Juvenile Justice in
America
SOC 106
Parts 3 and 4: Individual Views of
Delinquency: Choice and Trait
1.
Early beliefs
- reasons for crime
- scholars of the time
a. Demonology
- early attempts
- dark ages / medieval England / Salem witch trial
(1) Accused individuals for anything:
- cannot explain
- we fear
- that is wrong
(a) Person possessed
- evil spirits
(b) Food during a famine
- witches / evil spirits
(c) Always have good luck
- witches / evil spirits
(2) “Deterministic approach”
- forces beyond control
- pre-determined by evil within
(a) Driven from body
- beat severely / torture
- drive evil out
(b) Trephining
- drill holes in head
- let evil escape
(3) Cults today
- United States
- children starved / beaten / mental abuse
- drive evil out
b. Classical theory
(1) People make choices
- free will / rewards
- “pleasure / pain principle”
- controlled crime
- threat of punishment
(2) Classical School of Criminology – 1760s
- Cesare Becarria
- study of crime / criminals
- Voltaire / Montesquieu
(a) Beliefs:
- presumption of innocence
- punishment is retribution
- severity limited
- correspond to crime
- written laws
- certainty of punishment
(b) Neoclassical School – early 1800s
- moral ability to choose
- mentally retarded
- juveniles
(2) Positive School – late 1800s
- Italian School
(a) Cesare Lombroso
- “father of modern criminology”
- “determinism”
(b) Individual
- underlying problem
- hereditary
- environment
- criminals = throwbacks (atavistic)
2.
Explaining delinquency
-theories
- integrated set of ideas
- ideas used to explain facts
- beliefs at that time
- experience
- new experience / new idea / new theory
a. Biological theories
- scientific study of crime
- shifted from act
- to actor
(1) Charles Darwin
- Origin of Species / Descent of Man
(a) God did not create all
- humans evolved
- few differences
- controlled by same set of laws
(b) No free will / choice
(2) 19th century criminologists
- Auguste Comte / Cesare Lombroso
- individual trait
- Positivists
(3) Physical appearance /crime
- early theory
- atavistic
(a) Resemble ape-like ancestors
- traits / abilities / dispositions
- commit crime
(b) Criminal features = anomalies
- something unusual / different
- from what is expected
(c) Physiognomist
- placement of facial features
- tell if criminal
(d) Phrenologist
- bumps on skull
- psychological tendencies
(4) Body type /crime
- body type / personality related
- Ernst Kretschmer – 1925
- 4 body types
(a) Athletic
- muscled
- violent crime
(b) Pyknic
- short / fat
- deception
- fraud / forgery
(c) Leptosome
- tall / thin
- petty thievery
(d) Dysplactic
- mixed body type
- crimes against decency / morality
(5) William Sheldon – 1949
- body type / delinquency
- affects personality / temperament
- 3 types
(a) Endomorph
- round / soft
- short arms / legs
- extroverted
(b) Mesomorph
- athletic / muscular
- aggressive
(c) Ectomorph
- skinny / lean / fragile body
- introverted
(6) Heredity /crime
- criminality inherited
- Greek belief
(a) “Eugenics”
- improving human race
- better breeding
(b) Eugenicists / hereditarians
- mental, moral, physical characteristics
- predetermined
- Hitler: super-soldier
(7) Antisocial Personality Disorder / crime
- psychopath / sociopath (1968)
- irresponsible / antisocial behavior
(8) Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- inattentiveness / impulsive behavior
- studies continuing
(a) Serious crimes
- 25 times as likely
- institutionalized
- anti-social behavior
(b) 64 %
- California Youth Authority
(9) Biochemical factors / crime
- do not cause
- affect indirectly
(10) Chromosomal abnormalities / crime
- DNA structure
- xx / xy / xxy / xyy
3.
Psychological theories
a. Psychoanalytical theory
- unconscious motives / drives
- Sigmund Freud: emotional development
- ID / Ego / Superego
b. Behaviorism
- environment shapes
- forces outside child
(1) Live in crime area
- accepted
- wrong: if caught
c. Social learning
- reflection of people observing / imitating
- learn criminal behavior = associating
d. Moral development
- perceptions of fantasy / reality
- TV = fantasy
- back next week
4.
Sociological Views of Delinquency
a. Strain
- basically good
- crime: confront stress / extreme pressue
b. Social control
- amoral / need controls
- poor parental supervision / major risk
c. Labeling
- leads to deviance
- stigmatize by labeling
e. Conflict
- society held together
- force / coercion / intimidation
- law: those in power
5.
Causes of delinquency
- numerous reasons
- more accepted causes
a. Social disorganization theory
- social structure
- ecological character of neighborhood
- deterioration / crime / unemployment / gangs /
single-parent
(1) Permanent underclass
- biased society
- look down on poor
- label
(2) Stratified society / class
- wealthy / upper / middle / lower / under
(a) Minorities less opportunity
- escape / rise above
- primarily African-American
(b) Police training
- lower / under-classes
(3) Delinquency
- conditions in urban area
- membership: ecological conditions
(4) New class into area
- treat all same
(a) Concentric zone theory
- Parks / Burgess
(b) Central business district (zone 1)
(c) Transitional zone
- immigrant groups
- deteriorated housing
- factories
- abandoned buildings
(d) Working class zone
- single family tenements
- projects
(e) Residential zone
- single family homes
- yards / gardens
(f) Commuter zone
- suburbs
b. Cultural deviance theory
- poor adhere to independent subculture
- observe rules of lower-class
- accepted / enforced by that culture
(1) Culturally same middle-class
- working class families
- enforce own rules
(2) Juveniles
- violated law = subculture
- pimp / drug dealer = role models
- obey lower class rules
- police / teachers / social service workers
- outsiders / middle-class
c. Learning theory
- learn to be good / to be bad
(1) Formative years
- attitude / morals / skills / behavior
- to be delinquent
(2) Criminal behavior learned
- peers / TV / movies / society
(a) Education
- learn from others
(b) Sports
- learn from others
(c) Crime
- learn from others
(3) Learn attitudes / morals
- parents / teachers / community / peers
- parents / peers / teachers / community
d. Biosocial theory
- interaction: biological / social factors
- traits: not necessarily
- circumstances: not necessarily
- together: create population / responsible
(1) Social factors
- poverty / unemployment / school dropout
- lack social services / community decay
- crime / gangs
(2) Biological factors
- genetics / low IQ / poor motor skills
- criminals made or born?
e. Choice theory
- adaptation: classical criminology
- choice = benefit
- pleasure / pain principle
(1) Consider
- excitement / money / prestige
- arrest / humiliation / parent’s anger
(2) Not born
- product of environment
(a) Rational choice
- think out before acting
- few minutes / weigh consequences
(b) Choose to be delinquent
- to commit crime
- not consider criminal
- unless caught
f. Social forces theory
(1) Age / delinquency
- major concern
- commit more crime
- inversely related
(2) Juvenile crime
- 15 to 18: 6% population
- 25% index crime
(a) Peak property crime: 16 years
(b) Peak violent crime: 18 years
- followed closely: 17 years
g. Statistical overview
- murder: 18 years
- rape: 18 years
- robbery: 18 years
- assault: 19 years
- burglary: 18 years
- theft: 16 years
- auto theft: 16 years
- arson: 15 years
6.
Differential Association
- Criminologist Edwin Sutherland (1939)
- proposed theory / revised: 1947
a. Criminal behavior is learned
- social interaction with others
(1) Attempted to explain:
- individual behavior
- societal behavior
(a) Mere association
- not lead to criminal behavior
(b) Differs from person to person
- social environment
- individuals within
- gain from significant others
b. Nine beliefs
(1) Criminal behavior is learned
(2) Learned in interaction with others
(3) Principal part of learning
- intimate personal groups
(4) When learned
- includes techniques of committing crime
- sometimes complicated / simple
- motive / drive / rationalization / attitude
(5) Motives / drives
- learned from definitions of legal code
- favorable / unfavorable
(6) Become delinquent
- more definitions favorable
- over definitions unfavorable
(7) Differential associations may vary
- frequency / duration / priority / intensity
(8) Association: criminal / anti-criminal patterns
- same mechanisms
- any other learning
(9) Expression of general needs / values
- not explained by those needs / values
- non-criminal behavior expression of same
needs / values