Discuss about the Sociology Law for Juvenile Delinquency.
Juvenile delinquency has emerged as one of the key social problems of the 21st century which is casting a shadow on the future of the society as young children conduct heinous crimes. While there are scholars who tend to analyse the problem from the biological or psychological aspect, it is critical to analyse the issue from a sociological perspective in the wake of a host of theories dealing with deviance and crime that have developed over the last 100 years or so. This would allow the policymakers in deciding on the requite course of action that is required in order to ensure that the incidence of re-offending same or more serious crime tends to witness a significant decline.
Durkheim was the first sociologist to offer insight on the incidence of crime and attributed it to the weakening social control as society tends to progress. He indicated that as the division of labour become more complex, the form of solidarity underwent a change to organic form. Consequently, there is an increase in individualism which tends to challenge the social norms of the society which has led to its undermining leading to a state of anomie where the society is not able to act as a guiding force, resulting in crime (Hawkins, 1996). However, in response to this, the Chicago school indicated the importance of environment which tends to be responsible for crime and thereby advocated that the deviance is introduced amongst certain sections due to the prevalence of a deviant subculture which tends to endorse such actions and values which tend to lead to higher incidence of crime. Further, this idea was consolidated in the form of differential association theory in the early part of the 20th century which focused on differential arrangements of social groups (Short, 2002).
However, the above ecological and subculture theory was rejected by Robert Merton who gave the strain theory in order to explain the phenomenon of deviance He indicated that the social structure was such that unequal opportunities were provided to different individuals as a result of which they have unequal chances of achieving success as defined by social norms. When the people are not able to achieve the respective goals cherished in a given society, then they resort to deviance which would involve a host of varied responses (Featherstone & Deflem, 2003). He further indicates that anomie occur wherever there is high deviation between the culturally accepted and the opportunities to achieve the same for the people lying low in the social structure. As a result strain refers to the situation whereby there is emphasis on the culturally endorsed goals but the means are not considered that important which leads some people to try out innovative means in order to accomplish the culturally accepted goals (Zembroski, 2011).
Cohen went ahead and combined the differential association theory and also the strain theory and made attempt to define the delinquent subculture. He made a critical observation that delinquent sub-culture essentially originated from the urban slum which supported crime even when it had no real motive and lacked tangible gains. Further, the origination this delinquent sub-culture was traced to differences in practices related to child rearing, expectations in classroom, aspirations of parents that are witnessed across various cultures. Also, the youth are attracted to the delinquent culture as they find it difficult to achieve a respectable status for themselves which is primarily on account of the social norms being representative of the middle class values and aspirations which are categorically different from those endorsed as part of the delinquent sub-culture. Over a period of time, the delinquent sub-culture is seen as a response to middle class values (Shoemaker, 2010). The children belonging to these communities and status groups no longer are aspired by the middle class values but are instead driven by delinquent sub-culture since these standards could be met by these youth. Another noteworthy theory in this regard is the opportunity theory which like Cohen’s theory aims to combine the differential association theory and also the strain theory. The theorists opined that delinquent culture tend to be prevalent in areas which constitutes of residents belonging to lower class as there is presence of group support which tends to endorse the pursuit of various opportunities of illegal nature and strengthen the view regarding rejection of conventional values (Hawkins, 1996).
Further, social control theories are also relevant as had been initially indicated by Durkheim. In this regards, Hirschi framed a theory based on externally driven social control exhibited by social relationships and thereby rejected the strain theory. He indicated that existence of social control is dependent on primarily four social relationships namely belief, commitment, involvement and attachment. He indicated that due to the issues in these four aspects related to social relationships, there is delinquent behaviour on the part of the subject (Shoemaker, 2010). In this regard, he paid particular importance to the familial tie which essentially is critical determinant of attachment. With regards to commitment, the key factor is the involvement of the concerned individual in the various activities that are considered moral by the society. Involvement essentially refers to the time spent in carrying out activities that are endorsed by the value system of the society. Belief refers to the extent of agreement that the given individual would have with the prevalent values of the conventional society (Zembroski, 2011).
Another view regarding deviance is advocated by the conflict theorists who reflect on the existing discrepancies in the economic terms in the social structure which leads to delinquent crimes. The prime cause of crime is the existence of capitalism which tends to further the interest of only the rich at the cost of the poor (Hawkins, 1996). Due to the underlying conflict in the resource distribution, crime comes into existence so as to restore the balance to some extent. The various systems in a capitalist economy are designed so as to serve the interest of the rich capitalists which leads to marginalisation of the poor and with absence of legitimate opportunities, there is no choice left to them except resort to illegal activities in order to challenge the existing economic system by decreasing the difference in wealth (Burfring & Barfosch, 2008).
From the above discussion, it is evident that one of the reasons responsible for youth delinquency is the lack of opportunities for the lower class so as to achieve the goals defined by the conventional society. Thus, in order to stem this problem and prevent repeat offenders is to ensure that these can be integrated into the mainstream society. In this regard, the labelling theory by Becker is critical as it highlights that after a person has been indulged in a deviant activity, he/she is labelled as a criminal. As a result, the conventional society has limited acceptance for the individual who tends to find acceptance in people who themselves have committed some crimes before or belong to a delinquent culture. This essentially increases the likelihood of the given person recommitting the crime again and probably a serious one and gradually would get developed into a criminal (Thornberry & Krohn, 2001).
As a result, it is required to understand that 24 hour surveillance may not be the right way forward in order to prevent a juvenile delinquent from committing a crime again. This is because this does not tend to address the root cause of the issue which is lack of acceptability and opportunities in the society. It makes sense to provide a fresh identity to such an individual so that employment is not an issue for the concerned individual. It is pivotal that legitimate employment opportunities must be offered and also to the extent possible, it is imperative to isolate them from the delinquent culture (Shoemaker, 2010). This is because a delinquent culture provides legitimacy to the various illegal activities that these youth tends to engage in either for commercial gains or for fun and prestige. Going forward, it is required that public policy should aim at integrating the people in the mainstream culture which would typically be carried out over two to three generations where there would be a high degree of friction as the value systems of the two sub-cultures are essentially at loggerheads with each other. However, this would tend to provide a long term solution to the problem as the legitimacy and need to conduct such an activity would not arise which would lead to a decline in the incidence of youth delinquency (Burfring & Barfosch, 2008).
However, at the current moment the youth are alienated and thus enjoy limited awards which essentially lead them to consider indulging in illegal activities. Subsequent rehabilitation efforts are aimed at superficial prevention of crime without addressing the root cause of the problem. Thus, in order to resolve the current issue at hand a dual pronged strategy would be required which one hand tends to enhance legitimate means for achievement of social goals and simultaneously reducing the exposure of delinquent culture by eliminating the need for such a culture at the first place and bringing about a tangible change in socialisation patterns through behavioural counselling (Burfring & Barfosch, 2008).
References
Burfring, J. & Barfosch, D. (2008), Juvenile Delinquency: An Integrated Approach, NY: Jones and Bartlett Publishers
Featherstone, R., & Deflem, M. (2003). Anomie and strain: Context and consequences of Merton’s two theories. Sociological Inquiry, 73(4), 471–489
Hawkins, J. D. (Ed.) (1996). Delinquency and crime: Current theories. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Shoemaker, D.J. (2010), Theories of Delinquency: An Examination of Explanations of Delinquent Behaviour, NY: Oxford University Press
Short, J. F., Jr. (2002). Criminology, the Chicago school, and sociological theory. Crime, Law and Social Change, 37(2), 107–115.
Thornberry, T. P., & Krohn, M. D. (2001) The development of delinquency: An interactional perspective. In S. O. White (Ed.), Handbook of law and social science: Youth and justice (pp. 289–305). New York, NY: Plenum
Zembroski, D. (2011), Sociological Theories of Crime and Delinquency, Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 21(1), 240-254
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