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Juvenile Delinquency
The Correlation Between Juvenile Delinquency and Mental Illness
Mental Illness
Juvenile Delinquency
The Correlation Between Juvenile Delinquency and Mental Illness
Juvenile delinquency and juvenile crime are serious issues in the United States and other countries today. While it is important to stop crimes before they start, and to make sure that juveniles have other activities so they do not turn to crime, one of the overlooked areas has to do with the factors that relate to juvenile crime. Knowing what causes someone to commit delinquent acts, and what to do in order to stop those acts from occurring, are both very important tools in the fight against juvenile delinquency (Mulvey, Arthur, & Reppucci, 1997). Naturally, every juvenile is different. What causes one person to commit a delinquent act may not cause another person to do so. Still, there are common, contributing factors to juvenile delinquency - and mental illness is one of the largest factors that is most often seen (Peetz, 2008). In order to understand the correlation and what can be done about it, both mental illness and juvenile delinquency have to be discussed, along with how they affect one another.
Mental Illness
Mental illness is nothing new, but better diagnostic criteria and a lower social stigma mean that more people are being treated for their mental and emotional problems. Additionally, more juveniles are being diagnosed and treated. For every juvenile who gets proper treatment, though, there are others who are not so lucky. When juveniles are very young, they rely on their parents to help them. If those parents do not see the mental health issues or do not feel there is a problem, how can the juvenile get help? Some young people may seek help at school, through friends, or through other family members, but most will not do so (Righthand & Welch, 2004). That leaves them vulnerable to their mental health problems and to the suggestions of peers who may also be struggling with mental illness. Some mental disorders are very benign, but others have much more serious implications (Zigler, Taussig, & Black, 1992).
Anxiety...
Either way, there are concerns that have to be faced. Parents and others who see signs of mental illness in juveniles should work to have them evaluated and get them the help they need. All too often, juveniles fall through the cracks of a busy and overworked system, however, and that can lead them down a path to both mental and physical problems, along with educational and law enforcement issues. Not all mentally ill juveniles end up committing delinquent acts even if they do not get help, but many turn to crime and delinquency because they do not care about their lives or they feel as though they do not fit in (Mulvey, Arthur, & Reppucci, 1993). They are often seeking attention and help, but going about getting that attention and help in a way that will actually harm them.
Juvenile Delinquency
People who are juvenile delinquents are those who are committing crimes when they are still under the age of majority for their location (Mulvey, Arthur, & Reppucci, 1997). In most U.S. states, that age is 18, but in locations outside the U.S. The age of majority can be different. There are specific ways in which juveniles are dealt with by the criminal justice system as opposed to the way adult offenders are treated. However, depending on the seriousness of the crime and the age of the juvenile, there can be juvenile offenders who are charged as adults (Peetz, 2008; Righthand & Welch, 2004). In order to keep juvenile delinquency numbers low and ensure that those who commit delinquent acts do not continue to commit those acts in the future, the reasons behind the acts (and potential acts) must be discovered. If mental illness is the cause, that can often be treated. With the proper treatment of the mental illness, the delinquent behavior can generally be corrected (Zigler, Taussig, & Black, 1992).
When juveniles are delinquent, many people do not think that they might be mentally ill or have another type of medical problem. They simply see…
Some juvenile delinquents are sex offenders, and this is one of the most serious crimes in which juveniles can be involved. Usually, those who get involved with sexual offenses at an early age do so because they are being sexually abused and/or because they have some type of mental illness. Finding these juvenile offenders early and treating them for their problems is really the only way to ensure that juvenile sexual offenders do not continue their criminal activities into adulthood.
Zigler, E., Taussig, C., & Black, K. (1992). Early childhood intervention. A promising preventative for juvenile delinquency. American Psychologist, 47(8): 997-1006.
The earlier a treatment or prevention strategy is begun, the better off the juvenile will be. It appears as though juveniles are beginning to struggle with delinquency at younger and younger ages, and if they are not treated properly for the issues that cause their delinquency, they will face a long road of struggle. They can also cause harm to others, and if that can be avoided society will benefit from it.
Juvenile Delinquent and Mental Disorders Analyze Empirical Maltreated youth and delinquent behaviors Maltreatment, Family and Childhood Peers and Adolescence Aging into Early Adulthood Crime risk and out-of-home care youth Juvenile Delinquent and Mental Disorders The transition of youth from adolescence to adulthood is usually a difficult and painful period. This is an even more difficult time for the youth who are removed from the home of biological parents to be placed into out-of-home care. For them, they not
Juvenile Justice The Juvenile Criminal Justice System Juvenile courts and detention separate from adult courts is a relatively new concept (ABA, 2010). Before the turn of the twentieth century, the cases for individuals of all ages were managed by the same criminal and civil courts, and the same sentences were handed out to all parties. Of course, this has changed to a great extent since 1899 in the United States, but there
(Johnson, 2008, pp. 560 -- 567) This is significant, because it is corroborating the root causes of why someone will become involved in illegal activities at a young age. As a result, this source is providing us with a good rational for studying this issue and the long-term effects that it will have on communities. The Importance of this Topic in Studying Criminal Behavior Understanding juvenile delinquency will help to improve
Juvenile Delincency in Urban Areas Juvenile delinquency is a contemporary term for an old problem. One of the oldest relevant studies of the phenomenon was 'social disorganization' theory, which was developed by the Chicago school of sociology in the 1920's. This theory posits that there exist areas in a city in which traditional institutions have little or no control. This was studied in Chicago using a system of 'Concentric Zones' which
(Causal Theories of Juvenile Delinquency: Social Perspectives) Charles Cooley in his publication Human Nature and the Social Order analyzed the personal perception of juvenile delinquents by means of the studies of children and their imaginary friends. Cooley develops his theory around the imaginary concept of looking glass self, which is considered to be a type of imaginary sociability. People introspectively imagine through the eyes of others in their social circles
Finally, for the purposes of this research proposal we will refer to a third study that suggests education could be at the heart of reducing juvenile delinquency statistics but the conditions in which the child is raised impacts their ability to choose between right and wrong (Hindelang, 1981). Method and design The goal of this study is to add to the literature that demonstrates that there is a correlation between poverty and