Adolescence is a period of alteration ; a clip when immature people face ; new challenges, development and increased exposure. The Youth Justice Board ( 2011 ) suggests that there are presently 1,945 under-18s in detention in the UK. Furthermore, 68.6 % of all kids under the age of 18, who were discharged from prison in 2004, had reconvicted within one twelvemonth of release ( Chen, Matruglio, Weatherburn & A ; Hua, 2005 ) . With immature people who offend early, more likely to travel on to be big wrongdoers, it is of critical importance for criminologists to concentrate on what gives rise to, and terminates, juvenile delinquency.
The purpose of this essay is to look into the instance of a immature wrongdoer, named Len Wade, who has been convicted for repeatedly perpetrating delinquent offenses ; typically burglaries of brooding. Many sociological and psychological rules can account for the events, motives and eventual result of Len ‘s condemnable behavior. This essay will follow a longitudinal attack to criminal behavior, by look intoing the oncoming and causes of Len ‘s illegal behavior ; before traveling on to research the grounds why Len continues to pique, despite his legion strong beliefs. Finally empirical literature will be explored, to derive an apprehension of how programs can be implemented to forestall Len from reoffending in the hereafter. This geographic expedition will center itself on the cardinal constituents of Social Bond Theory ( SBT ) while implementing assorted empirical criminological literature, to garner an apprehension of SBT ‘s possible strengths and restrictions in explicating the oncoming, continuity and possible desistence of Len ‘s juvenile delinquent behavior. Furthermore, where failings are identified, other cardinal theories and empirical accounts will be integrated and contrasted to account for Len ‘s improper actions.
Traditionally much of the incrimination for young person and juvenile offense has been placed on the parents and defenders of young persons, proposing young persons are direct posterities of their senior ‘s actions. One key theory which attempts to supply an apprehension into the function societal bonds can play in condemnable behavior is SBT. Hirschi ‘s ( 1969 ) SBT centres on the thought that during adolescence, strong positive confidant relationships, aspirations and moral beliefs need to be formed to stand for the societal universe in a positive visible radiation, and therefore prevent hereafter piquing. Hirschi ( 1969 ) believed an persons societal bond can be classified into four cardinal constituents ; fond regard, engagement, committedness and belief systems.
Hirschi ( 1969 ) explains that one of the most important constituents when sing the oncoming of juvenile delinquency is the bond between young persons and their parents or equals. This provides a possible account for the oncoming of Len ‘s condemnable behavior, as his relationship to his parents seems, some what, strained, particularly with his male parent, who is noted to be schizophrenic. Consequently it is improbable that Len ‘s male parent has been able to bond and articulation in with his boy ‘s leisure activities. Assorted self studies suggest, holding a male parent who is unable articulation in with recreational activities greatly increases his boy ‘s later hazard of piquing ( Farrington, 1973 ) . Recent research by Williams and Kelly ( 2005 ) utilizing a multimodal informations aggregation on 115 delinquent striplings established that it is the paternal parenting manner which seems to be most strongly linked to a boy ‘s future delinquent behavior in immature maturity.
Agnew ( 1992 ) whose general strain theory proposes that ; those striplings who experience unpleasant events, fortunes or aversive state of affairss at place, from which they feel they can non get away are likely to see some negative emotional reactions, provides farther account of these findings. Len ‘s male parent ‘s schizophrenic disorder is likely to hold placed some strain on Len and his household ; this unpleasant state of affairs may hold caused some defeat for Len, as a immature stripling, perchance arousing him to take action ; in a desire to get away his aversive life conditions. ( Agnew, 1992 ) Therefore repeating the thought that that the mental wellness jobs of Len ‘s male parent may hold served to worsen his condemnable behavior.
Although information sing Len ‘s relationship with his female parent is limited, it is likely that her ability to organize a close bond with her boy has potentially been thwarted, by the force per unit area of caring for her spouse ‘s intermittent mental wellness jobs. Nelson and Rubin ( 1997 ) implemented self-report questionnaires which included a demographic study, an attachment stock list, and a juvenile delinquency questionnaire to 133 striplings aged between 13-18 old ages in rural Washington to garner empirical support for this proposition. Findingss indicated a important relationship between delinquency degree and parental fond regard to female parent and male parent therefore back uping the thought proposed by Hirschi ( 1969 ) that, the more affiliated striplings are to their parents, the less delinquent they are likely to go in adolescence. Therefore it seems that Len ‘s offending is likely to hold been influenced, in portion, by his household ‘s preoccupation with his male parent ‘s unwellness, and accordingly his deficiency of strong societal bonding with his parents.
Although it seems much of Len ‘s condemnable behavior can be explained by his less than ideal upbringing ( Hirschi, 1969, Nelson & A ; Rubin, 1997 ) , this account is limited in its ability to account for the difference in Len ‘s siblings ‘ offense rates. They themselves experienced the same negative strains placed on Len and his household, but have however non become delinquents and ”have no history of piquing ” . One possible account comes from Len ‘s strong, but however negative relationship to his equals. Hirschi ( 1969 ) is criticised sing his strong belief that the presence of any type of societal fond regard can merely be good. Hindelang ( 1973 ) argues that close bonds with similar delinquent equals can in fact have an highly negative affect on future results. Decades of research in this country such as recent research by Nijhof, Scholte, Overbeek and Engles ( 2010 ) has illustrated that young persons who have delinquent friends are themselves much more likely to pique, particularly if these friends are considered to be of high societal position in their equal group. This seems to be the instance for Len whose merely strong societal bond appears to be with his equals who he looks to, for the attention and encouragement his parents have unsuccessfully provided him. Therefore, although this equal fond regard seems to be strong, a positive thing harmonizing to Hirschi ‘s ( 1969 ) theory, this bond has merely served in negatively act uponing Len to conform to the norms of his equal group ; by taking drugs and get downing to act in a condemnable mode.
The cardinal function that equals play in the oncoming of piquing can be better understood by presenting a psychological apprehension of condemnable behavior. Bandura ‘s ( 1977 ) societal larning theory ( SLT ) proposes that human existences learn by copying things they see in the universe. In the critical stripling old ages the bulk of a child ‘s clip is spent with friends instead than household, therefore it is non surprising that equals have a huge influence on future results. ( Nijhof et al, 2010 ) It is possible that it was during this influential period that Len began to prosecute in delinquent behavior. It is likely that Len has observed his equals moving illicitly and has later been encouraged and motivated to act in similar ways to derive and uphold regard amongst his friends ; which he has non gained through more conventional bonds.
When traveling on to see Len ‘s continuity in perpetrating condemnable offenses, one country which seems to be critical is his committedness to his equal group ; felons really frequently experience the demand to continue the negative, but however desirable, reputes they have gained from equals. ( Esbensen, Peterson, Taylor, & A ; Freng, 2009 ) Len explains his reconvictions as acquiring ”in with the same old crowd ” proposing that he may happen himself perpetrating offenses to heighten his societal position and repute amongst his equals alternatively of conventional society. Conklin ( 1996 ) criticised SBT for non lucubrating on the function of these negative committednesss, reasoning that Hirschi ( 1969 ) focused excessively much on the function that committedness to conventional society has to play on felons. Hirschi ( 1969 ) suggested that people consider a cost-benefit analysis when make up one’s minding whether to perpetrate an offense. If, like Len, the person has no employment or repute to continue, they are much more likely to experience that they have nil to lose by perpetrating and go oning to perpetrate offense. However Esbensen et Al. ( 2009 ) would reason that the regard, repute and blessing Len receives from his equals when perpetrating illegal offenses is regarded as a benefit to his ain ego regard and repute. This thought has been supported further by empirical grounds from Leve, and Chamberlain ( 2005 ) , whose probes suggest that committedness to delinquent equals is a important hazard factor to perpetrating offenses and reoffending in the hereafter
Len ‘s low committedness degrees are farther illustrated by his deficiency of committedness to community service as conveyed by, his prison probation officer, whose records showed that his response to community service was ”poor ” . This is likely to hold been influenced, in portion, by a deficiency of built-in regard for authorization, which Hirschi ( 1969 ) referred to as an person ‘s belief system. It would be hypothesised that Len has non developed a strong belief system due to his hapless societal bonds ( Hirschi, 1969 ) . Yet when speaking about his four twelvemonth sentence Len explains that ”he exhaustively deserved it for what he had done ” . This evident credence and respect for important jurisprudence is non explained by SBT. However, Little ( 1990 ) introduced the thought of feeling direction which may good explicate why Len seems to hold with his sentences, in order to show a positive moral feeling, of himself, onto lawful figures.
Hirschi ( 1969 ) went on to present a similar but typical construct that, heavy engagement in conventional, legal activities helps to extinguish the clip available to perpetrate offenses and is therefore good in forestalling delinquent behavior. Downes ( 1966 ) explains that a deficiency of amusement or leisure clip greatly increases the opportunities of young persons, particularly males, to perpetrate and prevail in perpetrating offenses. Len does non look involved or engrossed in any conventional activities. This is perceptibly illustrated in his response that there is “ nowt else to make ” when asked why he returned to his heroin drug usage. Empirical support from Evans, Cullen, Dunaway and Burton ( 1995 ) discovered that being from a spiritual background had a modest but reasonably consistent influence on preventing or at least cut downing delinquency among young persons. Therefore it seems important that Len becomes involved in conventional activities if he is to abstain from reoffending in the hereafter.
It is clear throughout this instance that Len ‘s equals have played a important function in the oncoming and his continuity in aberrant behavior. Furthermore Len ‘s equals have introduced him to drugs, which seem to be of topmost importance to forestalling him from reoffending once more in the hereafter. Dull ( 1984 ) criticised SBT reasoning that, although SBT does supply some account sing why felons may develop dependences, it however fails to supply an equal account sing the indispensable function drugs play in the procedure of perpetrating condemnable Acts of the Apostless. Campbell and Harrington ( 2000 ) used the 1999 Youth Lifestyle Survey to exemplify that the usage of drugs straight influences the possibility of piquing, doing male childs aged between 12 and 17 five times more likely to perpetrate offenses ; every bit good as increasing the hazard that an person will reconvict in the hereafter. Harlow ( 1994 ) analysed empirical statistics from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1991 and illustrated that of those imprisoned for robbery, 27 per centum of State captives admitted perpetrating their offenses to obtain money, to fund their drug dependences. Len openly admits that he committed offenses to fund his diacetylmorphine dependence, therefore repeating the thought that his drug usage is a major determiner of his condemnable reconvictions.
When researching the indispensable function of drug usage, in condemnable behavior psychological theories provide a utile penetration. Eysenck ( 1964 ) focused his work on the function of personality in felons. Eysenck ( 1964 ) would propose that Len is likely to hold traits of high extroversion, and neurosis and was therefore particularly hard to condition as a child. As a consequence, Len is improbable to hold learnt to react to antisocial urges and hazardous behavior such as drug usage with feelings of anxiousness. Consequently, Len is more likely to take illicit drugs and as a consequence act antisocially in state of affairss where the chance presents itself, which has been the instance in many of Len ‘s offenses. Furthermore Eysenck and Zuckerman ( 1978 ) identified a strong nexus between esthesis seeking and high degrees of extroversion and psychoticism.
Zuckerman ( 1978 ) went on to propose that certain persons are of course sensation seeking and are therefore more biologically and environmentally vulnerable to prosecute in aberrant Acts of the Apostless or to take illicit drugs. Yanovitzky ( 2005 ) used questionnaires to supply empirical support, that a esthesis seeking personality is a great forecaster of drug usage. Furthermore it seems that those who are sensation searchers are besides those people who take higher hazards in respects to perpetrating condemnable Acts of the Apostless. ( Yanovitzky, 2005 ) Len himself negotiations about the ”thrill ‘ and ”buzz ‘ he feels while, perpetrating offenses and taking drugs, explicating that he ab initio found drugs and offense ”exciting ” . Len besides relates his drug usage to experiencing ”relaxed and nice interior ” These theories besides provide a possible account for why Len ‘s siblings have gone on to take normal, jurisprudence staying lives. It may be that Len ‘s siblings are non biologically vulnerable in respects to sensation seeking traits and have therefore been sufficiently conditioned, to tie in these condemnable behaviors with neglect and anxiousness, therefore traveling on to take offense free lives.
To forestall Len from reoffending it is indispensable that his association with delinquent equals along with his esthesis seeking behavior are thwarted as this seems most critical to his reoffending. A big scale longitudinal, place office, survey by Graham and Bowling ( 1995 ) , in which, in depth interviews were undertaken with 21 desisters of offense, confirms that one of the most negative factors in male desistence from piquing is the usage of ‘hard drugs ‘ , therefore proposing intervention which aims to take down drug usage in males besides potentially reduces piquing among juvenile delinquents. Further interviews conducted by Jamieson, McIvor, and Murray, ( 1999 ) suggests that Len must try to unplug from his delinquent equals in order to show himself with the chances, which are indispensable for him to discontinue piquing in the hereafter.
In the preceding reappraisal, it is evident that SBT is a good covered and good applied theory of delinquency. In the instance of Len it is clear that SBT and the empirical grounds to back up it, presents clear and logical account for the oncoming of his condemnable Acts of the Apostless, nevertheless it seems as though his strong equal bond and subsequent drug usage are most indispensable to his doggedness and eventual expiration of this condemnable behavior. It is intuitive that those, immature people who engage in delinquency tend to be free of intimate fond regards, aspirations and moral beliefs, that would otherwise adhere them to conventional ways of life. However since bond strength alters in certain sorts of life styles the affects will be different in all instances, therefore each single instance must be analysed with consideration to the myriad of sociological and psychological accounts. Hence an individualized and longitudinal attack concentrating on the oncoming, continuity and desistence of offending is critical to forestall young person wrongdoers from going grownup felons.
