JUVENILE-DELINQUENCY-AND-CRIME-PREVENTION.pptx

Criminology 5

1. Juvenile Delinquency and Crime Prevention PRESENTED BY: ACEDERA, LUKE MQBILL A.

2. THEORIES OF DELINQUENCY  Choice Theory Trait Theory Biological Theory

3. CHOICE THEORY    The first formal explanation of crime and delinquency held that human behavior was a matter of choice. Since it was assumed that people had free will to choose their behavior , those who violated the law were motivated by personal needs, such as greed, revenge, survival, hedonism.   The classical view of crime and delinquency holds that decision to violate the law comes after a careful weighing of the benefits and costs of criminal behavior.

4. Example Youths who decide to become drug dealers weigh and compare the possible benefits, such as cash to buy cars, clothes, and other luxury items, with the potential penalties such as arrest followed by a long stay in juvenile facility.

5. Example "Let the punishment fit the crimes" Beccaria argued that it would be foolish to punish pickpockets and murderers in similar fashion because this would encourage thieves to kill the victim or witnesses to their crimes

6. CHOICE THEORY Classical criminologists have argued that punishment should only be severe enough to deter a particular offense, and that punishments should be graded according to the seriousness of particular crimes. The popularity of the classical approach was in part responsible for the development of the prison as an alternative to physical punishment, and the eventual creation of the criminal sentence geared to the seriousness of crime. The choice approach dominated the policy of the U.S. justice system for about 150 years.

7. TRAIT THEORY    A number of delinquency experts believe that the choice model is incomplete.  They believe it is wrong to infer that all youths choose crime simply because they believe its advantages outweigh its risks.    Most law-abiding youths have personal traits that keep them within the mainstream of conventional society. In contrast, youths who choose to engage in repeated aggressive, anti-social, or conflict-oriented behavior manifest abnormal traits that influence their behavior choices. Uncontrollable, impulsive behavior.

8. TRAIT THEORY    The view that delinquents are somehow "abnormal" is not a new one. Some of the earliest theories of criminal and delinquent behavior stressed that crime was a product of personal traits and measurable physical and mental conditions, such as IQ and body build. This view regarding determined behavior is generally referred to today as positivism.     Positivists believe that the scientific method can be used to measure the causes of human behavior, and that behavior is a function of often uncontrollable factors, such as mental illness.

9. TRAIT THEORY The former reasons that behavior is controlled by personal traits, and that reducing the benefits of crime by increasing the likelihood and severity of punishments will eventually lower the crime rate. Biosocial theory focuses less on the effects of punishment and more on the treatment of abnormal mental and physical conditions as crime-reduction method.

10. BIOLOGICAL THEORY For most of the twentieth century, delinquency experts scoffed at the notion that a youth's behavior was controlled by physical condition present at birth. The majority of delinquency research focused on social factors, such as poverty and family life that were believed to be responsible for law-violating behavior. However, a small group of criminologists and penologists kept alive the biological approach. Some embraced sociobiology, a perspective that suggests behavior will adapt to the environment in which it evolved.

11. BIOLOGICAL THEORY Creatures or species are influenced by their genetic inheritance and their innate need to survive and dominate others. Sociobiology had a tremendous effect on reviving interest in a biological basis for crime and delinquency, because if biological makeup controls all human behavior, it follows that a person's genes should also be responsible for determining whether he or she chooses law-violating or conventional behavior.

12. BIOLOGICAL THEORY They assume that a combination of personal traits and the environment produces individual behavior patterns. People with pathological traits such as brain damage and abnormal personality or low IQ may have a heightened risk for crimes; this risk is elevated by environmental stresses such as poor family life, educational failure. substance abuse, and exposure to delinquent peers.

13. EXAMPLE Low birth-weight babies have been found to suffer from low educational achievement later in life; academic deficiency has been linked to delinquency and drug abuse. The reverse may also apply, for example, a supportive environment may be strong enough to counteract adverse biological and psychological traits.

14. BIOLOGICAL THEORY Biosocial theorists believe that it is the interaction between predisposition and environment that produces delinquency. For example, children born into a disadvantaged environment often do not get the social and familial support they need to overcome their handicaps. Lack of family support can have long-term physical consequences.

15. EXAMPLE A child's neural pathways may be damaged by repeated child neglect or abuse. Once experiences are ingrained, the brain "remembers," and a pattern of electrochemical activation is established, which remains present across one's lifespan. 

16. BIOLOGICAL THEORY Contemporary biosocial theorists seek to explain the onset of anti-social behaviors, such as aggression and violence, by focusing on the physical qualities of the offenders. The majority of major research efforts appear to be concentrated in three distinct areas of study, for example, biochemical factors, neurological dysfunction, and genetic influences.

17. THAT'S ALL FUTURE LAW ENFORCERS, THANKYOU FOR LISTENING!!!