linked to delinquent behavior. There is general consensus that students who
are chronic underachievers in school are also the most likely to be delinquent. In fact, researchers commonly find that
school failure is a stronger predictor of delinquchcy than such personal variables as economic class membership or peer
group relations. Studies that compare the academic records of delinquents and nondelinquents, including their scores on
standardized tests of basic skills, failure rate, teacher ratings and other academic measures, have found that delinquents
are often academically deficient, a condition that may lead to their leaving school and becoming involved in activities.
Kids who report that they do not like school, do antisocial not do well in school, and do not concentrate on their
homework are also the ones most likely to self-report delinquent acts. In contrast, at-risk kids, even those with histories of
abuse and neglect, who do well in school, are often able to avoid delinquent involvement.

Social Failure and Delinquency

One view on the relationship between social failure and delinquency is that school experience is a direct cause of
delinquent behavior. Children who fail at school soon feel frustrated, angry and rejected. Believing they will never
achieve success through conventional means, they seek out like-minded companions and together engage in antisocial
behaviors. Educational failure, beginning early in the life course, evokes negative responses from important people in the
child's life, including teachers, parents, and perspective employers. These reactions help solidify feelings of social
inadequacy and, in some cases, lead the underachieving student into a pattern of chronic delinquency.

A second view is that school failure leads to psychological and behavioral dysfunction, which is the actual cause of
antisocial behavior. For example, academic failure helps reduce self-esteem; studies using a variety of measures of
academic competence and self-esteem clearly demonstrate that good students have a better attitude about themselves than
do poor students. Reduced self-esteem has also been found to contribute to delinquent behavior. The association then runs
from school failure to low self-concept to delinquency. The school failure delinquency association may be mediated then
by efforts to stabilize or improve the self-image of academically challenged children.

School Climate
The term "school climate" generally refers to a broad range of concepts that include the culture of the school, how
the school is structured and administered, its design and its rule structure. Schools with a positive culture will maintain
unwritten rules of conduct that encouraged communication between students also with faculty and administration. The
school's norms should discourage negative actions such as bullying and discrimination. Rules are fair and clearly written
and disseminated to students

Positive climate is enhanced by administrations that are sensitive to student needs. This can be manifested curriculum
designed to provide a relevant class experience.

Also, both boys and girls who perceive a positive school climate are less likely to manifest psychological a behavioral
problems than those who fail to share such positive perceptions. Even schools located in high crime areas report relatively
less crime when they maintain positive and supportive climate. School stability then help neutralize the delinquency-
producing effect neighborhood disorganization and high crime rates.

Moreover, schools that do not maintain a climate are at risk for producing large numbers of cynics alienated students who
report they neither like school D care about their teachers' opinions. In contrast, kids w like school and report greater
involvement in school activities also are less likely to engage in delinquent behaviors. Commitment to school coupled
with the below that their school is being fairly run and that the school rules are being consistently applied helps kids resist
criminality. Attachment to teachers also helps insulate high-risk adolescents from delinquency. Alienated student
attending isolated, impersonal curriculums irrelevant to their needs may want to drop schools that hat out a step that may
make them even more prone to antisocial behaviors.

Widespread inequality is also prevalent in some schools causing problems for many children, particularly among low-
income juveniles. And yet, regardless of whether schools are well-funded, schools are part of a larger society, where
children are subordinates to adults. In schools, teachers hold power and students exercise little control over their
education. It is still the educational interest of the government, the education department, school districts, school
administrators and teachers that prevail. The teacher is the manager, whose task is to impose the curriculum upon the
students, whether children learn anything or not. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that some students find
school uninteresting, hostile, boring and uninviting, where the teacher-student relationship is characterized by structured
conflict, and where teachers coerce students into obedience and teach them to follow routines and submit to authority, or
else. Some students feel they are inside a container, waiting to explode and act out inappropriate ways that are dangerous
to them, their classmates and their teachers.

In many cases, schools that are insensitive to the growing needs of children with respect to their individualities and
capabilities in terms of psychological emotional, intellectual and spiritual aspects, lead to the serious problem of juvenile
delinquency. Another contributing factor in delinquency problem in schools is the disruptive behavior of students in many
classrooms. Such behavior takes many forms - defiance of authority, manipulation of teachers, inability or unwillingness
follow rules, lack of motivation to learn, fights with classmates, destruction of school properties, use of prohibited
substances in school, and physical or verbal altercations with teachers. Disruptive students require a great deal of time
from teachers and counselors who try to make them accountable for their behavior and to teach them acceptable behavior.

In order to reduce the amount of delinquency generated by the school, policymakers are challenged to improve the quality
of our primary and secondary levels of education based on the existing time. Methodology of teaching must be based on
present currencies, age, level, capabilities, and other important considerations that would greatly improve the child's
interest in learning.

MASS MEDIA
Mass media embraces all kinds of communications where a child is exposed to. It covers up everything that a
child hears and sees that leaves behind in his or her imagination. It could be anything a child saw on television, heard over
the radio, read from a book or magazine, or even saw in a movie house.

Television and movies have popularized the "cult of heroes," which promotes justice through the physical elimination of
enemies. Many researchers have concluded that young people who watch violence tend to behave more aggressively or
violently, particularly when provoked. This is mainly characteristic of 8 to 12-year-old boys, who are more vulnerable to
such influences. Media bring an individual to violence in three ways. 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. This type of influence is temporary, lasting from several hours to several days. Second, television
can portray ordinary daily violence committed by parents or peers (the imposition of penalties for failing to study or for
violations of certain rules or norms of conduct). It is impossible to find television shows that do not portray such patterns
of violence, because viewer approval of this type of programming has ensured its perpetuation. 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. Third, violence depicted in the media is unreal and has a surrealistic quality; wounds bleed less, and the real
pain and agony resulting from violent actions are very rarely shown, so the consequences of violent behavior often seem
negligible. Over time, television causes a shift in the system of human values and indirectly leads children to view
violence as a desirable and even courageous way of reestablishing justice. The American Psychological Association has
reviewed the evidence and has concluded that television violence accounts for about 10 per cent of aggressive behavior
among children.
The information fed by media to the child, if not properly screened by parents to be fitted to his or her age level
and not within his or her comprehension, would be very detrimental to the proper upbringing of the child.

Other Contributory Factors to Juvenile Delinquency Problem

The delinquency problem is also linked to other factors as follows:

Government
Some departments or agencies of the government also create factors that influence the youth to become delinquent, such
as:
(1) political interference of the higher positions,
(2) unfair decisions of the court,
(3) police carelessness and unfair treatment, and even the police policy itself.

Religion

Religion is another contributing factor as such shapes the child's spiritual beliefs. It serves as a guide in his or her moral
preferences as he grows up. The molding up of a child's character starts from his spirituality which is brought about by the
teachings of his or her church. The moment that children had no fear God, the probability of acknowledging the existence
of their parents as the source of their being, does not exist in their minds, leading them to think that they owe nobody
anything. Deviant behavior flourishes among this type of children.

Exclusion

Exclusion is another influential factor to delinquency. The growing gap between rich and poor has led to the emergence of
unwanted others. The exclusion of some people is gradually increasing with the accumulation of obstacles, ruptured social
ties, unemployment and identity crises. Welfare systems that have provided relief but have not eliminated the humble
socio-economic position of certain groups, together with the increased dependence of low-income families on social
security services, have contributed to the development of a “new poor class in many places. The symbolic exclusion from
society of juveniles who have committed even minor offenses has important implications for the development of
delinquent careers. Studies show that the act labeling may lead to the self-adoption of a delinquent image, which later
results in delinquent activity.

Correlates of Delinquency

An important aspect of delinquency research is measurement of the personal traits and social characteristics
associated with adolescent misbehavior. If, for example, a strong association exists between delinquent behavior and
family income, then poverty and economic deprivation must be considered in any explanation of the onset of adolescent
criminality. If the delinquency-income association is not present, other forces may be responsible for producing anti-social
behavior. It would be fruitless to concentrate delinquency control efforts in areas such as job creation and vocational
training if social status were found to be unrelated to delinquent behavior. Similarly, if only a handful of delinquents are
responsible for most serious crimes, crime control policies might be made more effectively by identifying and treating
these offenders.

Gender and Delinquency

Available data show that delinquency and crime have strong gender associations.
Police records indicate that the crime rates of male juvenile and male young adult offenders are more than double
those of young females, and conviction rates are six or seven times higher. The number of male juvenile suspects for
every 100,000 members of the designated age group is more than six times the corresponding figure for females; for those
in the youth category the male-female suspect ratio is even higher, at 12.5 to 1.6. There are a number of reasons why more
young men than young women are involved in violent or criminal behavior. Various restrictive and stimulative factors
encourage women to conform to social norms that do not apply to men, one example being the fear of sexual assault. Girls
are subject to stronger family control than are boys. Cultural concepts are such that society at large is less tolerant of
deviant behavior among young women than among young men. In addition, aggression and violence play an important
role in the construction of masculinity and sexuality in patriarchal societies, the primary objective being to reinforce and
maintain the status and authoritative position of men. The male perception of violence can be minimized, forgiven, denied
or justified. Men often do not consider such acts as verbal or sexual insults to constitute violent behavior.
One relationship reverses this general pattern: Girls are more likely than boys to be arrested as runaways. There are two
possible explanations for this. Girls could be more likely than boys to run away from home, or police may view the female
runaway as the more serious problem and therefore be more likely to process females through official justice channels.
This may reflect paternalistic attitudes toward girls, who are viewed as likely to "get in trouble" if they are on the street.
In recent years, arrests of female delinquents have been increasing faster than those for males. Self-report data
also seem to show that the incidence of female delinquency is much higher than believed earlier and that the most
common crimes committed by males are also the ones most female offenders commit.

Social Class and Delinquency

Defining the relationship between economic status and delinquent behavior is a key element in the study of
delinquency. If youth crime is purely a lower-class phenomenon, its cause must be rooted in the social forces that are
found solely in lower-class areas: poverty, unemployment, social disorganization, culture conflict, and alienation.
However, if delinquent behavior is spread throughout the social structure, its cause must be related to some noneconomic
factor: intelligence, personality, socialization, family dysfunction, educational failure, or peer influence. According to this
line of reasoning, providing jobs or economic incentives would have little effect on the crime rate.
At first glance, the relationship between class and crime seems clear. Youths who lack wealth or social standing
are the most likely to use criminal means to achieve their goals. Communities that lack economic and social opportunities
produce high levels of frustration. Kids who live in these areas believe that they can never compete socially or
economically with adolescents being raised in more affluent areas. They may turn to criminal behavior for monetary gain
and psychological satisfaction. Family life is disrupted in these low-income areas, and law-violating youth groups thrive
in a climate that undermines and neutralizes adult supervision.

Age and Delinquency

Age is inversely related to criminality: As youthful offenders mature, their offending rates decline. Official statistics tell
us that young people are arrested at a disproportionate rate to their numbers in the population, and this finding is
supported by victim surveys.
Why does crime decline with age? Why do people commit less crime as they age? One view is that the
relationship is constant: Regardless of race, sex, social class, intelligence, or any other social variable, people commit less
crime as they age; this is referred to as the aging-output process. According to this view, even the most chronic juvenile
offenders will commit less crime as they age.
Delinquency experts have developed a number of reasons for the aging-out process: Growing older means having to face
the future.
 Young people, especially the indigent and antisocial, tend to "discount the future." Why should they delay
gratification when faced with an uncertain future?
 With maturity comes the ability to resist the quick fix" to problems. Research shows that some kids may turn to
crime as a way to solve the problems of adolescence, loneliness, frustration, and fear of peer rejection. As they
 mature, conventional means of problem solving become available. Life experience helps former delinquents seek
nondestructive solutions to their personal problems.
 Maturation coincides with increased levels of responsibility. Petty crimes are risky and exciting social activity
that provides adventure in an otherwise boring world. As youths grow older, they take on new responsibilities that
are inconsistent with criminality. For example, young people who marry, enlist in the armed services, or enroll in
vocational training courses are less likely to pursue criminal activities. Personalities can change with age. As
youths mature, rebellious youngsters may develop increased self-control and be able to resist anti-social behavior
 Young adults become more aware of the risks that accompany crime. As adults, they are no longer protected by
the kindly arms of the juvenile justice system.

Age of Onset

Age may influence delinquent behavior in other ways. For example, evidence exists that people who demonstrate
antisocial tendencies at a very early age are more likely to commit more crime for a longer duration; this is referred to as
the age of onset. According to this view, there are two classes of offenders. The first begin committing crime in late
adolescence, typically with their peers, and then cease offending as they enter young adulthood. These youngsters begin to
desist, from illegal or deviant activities as they mature and begin to realize that crime is too dangerous, physically taxing,
and unrewarding, and punishments too harsh and long lasting, to become a way of life.

The second group of delinquents is composed of those who begin their offending careers early in life and maintain a high
rate of offending throughout their lifespan. Early onset of crime is a marker for their chronic offending patterns. Research
supports this by showing that children who will later become delinquents begin their deviant careers at a very early
(preschool) age and that the earlier the onset of delinquency the more frequent, varied, and sustained the criminal career.
Early onset delinquents typically have a history of disruptive behavior beginning in early childhood with truancy, cruelty
to animals, lying, and theft.

Evaluation
Discussion: Discuss the following briefly but exact and concise. Write your answer in a sheet of paper. Numbers 1-5 is 5
points each and number 6-7 is 15 points each)
1. What is socialization?
2. Why is the family the primary contributory factor to juvenile delinquency?
3. How does school contribute to the delinquency problem?
4. Why do juveniles turn to delinquent activities of their peers?
5. What are gangs?
6. How is the behavior of the youth influenced by the outside environment? media? religion?
7. How is delinquency related to gender? social class? age?

References
Bartol, C.R. & Bartol, A. M. (2004). Introduction to forensic psychology. London: Sage Publications, Inc.

Geason, S. & Wilson, P.R. (1946). Crime prevention: Theory and practice. Australia: Australian Institute of Criminology

Reyes, L.B. (2001). The revised penal code: Criminal law (15 ed.). Manila: Rex Book Store, Inc.

Siegel, L.J. Criminology: Theories, patterns, and typologies (8 ed.) Singapore: Thomson Wadsworth.

Siegel, L.J., Welsh, B.C. & Senna, J.J. Juvenile delinquency: Theory, practice, and law (9h ed.). Singapore: Thomson
Wadsworth

Child Abuse. Available: http://www.indianchild.com/child_abuse. htm.

Juvenile delinquency Wikipedia.

Available:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juvenile justice_system.

http://www.indianchild.com/child abuse