Influences of Juvenile Delinquency



Influences of Juvenile Delinquency

Introduction

The paper discusses juvenile delinquency with respect to gender and family. It also gives a brief account of the cross gender treatment of juvenile delinquency by the criminal justice system. Such differences are important to analyze as the rule of law should be equal to everyone irrespective of gender.

Affect Of Gender on Delinquency?

One of the significant factors that explain gender difference between males and females is jeopardy of subjects themselves being victimized. In U.S.A, a mean amount of victimization by young people showed significant variation between genders with males rating higher than females. Theorists in this tradition believe that biology, psychological factors, and the social environment are all factors influencing delinquency (Glueck, 1934).

Precocious sexuality as explained by Glueck and Glueck (1934) linked the early onset of physical maturity with female delinquent behavior. Delinquent girls were viewed as more sexually promiscuous, and their sexual activity was an indicator of their inability to follow societal norms. In a supporting view, Buchanan, (1992) found an association with early onset of puberty and female delinquency. It has also been proposed that girls who mature at a younger age may attract older, adolescent boys who are influential factors in the behavior of these girls (Buchanan, Eccles, and Becker 1992).

Current Explanations for Gender Differences

In addition to cultural expectations, the inequality of the sexes also affects the underreporting of female crime. By their nature, he reasoned, males wish to protect females. This desire to protect females, or chivalry, is consequential to the treatment of females when they are adjudicated in the criminal justice system. With men dominating law enforcement, it is of no surprise that police are reluctant to arrest females, lawyers are reluctant to prosecute females, and judges are reluctant to sentence females. Pollock (1990) attributed this reluctance to chivalry. Females did not actually commit fewer crimes, he reasoned, they simply were treated less harshly than their male counterparts. Furthermore, the types of crimes that females committed were directly related to the roles that society proscribed. These roles made it easier for women to commit and conceal their crimes (Pollock, 1990). As substantiation for his theory, Pollak noted that, in their primary role as homemakers, women had easy access to victims of violent crime (i.e., their family members). Child abuse was given as an obvious example of a crime that might escape detection by law enforcement officials. Another crime ...