JUVENILE DELINQUENCY THE CORE 5E Chapter 3: Individual Views of Delinquency: Choice and Trait Choice Theory • Classical criminology • Cesare Beccaria & Jeremy Bentham • Choice Theory • Argues that people weigh and consider the consequences prior to the commission of their behaviors • Holds that the decision to violate the law comes after a careful weighing of the benefits • Assumes that people have “free will” to choose their behavior The Rational Delinquent  The view that delinquents choose to violate the law remains a popular approach to the study of delinquents  In reality, many youths from affluent families choose to break the law  Delinquent motives include:  Economic need/opportunity  Problem solving  False expectations  Opportunity Routine Activities Theory  Developed by Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson  The view that crime is a normal function of the routine activities of modern living  Predatory crimes  Violent crimes against persons and crimes in which an offender attempts to steal an object from its holder are influenced by three variables: ① The availability of suitable targets ② The absence of capable guardians ③ The presence of motivated offenders FIGURE 3.1 Routine Activities Theory Helps Explain Fluctuations in the Delinquency Rate Choice Theory and Delinquency Prevention  General Deterrence  Crime control policies that depend on the fear of criminal penalties, i.e. long prison sentences for violent crime  A guiding principle of deterrence is based on:  The severity of the punishment  The certainty of the punishment  The swiftness of the punishment  There is evidence that adolescents who perceive they will be arrested and punished for a crime will often forego delinquent acts Choice Theory and Delinquency Prevention • Specific Deterrence • If young offenders are punished severely they will not repeat their illegal acts • “Learn from their own mistakes” • For example, sending convicted offenders to secure incarceration facilities; punishment is severe enough to convince them not to repeat their criminal activity • However, in some cases experiencing punishment may actually increase the likelihood of reoffending Choice Theory and Delinquency Prevention • Problems with a strict deterrence strategy: • Minors are not “rational” • Experienced offenders do not fear the legal consequences • high-risk offenders may not fear getting arrested • Many juveniles are under influence of drugs/alcohol • Juveniles often commit crimes in groups – “co-offending” • Most serious delinquents are not able to comprehend consequences • Punishment may produce defiance, rather than deterrence Choice Theory and Delinquency Prevention  Situational Crime Prevention  In order to reduce delinquency, crime control must recognize the characteristics of sites and situations that are at risk to crime  Delinquency ca ...

1. JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
THE CORE 5E
Chapter 3: Individual
Views of Delinquency:
Choice and Trait
Choice Theory
• Classical criminology
• Cesare Beccaria & Jeremy Bentham
• Choice Theory
• Argues that people weigh and consider
the consequences prior to the
commission of their behaviors
• Holds that the decision to violate the law
comes after a careful weighing of the
benefits

2. • Assumes that people have “free will” to
choose their behavior
The Rational Delinquent
remains a popular approach to the study of delinquents
break the law
m solving
Routine Activities Theory
activities of
modern living

3. inst persons and crimes in which an
offender
attempts to steal an object from its holder are influenced by
three
variables:
①The availability of suitable targets
②The absence of capable guardians
③The presence of motivated offenders
FIGURE 3.1 Routine Activities Theory Helps Explain
Fluctuations
in the Delinquency Rate
Choice Theory and
Delinquency Prevention
penalties,
i.e. long prison sentences for violent crime

4. arrested and punished for a crime will often forego delinquent
acts
Choice Theory and
Delinquency Prevention
• Specific Deterrence
• If young offenders are punished severely they will not repeat
their
illegal acts
• “Learn from their own mistakes”
• For example, sending convicted offenders to secure
incarceration facilities; punishment is severe enough to
convince them not to repeat their criminal activity
• However, in some cases experiencing punishment may

5. actually increase the likelihood of reoffending
Choice Theory and
Delinquency Prevention
• Problems with a strict deterrence strategy:
• Minors are not “rational”
• Experienced offenders do not fear the legal consequences
• high-risk offenders may not fear getting arrested
• Many juveniles are under influence of drugs/alcohol
• Juveniles often commit crimes in groups – “co-offending”
• Most serious delinquents are not able to comprehend
consequences
• Punishment may produce defiance, rather than deterrence
Choice Theory and
Delinquency Prevention
the

6. characteristics of sites and situations that are at risk to crime
neutralized if:
Trait Theories: Biosocial and
Psychological Views
originated with
the Italian physician Cesar Lombroso (1835-1909)
est physical anomalies that make
them

7. biologically and psychologically similar to our primitive
ancestors
fallen out of favor
Trait Theories: Biosocial and
Psychological Views
• Contemporary Trait Theory
• For the most of the 20th century, delinquency research focused
on
social factors
• Trait theories argue that a combination of personal traits and
environmental factors lead to behavior patterns
• Today’s trait theories:
• Biosocial theory
• Delinquency can be found in a child’s physical or
biological makeup
• Psychological traits and characteristics
Mug Shot Study –

8. Current Example
Biosocial Theories of Delinquency
makeup, environmental conditions, and antisocial
behaviors
①Biochemical factors
②Neurological function
①Genetic history
Biochemical Factors
• Suspected relationship between antisocial behavior and
biochemical makeup
• Biochemical problems can begin at conception
• i.e., maternal alcohol abuse
• Environmental contamination, such as children exposed to
high

9. levels of air pollution
• There is evidence that a child’s diet may influences his or
her behavior
• Hormonal levels, such as increased levels of
testosterone, are also associated with antisocial
behavior
Neurological Dysfunction
• Neurological dysfunction, such as minimal brain dysfunction
(MBD) is
associated with antisocial behavior
• Teenage brains:
• Teenage brains can make them crime prone
• ADHD:
• Condition in which a child shows a developmentally
inappropriate lack of attention and impulse
• Learning Disabilities (LD):
• Studies show that arrested children
have a higher rate of LDs

10. than children in the general
population
• Arousal Theory:
• “Thrill” and “sensation seekers”
Genetic Influences
①Parental deviance
②Twin studies
③Adoption studies
Criminal Twins –
Current Example

11. Psychological Theories of Delinquency
destructive relationships with people around them; this
can indicate a disturbed personality
ne study of incarcerated youths found that at least 88% of
males
and 92% of females had a psychiatric disorder
①Psychodynamic theory
②Behavioral theory
③Cognitive theory
FIGURE 3.2 Psychological Perspectives of
Delinquency
Psychodynamic Theory

12. controlled by unconscious mental processes
-1939)
f three major components:
①Id
②Ego
③Superego
caused
by early childhood, can result in long-term psychological
difficulties
Behavioral Theory/Cognitive Theory
• Behavioral Theory
• Argument that personality is learned throughout life during
interactions with others
• “Behaviorism” concerns the study of observable behavior,
rather than unconscious processes; focuses on particular
stimuli and responses to them
• Kids learn through reward and punishment

13. • Cognitive Theory
• Studies the perception of reality and the mental processes
required to understand the world we live in
Personality and Delinquency
• Personality
• The stable patterns of behavior, including thoughts and
emotions,
that distinguish one person from the other
• Hans Eysenck’s two traits associate with antisocial
behavior:
①
Extraversion
• Impulsive individuals who lack the ability to examine their
own motives
②
Neuroticism
• Individuals who are anxious and emotionally unstable
Personality and Delinquency

14. personality
behavior responses, and unable to learn from
experience
VA Tech Massacre –
Current Example
Intelligence and Delinquency
and thus inclined to commit more crimes
ory:
socialization

15. Trait Theory and Delinquency Prevention
• Prevention efforts should be directed at strengthening a
youth’s home life and relationships
• Prenatal/Early Infancy Project (PEIP)
• One of the best known home visitation programs
• Individual approaches have been used to prevent
adjudicated youths from engaging in further criminal
activities
• Rehabilitation methods include psychological counseling or
prescribed psychotropic medications
Summary
-
level theories of delinquency
amiliarity with the branches and substance of biological
trait theory