Essay About Social Scientists And Influence Of Such Factors

Juvenile Crime
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JUVENILES HAVE BEEN OVERREPREsented
in virtually all major types
of traditional crime, including violent
and property offenses (Blumstein,
1995; Siegel, 1995; Weis, Crutchfield,
& Bridges, 1996; Winfree & Abadinsky,
1996). Although juveniles under the
age of 18 constituted about 8% of the
U.S. population in the 1990s, they accounted
for approximately one third of
the arrests for Uniform Crime Report
Index offenses (Adler, Mueller, &
Laufer, 1995). Of particular concern to
both social scientists and law enforcement
officials was the dramatic increase
from the mid-1980s to the 1990s in the
number of violent crimes committed by
juveniles. For example, while rates for
this type of crime for persons over 24
remained stable from 1985 to 1992, the
rate for 16-year-olds increased by 138%
(Blumstein, 1995). Analysts of this disturbing
trend are unsure of its root causes
but have hypothesized concerning the
influence of such factors as growing
percentages of dysfunctional childrearing
environments and/or declining economic
opportunities for young people.
A substantial number of children
engage in delinquency. Antisocial and/
or aggressive behaviors may begin as
early as preschool or in the first few
grades of elementary school (Dodge,
Pettit, & Bates, 1994). Such childhood
misconduct tends to be resistant to
change and often predicts continuing
problems during adolescence, as well as
adult criminality.
To explain the onset of juvenile deviance,
criminologists have developed
a number of theories, including