PSYC 3310 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Juvenile Delinquency, Motor Vehicle Theft, Juvenile Court
20 Jun 2018
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CHAPTER 11 CHALLENGES
The Reality of Adolescent Challenges
• An adolescent’s problems may have their origins well before adolescence.
• E.g., Many teens who become delinquent have shown various conduct
problems as children, and many who become depressed have had emotional
problems as children.
• The fact that a problem shows up during adolescence does not necessarily
mean that it is an “adolescent problem”.
• The few who do go on to be criminals as adults are generally those who had
problem behaviours in their childhood as well as adolescent years.
o They had been teens who experienced family disruption and/or being
in some form of non-family care.
Types of Problems
Internalizing
• Internalizing problem: turning one’s difficulties inward, toward the self
o Affect the internal world of the individual
• Depression, suicide, anxiety, eating disorders
• Problems of being overcontrolled
o Withdrawing, isolating
• More common among girls than boys
Externalizing
• Externalizing problem: turning one’s difficulties toward the external world
o Behaviours that are projected outside the person
• Aggression, risky behaviours, delinquency, antisocial behaviours
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• Problems of being undercontrolled
o Weak ability to control their impulses – impulsive behaviour
• More common among boys that girls
Delinquency and Youth Crime
• Juvenile delinquency: the legal term for actions by juveniles that violate the
law
• Index offenses: serious violations of the law, so called because they are
included on official indexes of criminal activity
• Non-index offenses
• Violent crimes: murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault
• Property crimes: burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson
• Both are illegal.
• Status offences: actions that are against the law for those who are
considered minors, but not for adults
o E.g., substance use, running away, truancy, sexual promiscuity
Incidence Rates
• 40% to 70% of adolescents have been involved in some form of delinquency
o Not everything is classified as “crimes”
• Most crimes committed by males 12 to 25
o They are also more likely to be victims of crimes
• Peak age of delinquency is 17-19 years
• Many teens who misbehave in their youth do not continue those behaviours.
• Most crimes committed in the home (32%) and at school (31%)
• Most crimes are against youth; youth are often victims of crime
• Aboriginal youth have higher rates of offenses and victimization (much higher
rates)
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• Perceptions and myths about youth crime
o Because of the way it is portrayed in the media, people think that it is
on the rise
• Decreases in overall youth crime – index offences
o Burglary, arson, robbery
Controlling Teen Violence
• To try juvenile offenders as adults on a wider variety of crimes and to reduce
the use of house arrest and publication bans, thus increasing sentencing
• Studies that have evaluated the effects of punishing adolescents as adults
suggests that instead of reducing the crime, it may actually increase it.
o Some have argued that locking up juvenile offenders with serious
adult criminals is akin to giving them free higher education in crime.
• Compared with those committed to juvenile facilities, delinquent teens who
are sent to adult prisons are more likely to get arrested again once they are
out.
• Teens placed in adult prisons are more likely to experience depression than
teens who were in juvenile facilities or in the community.
Comorbidity
• Comorbidity: different problems that tend to occur at the same tie in the
same person
• Comorbid problems may be the product of underlying factors, such as a
tendency toward negative emotionality or disinhibition.
o E.g., Adolescents with a conduct problem are often depressed as well.
• Many protective and risk factors also cross the boundary between
externalizing and internalizing problems.
• E.g., A positive self-concept is important for adjustment and for protection
against both sorts of problem behaviour.
• Having a negative self-concept is a major risk for internalising problems in
girls, and for externalizing problems in boys.
Document Summary
Internalizing problem: turning one"s difficulties inward, toward the self: affect the internal world of the individual, depression, suicide, anxiety, eating disorders, problems of being overcontrolled, withdrawing, isolating, more common among girls than boys. Delinquency and youth crime: juvenile delinquency: the legal term for actions by juveniles that violate the law. 2: perceptions and myths about youth crime, because of the way it is portrayed in the media, people think that it is on the rise, decreases in overall youth crime index offences, burglary, arson, robbery. In one study, after adolescents became gang members, their delinquency rates increased substantially. Once they left the gang, their likelihood of committing a violent offence dropped again: other gang members socialized them in the direction of more deviant behaviour. 7: family poverty unemployment, single-parent homes. Risk factors: african-canadian and aboriginal youth, previous delinquent behaviour, looking for sense of belonging, protection, prestige and power, to make money.
