Theories of Delinquent Behavior

Paper Summary:

This paper presents a case study which illustrates how latent traits and environmental factors combine to create delinquent behavior. Specifically, the paper explores the family life of a troubled teen and the failed interventions which sought to rescue him from a life of crime. The paper also looks at the consequences of the young person's actions and considers how his behavior fits in with orthodox descriptions of delinquent behavior. Finally, the paper discusses and analyzes the social control theory and the self-control theory which offer potential explanations for his behavior and suggests that one of them appears to offer a more accurate insight into "Steven's" plight than the other.

Table of Contents:
Abstract
Self-Control Theory and Delinquent Behavior

From the Paper:

"Ultimately, this writer believes that both the social control theory and the self-control theory offer significant explanations for Steve's delinquency. However, the self-control theory actually appears rather more pertinent insofar as Steven was, by all accounts, a rebellious and even violent child from a very early age. As well, it is commonly known that his parents were dominant factors in his early life - because of social isolation, he spent far more time with them than with anyone else (he was, in fact, home-schooled at one point by his mother) - and both Steven's father and his grandfather had serious "run-ins" with the law. This evidence suggests that a genetic predisposition to antisocial behavior may run in the family and, to the extent this is true, then Steven's problems are the manifestation of a latent trait that has always been there and perhaps will always be there."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Gottfredson, Michael R., and Hirschi, Travis. (1994). Aggression. In M.R. Gottfredson and T. Hirschi (eds.), The Generality of Deviance (pp.23-45). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Press.
• Gottfredson, Michael R., and Hirschi, Travis. (1990). A General Theory of Crime. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.
• Hirschi, Travis. (1969). Causes of Delinquency. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Patterson, Gerald R., DeBaryshe, Barbara D., and Ramsey, Elizabeth. (1989). A developmental perspective on antisocial behavior. American Psychologist, 44: 329-335.
• Simons, Ronald L., Johnson, Christine, and Conger, Rand D. (1998). A test of latent trait versus life course perspectives on the stability of adolescent antisocial behavior. Criminology, 36(2): 217-243.

More papers on Theories of Delinquent Behavior:

• Analytical Essay # 130825 : "Self-Control Theory and Delinquent Behavior"
• Analytical Essay # 8073 : "Social Structure Theories"
• Case Study # 100331 : "Theories on Criminal Behavior"

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