Juvenile Delinquency and Risk Factors

This is the commission of criminal acts or offenses by minors who are under the age of prosecution. Risk factors, on the other hand, can be described as personal characteristics or environmental variables that predispose a person to a particular damage. They are classed as social, individual, or communal groups, which can be further broken into smaller groups. Physiological behavior, prenatal variables, and mental qualities are examples of individual factors. Peer and structure influences, as well as the presence of family and loved ones, are examples of social factors. Community elements include local structures and values, as well as policies implemented by schools. Ethnicity plays a big role on the basis of where people come from and the community factors such as the norms of the society contribute as well. The neighborhood set ups also play a role as the juveniles live in environments ranging from Porsche neighborhoods to poor ones, each of which has a specific distinct effect on the young people. For example, young people from the Bronx may be molded differently by the community around them than those from New York. Finally, there is the issue of peer pressure and upbringing which is pertinent in the determination whether a young person would likely be delinquent or not (Hawkins, Laub & Cothern).

Risk factors play a big role in juvenile delinquency and may interact with each other resulting in effects. It is thus essential to come up with protective factors and also mass awareness in order to try and eliminate juvenile delinquency.

Reference

Hawkins, D. Laub, J and Cothern, L. 2000. Juvenile Justice Bulletin. Race, ethnicity and serious and violent juvenile offending. Published by the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse, Washington D.C. Pgs. 1-5.