CRIM.

4: JUVENILE DELINQUENCY AND CRIME PREVENTION

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
- an anti-social behavior or act which does not conform with the standards of society
- youth behavior which is against the norms and regulations of society which if left unchecked would
give rise to criminality
- describes a large number of disapproved behavior of children or youth
- anti-social acts or behavior of children which deviate from the normal patter of rules and regulations,
custom and culture which society does not accept and which therefore justify some kind of
admonition, punishment or corrective measures in the public interest

JUVENILE
- a child or a young person, who, under the legal system may be dealt with for an offense in a
manner different from that of an adult
- persons below the age of majority, that is, below eighteen years old

AGE OF MAJORITY
- majority commences at the age of eighteen (18) years

EMANCIPATION
- freedom from parental authority, both over his person and property
- happens upon reaching the age of eighteen years

RA 6809
- the law amending the age of majority
- lowered the age of majority from twenty-one (21) to eighteen (18) years
- approved on 13 December 1989

DELINQUENT
- one whose behavior has brought him into repeated conflict with the law regardless whether he has
been taken before a court and adjudged a delinquent one who has committed an offense that
violated the approved norms of conduct and is guilty of a misdeed

STATUS OFFENSE
- certain acts or omissions which may not be punishable socially or legally if committed by adults but
become anti-social or illegal because the offender is a minor, such as:

a) truancy, or frequent, unreasonable absenteeism from school

b) use of profane language
c) running away from home
d) smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages
e) disobedience to parents, guardians or school officials
f) mendicancy or begging in the streets
g) association with delinquent gangs

ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
- characterized by disobedience to, or disrespect for, authorities

PARENS PATRIAE ("father of the country")

- the doctrine that does not consider delinquent acts as criminal violation, thus making delinquents
non-criminal persons and cannot be found quilty of a crime and punished like an adult criminal
- views minor who violate the laws as victims of improper care, custody and treatment at home
- assumption by the State of the role of guardian over children whose parents are deemed incapable
or unworthy
- he authority of the stateto act on behalf of the children
THREE TYPES OF DELIQUENCY

1) ENVIRONMENTAL DELINQUENTS
- characterized by occasional law-breaking

2) EMOTIONALLY MALADJUSTED DELINQUENTS

- characterized by chronic law breaking, a habit which this type cannot avoid or escape from

3) PSYCHIATRIC DELINQUENTS
- characterized by serious emotional disturbances within the individual and in some cases
associated with tendencies towards mental illness

TYPES OF DELINQUENT YOUTH

1) SOCIAL
- an aggressive youth who resents authority of anyone who makes an effort to control his

2) NEUROTIC
- one who has internalized his conflicts and is preoccupied with his own feelings

3) ASOCIAL
- one whose delinquent acts have a cold, brutal and vicious quality for which the youth feels no
remorse

4) ACCIDENTAL
- one who is essentially sociable and law-abiding but happens to be at the wrong time and place
and becomes involved in delinquent acts not typical of his general behavior

DIFFERENT APPROACHES IN THE STUDY OF DELINQUENCY

1) BIOGENIC APPROACH
- gives an explanation that law violations and delinquency are a result of some physical defects

2) PSYCHOGENIC APPROACH
- argues that the critical factors in delinquency are personality problems to which misbehavior is
presumed to be the response

3) SOCIOGENIC APPROACH
- attributes delinquency pattern to social structures
- views youthful misdeed as a result of a learning process through interactions with other
members of society

DIFFERENT THEORIES CONCERNING DELINQUENCY

CHOICE THEORY
- based on the classical school of criminology that views an individual as having free will in
choosing his actions and that he calculates what he will gain or lose if he commits an act
- views the delinquent as a motivated offender who breaks the law because he or she perceives
an abundance of benefits and an absence of threat

BIOSOCIAL OR TRAIT THEORIES

- based on the view that both thought and behavior have biological and social bases
contemporary explanation of the biogenic approach
has three sub-theories: biochemical, neurological and genetics
 1) BIOCHEMICAL
- views that crime and delinquency, especially violence, are the result of diet, vitamin intake,
hormonal imbalance and other biological causes

2) NEUROLOGICAL
- explains that crime and delinquency occur because the individual suffers from brain impairment
or abnormality in the structure of the brain
- leaming disabilities such as attention deficit/hyperactive disorder and minimum brain dysfunction
are related to antisocial behavior

3) GENETIC
- explains that delinquent traits and predisposition to criminality are inherited from parents
criminality of parents can predict delinquency of children supported by research on twin studies
and adoption studies

PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES
- views delinquency as a result of emotional and mental disturbance of the individual
- contemporary explanation of the psychogenic approach
- has three sub theones: psychodynamic, behavioral and cognitive

1) PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY
- based on the psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud
- delinquency is the result of the imbalance of the three components of personality: id, ego and
superego
- delinquency is the product of the abnormal personality structure formed in early life and which
thereafter controls human behavior choices

2) BEHAVIORAL THEORY
- believes that individuals learn by observing how people react to their behaviour
- behavior is reinforced by some positive reaction, and behavior is extinguished if punished
- misbehavior of children if left unchecked will persist until adolescence

3) COGNITIVE THEORY
- views that delinquency is a result of the faulty perception and analysis of data of an individual
- believes that when an individual make decisions, he engages in a sequence of cognitive thought
processes:
1) he first encodes the information so that it can be interpreted;
2) then, he searches for a proper response and decide upon the most appropriate action;
3) finally, he acts on his decision
- delinquency-prone adolescents may have cognitive deficits and use information incorrectly when
they make decisions

SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES
- views delinquency as a product of the different social factors and dynamics
- has four groups of theories which in turn contain several sub-theories: social structure theories,
social process theories, social reaction theories and social conflict theories

1) SOCIAL STRUCTURE THEORIES

- hold that delinquency is a function of a person's place in the economic structure

2) SOCIAL PROCESS THEORIES

- view delinquency as a result of poor or faulty socialization or upbringing

3) SOCIAL REACTION THEORIES

- view delinquent acts and criminality as products of stigma and labeling
 4) SOCIAL CONTROL THEORIES
- maintain that everyone has the potential to become a criminal but most people are controlled by
their bonds to society

CONTRIBUTORY FACTORS IN JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

1) FAMILY
- the first and most basic institution of society responsible for developing a child's potential in all
its aspects like physical, emotional, spiritual, moral, intellectual and social
- molds the child to learn to curb his desires and to accept rules that define the time, place and
circumstances under which highly personal needs may be satisfied in socially acceptable ways

TYPES OF FAMILY STRUCTURE:

1) NUCLEAR FAMILY
- consists of father, mother and children

2) EXTENDED FAMILY
- consists of father, mother, children, grandparents, uncles and aunts, cousins, nephews and
nieces, and in laws

Ideally, a home must have the following:

a) structural completeness
- presence of both father and mother

b) economic security
- capability to provide for the basic needs and wants

c) cultural conformity
- typical family beliefs and practices

d) moral conformity
- moral uprightness, Christian way of living

e) physical and psychological normalcy

f) emotional adequacy
- affection, support, love and care between faulty members

Factors in the home life that may cause delinquency:

a) faulty development of the child
b) lack of parental guidance
c) parental rejection
d) broken homes
e) lack of love
f) unfair treatment
g) too harsh discipline by either or both parents
h) too much leniency by either or both parents
i) unfavorable parental example

SCHOOL
- considered the second home of a child, with teachers as the second parents institution
responsible for the training of young person's intellectual, moral, as well as social skills which
they need for them to grow up as productive, law abiding and responsible citizens
Instances of deviant conduct attributed to school inadequacy:

a) failure of teachers to detect and address problems of children and report such problems to the parents
b) poor academic atmosphere
c) membership in school gangs or development of friendships with the wrong crowd
d) lack of facilities for curricular and extra-curricular activities
e) failure of teachers in character development of the students
f) failure to actually finish school, resulting to being out-of-school youths with a lot of time to waste and do
unproductive activities
g) failure to get gainful employment due to lack of sufficient education

ENVIRONMENT
- the culture, norms and behavior of the child's surroundings may very well influence the
upbringing of the child especially during their formative years and such misbehavior learned is
likely to be carried on until the child's maturity