Michael Graffeo 1
Assignment
Writing Assignment
One area of focus that I am interested in is juvenile delinquency. I am interested in particular
as to what cause delinquency in adolescence. I think further research will benefit me because I would
like to be a police officer someday. Having a better understanding of causes of delinquency would be
beneficial. Most people already know that adolescence in minority groups and in a lower
socioeconomic status have a higher rate of delinquency. What I want to know is why that is? Is it
because these groups have less influence in the judicial process then say the white, middle or higher
socioeconomic status. Maybe it’s because of peer influence and choosing a negative identity.
Adolescents with an identity crisis may choose a negative identity and may find support among others
seeking the same thing.
Carter Rees of the ASU School of Criminology and Criminal Justice focuses his
research among others on juvenile delinquency as well as adolescent friendship networks.
Some of Rees’ more recent works include: “Social Networks and Delinquency in
Adolescence,” and “Parents and Peers as Institutions of Socialization in Childhood and
Adolescence.” Rees’ recent work is exactly the area that I am interested in. As a police
officer I feel it would be important to have an understanding of the background of the
kids I will be dealing with. What I mean by that is everyone has a story and it would be
nice to know how to deal with some kids verse others. Maybe some kids are only acting out
because of peer influences and aren’t as dangerous as one might think.
Michael Graffeo 2
A journal article by Carter Rees that I thought was interesting was “One Bad Apple May Not Spoil the
Whole Bunch: Best Friends and Adolescent Delinquency.” Rees wanted to know if the delinquency of an
individual’s best friend can predict that individual’s delinquency independent from other social factors. The
study looked at an individual’s delinquent act and compared it to that of their best friend and their other
friendship networks.
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My research interest is what cause delinquency among adolescents? Professor Carter Rees does
his research in this area. Professor Rees has published articles in juvenile delinquency,
adolescent friendship networks, and the life course theory. Interesting questions are answered by
professors and scientists with the help of journal articles. Journal articles are useful because they
focus on specific and current topics that are related to your area of interest. One thing that I
learned throughout this assignment was the usefulness of journal articles. I never really knew
much about the effectiveness of journal articles until this assignment as well as the first
assignment.