Big Picture in Focus: ULOc.

Analyze the impact of the social

environment on delinquency and the juvenile justice process and the
police role in addressing the problems within the legal parameters
and the challenges that thwart the police effort.

Metalanguage

1. Juvenile

Juvenile is a person who has not reached adulthood or the age of

majority. Regarded as immature or ones whose mental and emotional faculties
are not fully developed.

2. Delinquent

Delinquent is a person of whatever age, whose attitude toward other

individuals, toward the community, toward lawful authority is such that it may lead
to him into breaking the law.

3. Juvenile Delinquency

Juvenile delinquency refers to an anti-social behavior or act of minors

which deviates from the normal pattern of rules and regulations, custom, and
culture which society does not accept and which, therefore, justifies some kind of
admonishment, punishment, or corrective measures in the public interest.

4. Juvenile Crime

In law, denotes various offenses committed by children or youths under

the age of 18. Such acts are sometimes referred to as juvenile delinquency.

5. Status Offenses

Are acts that only juveniles can commit and that can be adjudicated only
by a juvenile court.
Essential Knowledge

Lesson 3

Nature of Delinquency

A delinquent is whose behavior brought him to repeated conflict with the law.
Regardless of whether he has been taken before the court and adjudged as delinquent.
Often a result of a combination of some factors environment of the child ↔ within
himself. Nature will differ because of the environmental forces and because of the
nature of the child.

Stages of Delinquency

a) Emergence
- begins with petty larceny (bet. 18 to 12)
b) Exploration
- moves on to shoplifting & vandalism
(bet. 12 to 14)
c) Explosion
- substantial increase in variety & seriousness (age 13)
d) Conflagration
- four or more types of crime are added (around 15 y.o)

Classification of Delinquency

a) Unsocialized Aggression
- rejected or abandoned, no parents to imitate & become aggressive.
b) Socialized Delinquents
- members in fraternities/ groups that advocate bad things.
c) Over-inhibited
- group secretly trained to do illegal activities.

Pathway to Delinquency
1) Authority-conflict
- begins at early age with stubborn behavior; leads to defiance then to authority
avoidance.
2) Covert
- begins with minor, underhanded behavior that leads to property damage. This
eventually escalates to more serious forms of criminality.
3) Overt
- escalates to aggressive acts beginning with aggression & leading to physical
fighting then to violence.

Juvenile Delinquency Tendencies

1) Malicious
- expression of defiance.
2) Negativistic
- changeable attitudes like not being satisfied with status.
3) Non-utilitarian
- vandalistic attitude like graffiti.
4) Hedonistic
- doing bad things for pleasure.

Types of Delinquent Youth

a) Social
- aggressive youths
- resents authority/ anyone who make effort to control his behavior.
b) Neurotic
- preoccupied with his own feelings (internalizes his conflicts)
c) Asocial (psychotic & sociopathic delinquent)
- cold, brutal fierce
- feels no remorse
d) Accidental
- has identifiable character
- social, law abiding

The History of Childhood and Delinquency

 “The history of childhood is a nightmare from which we have only recently begun
to awake. The further back in history one goes, the lower the level of childcare, and the
more likely children are to be killed, abandoned, beaten, terrorized, and sexually
abused.” (DeMause, 1974)

Juvenile Delinquency and separate justice process for juveniles are recent
concepts.

Early Conceptualizations of Childhood

CHILDHOOD dates only to somewhere between the 14th and 17th centuries. Prior
to this time, “small people” were either accorded no social presence at all, or were
regarded as miniature adults.
Before 16th Century

- young/s were viewed either as property or as miniature adults.

- by ages 5 or 6, were expected to assume the responsibilities of adults.
- subjected to the same criminal sanctions as adults.

Children as “Non-humans”

Practices which reflected children as non-human:

Infanticide – especially illegitimate, deformed, later born, and girls.

Abandonment – often left on the streets, on door stoops and orphanages,
common form was wet nursing.
Swaddling – depriving the child of use of limbs by wrapping them in
endless bandage; child could be left unattended.

Children as “Miniature Adults”

Practices which reflected children as miniature adults:

Adult punishment for misdeeds – punishment for children were severe,

even death penalty for minor offenses.
Slavery and Apprenticeship – children were commonly sold to slavery,
prostitution, and apprenticeship, sometimes as security on debts, or as
political hostages.
Morality, sex, and prostitution – children were exposed to adult sexuality
from an early age, and even used as prostitutes.
Two (2) age-old mechanisms were employed (teach children a trade or allow them an
opportunity to earn a livelihood).

A) Apprenticeship System
- primary means for teaching skilled trades to the children (middle & upper class)
by a master.

B) Binding-out System
- reserved for poor children.
- children who are difficult to handle or needed supervision were “bound over” to
masters for care.

- under this system, masters were not required to teach the youths a trade.

Result:
Boys were often given farming tasks while girls were assigned to domestic duties.

RELIGION (New England) another powerful force that shaped social life.
 - regular church attendance was expected & religious beliefs dominated ideas
about appropriate behavior.
- what was believed to be immoral was also unlawful and subject to punishment
by the authorities.

Punishments:
a) Fines c) Branding
b) Whipping

A reminder to both young and old that violations of community norms would not go
unpunished.

16th and 17th Century

- a different view of the young emerged that recognized childhood as distinct

period of Life.
- Children as corruptible but worth correcting.

Youths began to be viewed, not as miniature adults or property, but rather as

persons who required molding and guidance to become moral and productive members
of the community.

Early 1800s
- social organization of colonial life began to change as a result of economic and
social developments.
- Family-based production unit that characterized colonial social life was giving
way to a Factory-based system in growing towns.
- As parents (fathers) and children began to leave the home for work in the
factory.
- as industry developed and as towns grew, communities became more diverse
and experienced problems on a scale unheard of during earlier periods.

End of 1800s
- variety of institutions and mechanisms had been developed in response to
problem children.
The problems presented by children who were believed to be in need of correctional
treatment – proved to be difficult to solve.
Such as:
- homelessness - waywardness
- neglect - criminal behavior
- abuse
Late 1800s
- group of reformers began to advocate a new institution to deal with youth
problems.
↓→ Juvenile Court

PARENS PATRIAE: legal philosophy justifying State intervention in the lives of children
when their parents are unable or unwilling to protect them.
: The State as Parent.

The Beginning of Childhood

End of 18th Century

- “The Enlightenment” new cultural transition.
- Known as the beginning of Humanism and Reason.
- People began to see children as flowers - needs fostering in order to bloom.
- it was the invention of childhood, love and nurturing instead of beatings to stay
in line.
- Youth finally began to emerge as Distinct group.

Theories of Delinquency

Several theories have been propounded to understand deviant behavior of

juveniles.

A. Early General Theories on the Causes of Delinquency

(1) Demonological Theory

This was developed during the middle ages. Hence, the oldest perspective or
theory. It was based on the belief of primitive people that every object and person is
guided by a spirit. This theory promoted the notion that persons should not be held
responsible for their actions when they do evil things because their body is possessed
by evil spirits.

(2) Classical Theory

Postulated by Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham, Classical theory was
consistent with the Utilitarian view that people weigh the benefits and costs of future
action before they decide to act. This was based on the assumption that people are
rational, have free will, and therefore able to choose.
 It promoted the idea that people choose criminality the same way when they
choose conformity, that youths commit crime because they think or imagine that greater
good things can be earned through conformity. This is because people by nature are
hedonistic.
HEDONISM is a doctrine that pleasure is the highest good in life and that moral duty is
fulfilled through the pursuit of pleasure.

(3) Positive or Italian Theory

This theory was developed by Cesare Lombroso, Enrico Ferri, and Raffaele
Garofalo. Positive theory promoted the idea of determinism as a way of explaining
crime and delinquency.
DETERMINISM means every act has a cause that is waiting to be discovered in the
natural world.
Positivists believed that the causes of juvenile delinquency could be identified
through the application of the scientific method. Once causes were discovered, the
individual offender could be treated (or rehabilitated) much as the medical doctors treat
the causes of harmful illness.
Positivists rejected the idea of Classicists, that punishment of delinquent
offenders has an inherent positive value. They replaced punishment with individualized
treatment strategies for each offender. They believed that the causes of rime and
delinquency are varied. Thus, it logically follows that treatment of offenders must be
varied also.

(4) Critical Theory

This theory is much more significant in criminological analysis on the causes of
juvenile delinquency. Critical criminologists and sociologists view juvenile delinquency
as a by-product of existing social arrangements. The concepts of power, influence,
inequality, and conflict guide this theory in exploring and clarifying the nature of juvenile
delinquency. This theory blames delinquency on the imbalance of power within the
human society.
Powerful people consciously or unconsciously create rules that favor their
lifestyle. Criminal behavior may therefore reflect the consensual reality held by powerful
people. Powerless people, on the other hand, have very few opportunities to express
their social and political views. Hence, in order to express or show dissatisfaction or
disapproval with the policies made by powerful people, they attempt to commit serious
acts which powerful people consider as crime or delinquent acts.

B. Biological Theories

Early biological theories claim that criminal behavior is a result of biological or

genetic defect in the individual. Contemporary biological theories focus more on
variations in genetic and other biological factors in interaction with the environment and
are less likely to refer to biological defects or abnormalities.

(1) Lombrosian Theory

This was developed by Dr. Cesare Lombroso, a prison doctor in Turin, Italy and
known as the Father of Criminology. His job was to examine hundreds of criminals. This
theory holds the following assumptions:

a. Criminals have many stigmas, such as symmetrical faces, enormous jaws,

large or protruding ears, and receding chins.
b. Criminals are atavistic beings who look differently and think differently. Having
the mentality of primitive people, they are incapable of living in modern
society.
c. Criminals are classified as epileptic, insane and inborn.

(2) General Inferiority Theory/ Hooton’s Theory

Proposed by Earnest Hooton. This theory has the following assumptions:
a. Crime is the result of the impact of the environment upon low grade human
organisms and that criminals were originally inferior people.
b. Crime exist because there are some inferior people who are responsible for
them.
c. Men with mediocre builds are people who tend to break the law without
preference because crimes are like physical make-up, characterless.
d. Criminals should be permanently exiled to self-governing reservations,
isolated from the society, sterilized to prevent future offspring.
(3) Willian Sheldon’s Theory
According to Sheldon, body type affects a person’s entire personality or
temperament.

People are classified in three (3) ways:

a. Endomorphs – people who tend to be fat, round, soft, and have short arms
and legs.
b. Mesomorphs – people who have athletic and muscular physique; with active,
assertive, and aggressive personality. Delinquency exists because there are
mesomorphic men or youths who are responsible for its occurrence.
c. Ectomorphs – people who are basically skinny with lean and fragile bodies.

(4) Genetic Theory

This theory assumes that:

 a. Crime and delinquency is committed by people who have abnormal genetic
structure or chromosomal abnormalities.
b. DNA is the transmitter of genetic materials (genes).
c. Extra Y chromosome is responsible for aggressiveness and thus, criminal
activity. Men with extra Y chromosomes are taller and have a 10 to 20 percent
greater tendency to break the law than genetically normal XY males.

C. Psychological Theories

These theories assume that:

a. Delinquency is a result of internal, underlying disturbances.
b. These disturbances develop in childhood and tend to become permanent
features of the individual character.
c. Since the individual has problems, he or she must be the focus of attention if
the problem is to be solved.

(1) Psychogene Theories

These are theories which blame delinquency on impulses that are rooted in the
child rather than in his environment. Psychogenic believe that it is easier to change a
person than it i s to change an environment.

1.1 Freudian Psychoanalytic Theory

The proponent of this theory was Sigmund Freud. He believed that people
develop in a series of stages. When abnormalities occur, the person is more likely to
experience conflict. Conflict stems from the person’s basic drive (ID) and social
controls. Because conflict is painful to confront, people tend to push into their
unconscious mind those experiences that produce conflict. Finally, people use defense
mechanism to handle personal conflicts.

The Four (4) Elements in Freud’s Theory

a. Human nature is inherently anti-social. Every child possesses a set of primitive anti-
social instincts that Freud called the ID.
b. Good behavior comes through effective socialization. Through socialization, the child
learns internal control.
c. The life-long features of the human personality originate in early childhood. By age 5,
all the essential features of the child’s adult personality have been developed.
d. Delinquent behavior is the result of a defective superego.

The Three (3) Parts of Human Psyche (personality)

a. ID – it is the unconscious portion of the personality dominated by the drives
(cravings) for pleasure and by inborn sexual and aggressive impulses. If left unchecked,
it may destroy the person.
b. EGO – this is the rational part of the personality; it grows from the ID. It represents
problem solving dimensions of personality.
c. SUPEREGO – it grows out of Ego. It represents the moral code, norms, and values
the individual has acquired. Hence, it is responsible for feelings of guilt and shame.

If the parts of the human psyche co-exist in a unified and harmonious way, the
person is mentally healthy. When the parts come into conflict, the person is
maladjusted and there is a high probability that he will commit delinquent acts.

(2) The Low-IQ Theory

This theory claims that:
a. People with low intelligence are easily led into law-breaking activities by the
wiles of some more clever people.
b. People with low intelligence are unable to realize that committing offenses in a
certain way often leads to getting caught and eventual punishment.

(3) Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Theory

This theory claims that:
a. Juvenile delinquency is caused by immaturity and hyperactivity.
b. Grade schoolers usually experience attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder,
which is characterized by:
1) short attention span
2) day dreaming
3) sluggishness
4) preoccupation
5) impulsiveness

(4) Frustration-aggression Theory

This theory claims that people who are frustrated will act aggressively, and
people who engage in aggression are frustrated first.
Frustration is a behavior directed at anticipated goals or expectations. It
develops when a person experiences the blocking of some goal. It involves hopes and
unfulfilled expectations. It is not a feeling or an emotion but a failure of objectives and
goals. Frustration leads to anger which makes aggression more likely to happen.
Aggression is a behavior whose goal is to inflict damage or injury on some
objects or persons.
D. Social Class Theories

1) Social Disorganization Theory

This theory was recognized early in the twentieth century by sociologist Clifford
Shaw and Henry McKay. According to this theory, disorganizes areas cannot exert
social control over acting-out youth; these areas can be identified by their relatively high
level of change, fear, instability, incivility, poverty and deterioration, and these factors
have direct influence on the area’s delinquency rate. It is not, then, some individual
property or trait that is the cause of delinquency, but the quality and ambiance of the
community in which the adolescents are forced to reside. In the areas where there is no
sense of collective efficacy, delinquency rates will be controlled no matter what the
immediate economic situation is.

2) Anomie Theory
Advocated by Emile Durkheim, anomie is normlessness produced by rapidly
shifting moral values. This occurs when personal goals cannot be achieved using
available means.
Anomie refers to a breakdown of social norms and a condition where norms no
longer control the activities of members in society. Individuals cannot find their place in
society without clear rules to help guide them. Changing conditions as well as
adjustments in life lead to dissatisfaction, conflict, and deviance.

3) Strain Theory
Strain theory contends that certain classes are denied legitimate access to
culturally determined goals and opportunities, and the resulting frustration results in
illegitimate activities or rejection of the society’s goal.
According to Sociologist Robert Merton, although most people share common
values and goals, the means for legitimate economic and social success are stratified
by socio-economic class. Consequently, these youths may either use deviant methods
to achieve their goals or reject socially accepted goals and substitute deviant ones.

Sources of Strain according to Robert Agnew include:

a. Strain caused by the failure to achieve positively valued goals.
b. Strain caused by the disfunction of expectations and achievements.
c. Strain as the removal of positively valued stimuli from the individual.
d. Strain as the presentation of negative stimuli.

(4) Differential Opportunity Theory

Delinquent subcultures, according to Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin, flourish in
the lower classes and take particular forms so that the means for illegitimate success
are no more equally distributed than the means for legitimate success. They argued that
the types of criminal subcultures depend on the area on which they develop. They
stated that the varying form of delinquent subcultures depended upon the degree of
integration that was present in the community.

Three Types of Delinquent Gangs (Cloward & Ohlin)

a. The Criminal Gang – emerges in areas where conventional as well as non-

conventional values of behavior are integrated by a close connection of illegitimate and
legitimate businesses. This type of gang is stable than the ones to follow. Older
criminals serve as role models and they teach necessary criminal skills to the
youngsters.
b. The Conflict/ Violent Gang – non-stable and non-integrated, characterized by an
absence of criminal organization resulting in instability. This gang aims to find reputation
for toughness and destructive violence.
c. The Retreatist Gang – equally unsuccessful in legitimate as well as illegitimate
means. Members are known as double failures, thus retreating into a world of sex,
drugs, and alcohol.

(5) Class Conflict Theory

According to Richard Quinney and William Chambliss, conflict theory is based
upon the view that the fundamental causes of crime are the social and economic forces
operating within the society. The Criminal Justice System and Criminal Law are thought
to be operating on behalf of the rich and powerful social elites, with resulting policies
aimed at controlling the poor. The criminal justice establishment aims at imposing
standards of morality and good behavior created by the powerful on the whole of
society. Focus is on separating the powerful from the have nots who would steal from
others and protect themselves from physical attacks. In the process, the legal rights of
poor folks might be ignored. The middle class are also co-opted; they side with the
elites rather than the poor, thinking they might themselves rise to the top by supporting
the status quo.

(6) Differential Oppression Theory

John D. Hewitt and Robert Regoli proposed that much serious juvenile
delinquency is a product of the oppression of children by adults, particularly within the
context of family. The maltreatment of children has been found to be highly correlated
with both serious and moderate delinquency as well as other problem behaviors.
This theory suggest that the oppression or maltreatment of children establishes a
sociological, if not legal excuse for child’s delinquency. It argues that adult perception of
children forces youths into socially defined and controlled inferior roles, including the
socially constructed “juvenile delinquency” role that separates youthful and adult
offenders for treatment and control.
E. Interpersonal Theories

1) Differential Association Theory

This theory asserts that criminal behavior is learned primarily within the
interpersonal groups and that youth will become delinquent if definitions they have
learned favorable to violating the law exceed definitions favorable to obeying the law
within the group. This theory was introduced by Edwin Sutherland.

2) Social Learning Theory

This theory views that behavior is modelled through observation, either directly
through intimate contact with others, or indirectly through media. Interactions that are
regarded are copied, whereas those that are punished are avoided.
Social Learning theory suggests that children who grow up in a home where
violence is a way of life may learn to believe that such behavior is acceptable and
rewarding. Even if parents tell children not to be violent and punish them if they are, the
children will still model their behavior on the observed parental violence. The family may
serve as a training ground for violence since the child perceives physical punishment as
the norm during conflict situations with others.

F. Situational Theories

1) Drift Theory (Neutralization Theory)

This theory proposes that juveniles sense a moral obligation to be bound by the
law. Such a bind between a person and the law remains in place most of the time.
When it is not in place, delinquents will drift.
David Matza and Gresham Sykes suggest that delinquents hold values similar to
those of law abiding citizens, but they learn techniques that enable them to neutralize
those values and drift back and forth between legitimate and delinquent behavior. They
further suggested that juveniles develop a distinct set of justifications for their behavior
when it violates accepted social rules and norms. These neutralization techniques allow
youths to drift away from the rules of the normative society and participate in delinquent
behaviors. While most adolescents accept the rules of society, they learned these
techniques to release themselves temporarily from moral constraints.
 Drift is a process by which an individual moves from one behavioral extreme to
another, behaving sometimes in an unconventional manner and at other times with
constraint.

Five Techniques of Neutralization:

a. Denial of responsibility
b. Denial of injury
c. Denial of victim
d. Condemnation of condemners
e. Appeal to higher loyalties

Sykes and Matza’s Theoretical model were based on the following observations:

a. Delinquents express guilt over their illegal acts.

b. Delinquent’s frequently respect and admire honest, law abiding individuals.
c. A line is drawn between those they can victimize and those they cannot.
d. Delinquents are not immune to the demands of conformity.

G. Societal Reaction Theories

1) Labelling Theory
Developed by Howard Becker, Labeling theory views that youths may violate the
law for a variety of reasons including poor family relations, peer pressure, psychological
abnormality, and pro-delinquent learning experiences. Regardless of the cause of
individual’s behaviors detected, the offenders will be given a negative label that can
follow them throughout life. These labels include “troublemaker”, mentally ill, “junkie”,
and more.

H. Control Theories

1) Social Control Theory

This theory by Travis Hirschi states that members in society from bonds with
other members in society or institution such as parents, pro-social friends, churches,
schools, teachers, and sports team. The social bonds include the ties and affection that
develop between children and key people in their lives; commitment to social norms of
behavior and to succeed in regards to such values as getting good education, a good
job and being successful; involvement in activities; and finally, that most persons are
brought up to believe in and respect the law.
2) Self-derogation Theory
Introduced by Howard Kaplan, self-derogation theory states that all motivation to
maximize our self-esteem, motivation to conform will be minimized by family, school
and peer interactions that devalue our sense of self. Interactions and behavior may be
self-defacing or self-enhancing.

3) Interactional Theory
Originated by Terrence Thornberry, this theory states that weakening of a child’s
social bond is the fundamental cause of delinquency. Interactional theory examined the
changing nature of relationships over the life course. It emphasized the reciprocal
nature between many of the variables used to explain delinquency.

4) Self-control Theory
This argues that it is the absence of self-control rather than the presence of
some forces or factors such as poverty, anomie, opportunities for deviance, delinquent
peers, exposure to definitions favorable to deviance, etc. that leads to deviance. This
theory rejects the notions that deviance is learned, that deviance simply results from the
individual’s inability to effectively control his or her impulses.

I. Other Theories

1) Culture Deviance Theory

This theory links delinquent acts to the formation of independent subcultures with
a unique set of values that clash with the mainstream culture. It argues that children
learn deviant behavior socially through exposure to others and modeling of other’s
action.

2) Structural Functionalism Theory

Some social structures exert a definite pressure upon certain persons in society
to engage in non-conforming rather than conforming behavior. These structural and
ideological dreams can cause great distress for those who cannot reach these goals.
Juveniles who engage in crimes do so, according to this perspective, as a means
to defy society’s defined goals and innovate their own goals of delinquent behavior.

3) Rational Choice Theory

Advocates of these theory argue that in many cases, deviance is a result of high
calculation of risks and awards. Prospective deviants weigh their own chance of gain
against the risk of getting caught, and thereby decide a course of action.
Juveniles, however, do not always choose the most rational actions. Their values
and motives are different from an adult criminal. Adolescents are also notorious for not
thinking before they act. These actions which constitute delinquency may come as a
result of acting against authority, or to rebel against cultural norms and goals.

4) Routine Activities Theory

The theory was developed by Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson. This theory
claims that crime is a normal function of the routine activities of modern living; offenses
can be expected by capable guardians. The routine activities approach gives equal
weight to the role of both the victim and the offender in the crime process. Criminal
opportunity is significantly influenced by the victim’s lifestyle and behavior. The greater
the opportunity for criminals and victims to interact, the greater the probability of crime;
the reduced interaction, the more opportunity for crime to decline.

Factors affecting Routine Activities Theory:

a. Lack of capable guardian
b. Suitable target
c. Motivated offenders

5) Learning Theories
This set of theories advances that delinquency is learned through the close
relationship with others. It asserts that children are born “good” and learn to be “bad”
from others. Learning theories hold that children living in even the most deteriorated
areas can resist inducements to crime if they have learned proper values and behavior.
Delinquency, by contrast, develops by learning the values and behavior associated with
criminal activity.

Behavior of Juvenile Delinquents

Different Types of Behavioral Disorder

1) Anti-social behavior - characterized by disrespect or disobedience for authority.

2) Lying - Requires attention among the most important needs of a child (love, security,
praise, peace, attention happiness, understanding, respect, and acceptance).

3) Stealing - undisciplined desire for possession

- undisciplined pleasure seeking
- loose morals in the family
- lack of proper clothing & other school requirements
- parental indifference
4) Truancy - (cutting classes without any reasonable source)
- unattractive school life
- proximity to place of vices
- fear of punishment

5) Vagrancy (wandering away from home)

- Disagreeable home condition
- misdirected love for adventure
- feeble-mindedness
5) Emotional Disorders
- jealousy reactions
- temper tantrums
- fear reaction

Causes of Behavioral Disorders

A) Predisposing Factor
- inclinations or inherited propensities which cannot be considered as a criminal
one unless there is a probability that a crime will be committed.
B) Precipitating Factor
- elements which provoke crimes or factors that are signified to the everyday
adjustments of an individual (personal problems, necessities, imitations,
curiosity, ignorance, diseases)

Factors Affecting the Development of Juvenile Delinquency

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 learn the ways of a particular
society or social group so that they can function within it.

FAMILY
The first and most basic institution in the society in developing child potential in
all its aspects:
- Emotional
- Intellectual
- Moral & Spiritual
- Physical & Social

It is within Family that the child learns to curb his desires and accept rules that
define time, place, and circumstances under which highly personal needs may be
satisfied in socially acceptable ways.
 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 parents
10. Teenage pregnancy
11. Latchkey children

Family Structure

Family size & 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.
Predictive factor; greater chance to become delinquent;
- Lacking educational success;
- Perform poorly in school & score low in IQ test.

2) Child’s Birth Order in the Family

Birth order affects delinquent behavior;
- Delinquency are more likely among middle children than first or last children;
- First child receives individual attention & affection of parents;
- Last child benefits from parent’s experience of raising children; Some cases,
the delinquent child is the first or last child.

Relations between Parents and Children

Strongest predictive factor for delinquency – criminal parents. Related to the

relationship of parents toward their children; Parents provide a model of behavior for the
children to copy.

1) FAMILY REJECTION
 Some children are rejected by their parents; Deprived of one or both of their
parents through abandonment, hospitalization, divorce, death or intervention of public
agencies.

According to John Bowlby (British psychologist)

“even a short absence on the part of the mother could have deleterious effects on the
psychic well-being of the child”.

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 are 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.
Family Model

1) The Corporate Model

The Father is the chief executive officer, makes the most, the final word. The
Mother is the operating officer and implements the Father’s policy and manages the
staff (children) in turn have privileges and responsibilities based on their seniority.

2) The Team Model

The Father is the head; the Mother is the chief of the training table and cheer
leader. The children, suffering frequent performance anxiety, play the roles and stay in
shape with conformity calisthenics.

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 the headmaster 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 is but teach and test.

5) the Theatrical Model

The Father is the producer and plays the role, the Mother, the stage manager,
doubles in the part of a 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 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.

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 a
high regard on the independent of the child and self-direction but assume the ultimate
responsibility for their children’s behavior. They 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. They are not responsive to 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 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:

a. Notice what the child is doing.
b. Monitor it over a long period of time.
c. Model social skill behavior.
d. Clearly state house rules/ policies.
e. Consistently provide same punishments for transgressions and disobedience.
f. Provide reinforcement for conformity.
g. Negotiate disagreements so that conflicts and crisis do not escalate.

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 any kind which humiliates,
shames, or frightens the child.
Further, it is defined 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.
2. Emotional maltreatment/ Psychological Child Abuse – is when an adult demeans the
child’s worth and 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. It can be physical,
educational, or emotional.
Physical Neglect can include not providing adequate food or clothing, appropriate
medical care, supervision, or proper weather protection.
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 & alcohol abuse, including allowing the
child to participate in drug and alcohol use.
4. Sexual 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 or related to a 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/she 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 circumstances develop.

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 this kind of
abusers want to stop abusing their children, they cannot, and they are afraid to make
their discipline practices known.

7) Institutionally Prescribed Abuser – some institutions are grounded with beliefs that
are abusive to children.
Child abuse may occur in:
a. Homes
b. Schools (private or public)
c. Day care centers
d. Preschools
e. Detention centers
f. Correctional facilities
Other Contributory Factors to Juvenile Delinquency Problem
 Self-Help: You can also refer to the sources below to help you
further understand the lesson:

References

1. Alviola, A. & Canaman J.C (2012) Juvenile Delinquency, Wiseman’s Books Trading, Inc.Project 6,
Quezon City.