THEORIES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

A. EARLY GENERAL THEORIES ON THE CAUSES OF DELINQUENCY

1. Demonological Theory – this was developed during the Middle Ages. This theory promoted the notion that
people should not be held responsible for their actions when they do evil things because their body is
possessed by evil spirits.
2. Classical Theory – postulated by Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham. It is consistent with the Utilitarian
view that people weigh the benefits and costs of future action before they decide to act. This assumes that
people are rational, have free will, and therefore, able to choose.
3. Positive or Italian theory – this theory was developed by Cesare Lombroso, Enrico Ferri and Raffaele
Garofalo. It promotes the idea of determinism as a way of explaining crime and delinquency.
4. Critical Theory – critical Criminologists and sociologists view juvenile delinquency as a by-product of
existing social arrangements. This theory blames delinquency on the imbalance of power within human
society.

B. BIOLOGICAL THEORIES

Early biological theories claim that criminal behavior is a result of biological or genetic defect in the individual.
1.Lombrosian Theory – developed by Dr. Cesare Lombroso, known as the father of criminology. This theory
holds the following assumptions:
a. Criminals have many stigmata (distinctive physical features) such as symmetrical faces, enormous jaws, large or
protruding ears, and receding chins.
b. Criminals are atavistic beings who look differently and think differently. Having the mentality of primitive people thus
incapable of living in modern society.
c. Criminals are classified as epileptic, insane and inborn.
2. General Inferiority Theory/Hooton’s Theory – this was proposed by Earnest Hooton which has the
following assumptions:
a. Crime is the result of the impact of the environment upon low-grade human organisms and that criminals were
originally inferior people.
b. Crime exists because there are some inferior people who are responsible for it.
c. Men with mediocre builds are people who tend to break the law without preference because crimes are like physical
make-up, characterless.
d. Criminals should be permanently exiled to self-governing reservations, isolated from society, sterilized to prevent
future offspring.
3. William Sheldon’s Theory – body type affects a person’s entire personality or temperament. People
are classified into three ways:
a. Endomorphs –people who tend to be fat, round, and soft, and to have short arms and legs.
b. Mesomorphs – people who have athletic and muscular physique, with active assertive and aggressive personality.
Delinquency exists because there are mesomorphic men or youths who are responsible for its occurrence.
c. Ectomorphs – people who are basically skinny with lean and fragile bodies.
4. Genetic Theory – this theory assumes that:
a. Crime and delinquency is committed by people who have abnormal genetic structure or chromosomal abnormalities.
b. DNA is the transmitter of genetic materials (genes).
c. Extra Y chromosome is responsible for aggressiveness and thus, criminal activity.

C. PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES

These theories assume that:

a. Delinquency is a result of internal underlying disturbances.
b. These disturbances develop in childhood and tend to become permanent features of the individual character.
1. Psychogene Theories – these are theories which blame delinquency on impulses that are rooted in the child
rather than in his environment. It is easier to change a person than it is to change an environment.
1.1. Freudian Psychoanalytic Theory – Sigmund Freud believed that people develop in a series of
stages. When abnormalities occur, the person is more likely to experience conflict. Conflict stems
from the person’s basic drive (ID) and social controls.
 The Four Elements in Freud’s Theory:
a. Human nature is inherently anti-social. Every child possesses a set of primitive anti-social instincts
that Freud called ID.
b. Good behavior comes through effective socialization. Through socialization, the child learns internal
control.
c. The life-long features of the human personality originate in early childhood. By age 5, all the essential
features of the child’s adult personality have been developed.
d. Delinquent behavior is the result of a defective superego.
The Three Parts of Human Psyche (personality):
a. ID – it is the unconscious portion of personality dominated by the drive (cravings) for pleasure and by inborn
sexual and aggressive impulses. If left unchecked, it may destroy the person.
b. Ego – this is the rational part of the personality; it grows from the ID. It represents problem solving dimensions of
personality.
c. Super ego – it grows out of ego. It represents the moral code, norms and values the individual has acquired.
Hence, it is responsible for feelings of guilt and shame.
2. The Low-IQ Theory – this theory claims that:
a. People with low intelligence are easily led into law-breaking activities by the wiles of more clever people.
b. People with low intelligence are unable to realize that committing offenses in a certain way often leads to
getting caught and eventual punishment.
Critics in this theory: Low IQs do not lead to higher rates of delinquency per itself but merely higher rates of
getting caught.
3. Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Theory – this theory claims that:
a. Juvenile delinquency is caused by immaturity and hyperactivity.
b. Grade schools usually experience attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which is characterized by:
1) Short attention span
2) Day dreaming
3) Sluggishness
4) Preoccupation
5) Impulsiveness
5. Frustration-Aggression Theory – this theory claims that people who are frustrated will act aggressively, and
people who engage in aggression are frustrated first.
Frustration – is a behavior directed at anticipated goals or expectations.
Aggression – is a behavior whose goal is to inflict damage or injury on some objects or persons.

D. SOCIAL CLASS THEORIES

1. Social Disorganization Theory – this theory was recognized early in the 20thcentury by sociologists Clifford
Shaw and Henry McKay. In this theory, disorganized areas cannot exert social control overacting-out youth; these areas
can be identified by their relatively high-level age of change, fear, instability, incivility, poverty, and deterioration. These
factors have a direct influence on the area’s delinquency rate.
2. Anomie Theory – advocated by Emile Durkheim, anomie is normlessness produced by rapidly shifting moral
values. This occurs when personal goals cannot be achieved using available means.
Anomie – refers to a breakdown of social norms and a condition where norms no longer control the activities of
members in society.
3. Strain Theory – contends that certain classes are denied legitimate access to culturally determined goals and
opportunities, and the resulting frustration results in illegitimate activities or rejection of
society’s goal. According to sociologists Robert Merton, although most people share common values and goals, the means
for legitimate economic and social success are stratified by socio-economic class. Consequently, these youths may either
use deviant methods to achieve their goals or reject socially accepted goals and substitute deviant ones.
4. Differential Opportunity Theory – delinquent subcultures, according to Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin,
flourish in the lower classes and take forms so that the means for illegitimate success are no more equally distributed than
the means for legitimate success.
Three types of delinquent gangs (Cloward & Ohlin):
a. The criminal gang – emerges in areas where conventional as well as non-conventional values of behavior are
integrated by a close connection of illegitimate and legitimate businesses.
b. The conflict/violent gang – non-stable and non-integrated, characterized by an absence of criminal organization
resulting in instability.
c. The retreatist gang – equally unsuccessful in legitimate as well as illegitimate means.
5. Class Conflict Theory – according to Richard Quinney and William Chambliss, conflict theory is based upon
the view that the fundamental causes of crime are the social and economic forces operating within society. The criminal
justice system and criminal law are thought to be operating on behalf of rich and powerful social elites, with resulting
policies aimed at controlling the poor.
6. Differential Oppression Theory – John D. Hewitt and Robert Regoli proposed that much
serious juvenile delinquency is a product of the oppression of children by adults, particularly within thecontext of family.
The maltreatment of children has been found to be highly correlated with both serious and moderate delinquency as well
as other problem behaviors.

E. INTERPERSONAL THEORIES

1.Differential Association Theory – introduced by Edwin Sutherland, it asserts that criminal behavior is learned
primarily within the interpersonal groups and that youth will become delinquent if definitions they have learned favorable
to violating the law exceed definitions favorable to obeying the law within the group.
2. Social Learning Theory – this theory views that behavior is modeled through observation, either directly
through intimate contact with others, or indirectly through media. Social learning theory suggests that children who grow
up in a home where violence is a way of life may learn to believe that such behavior is acceptable and rewarding.

F. SITUATIONAL THEORIES

a. Drift theory (Naturalization theory) – this theory proposes that juveniles sense a moral obligation to be
bound by the law. When it is not in place, delinquents will drift. David Matza and Gresham Sykes suggest
that delinquents hold values similar to those of law-abiding citizens, but they learn techniques that enable
them to neutralize those values and drift back and forth between legitimate and delinquent behavior. Drift is a
process by which an individual moves from one behavioral extreme to another, behaving sometimes in an
unconventional manner and at other times with constraint.
Five techniques of neutralization
1. Denial of responsibility
2. Denial of injury
3. Denial of victim
4. Condemnation of the condemners
5. Appeal to higher loyalties

G. SOCIETAL REACTION THEORIES

1. Labeling Theory – developed by Howard Becker, labeling theory views that youths may violate the law for a
variety of reasons including poor family relations, peer pressure, psychological abnormality, and pro-
delinquent learning experiences. Whatever the cause of the delinquent behavior, the offenders will be given a
negative label that can follow them throughout life such as “troublemaker”, “mentally ill” and “juvenile
delinquent”.

H. CONTROL THEORIES

1. Social Control Theory – this theory by Travis Hirschi states that members in society form bonds with other
members in society or institutions in society such as parents, pro-social friends, churches, schools, teachers,
and sports teams.
2. Self-Derogation Theory – introduced by Howard Kaplan, this theory states that all motivation to maximize
our self-esteem, motivation to conform will be minimized by family, school and peer interactions that devalue
our sense of self. Interaction and behavior may be self-defacing or self-enhancing.
3. Interactional Theory – originated by Terrence Thornberry, this theory states that weakening of a child’s
social bond is the fundamental cause of delinquency. Interactional theory examined the changing nature of
relationships over the life course.
 4. Self-Control Theory – this theory argues that it is the absence of self-control rather than the presence of
some forces or factors such as poverty, anomie, opportunities for deviance, delinquent peers, exposure to
definitions favorable to deviance, etc. that leads to deviance.

I. OTHER THEORIES

1. Cultural Deviance Theory – this theory links delinquent acts to the formation of independent subcultures with a
unique set of values that clash with mainstream culture. It argues that children learn deviant behavior socially
through exposure to others and modeling of others’ actions.
2. Structural Functionalism Theory – some structural structures exert a definite pressure upon certain persons in
society to engage in non-conforming rather than conforming behavior. Juveniles who engage in crimes do so to
defy society’s defined goals and innovate their own goals of delinquent behavior.
3. Rational Choice Theory– deviance is a result of high calculation of risks and awards. Juveniles do not always
choose the most rational actions.
4. Routine Activities Theory – developed by Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson. This theory claims that crime is
a normal function of the routine activities of modern living; offenses can be expected by capable guardians. The
greater the opportunity for criminals and victims to interact, the greater probability of crime.