NCJ Number
7302
Date Published
1963
Length
421 pages
Annotation
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IS ANALYZED IN THE LIGHT OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THE ADOLESCENT SUB-CULTURE.
Abstract
THE ADOLESCENT SUB-CULTURE IS CHARACTERIZED BY THREE DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES - THE STAGE OF INVIDIOUS COMPARISON, THE ETHNOCENTRIC STAGE, AND THE STAGE OF THE ILLEGAL MARKETPLACE. MODAL TYPES AND FREQUENCIES OF DELINQUENT ACTS VARY IN RESPECT TO DIFFERENT STRATA WITHIN THE SYSTEM AND TO THE STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT. COMMON FORMS OF DELINQUENT ACTS - THIEVING, FIGHTING, GAMBLING, EXTORTION - CAN BE SEEN AS HONORIFIC FORMS OF STRATA BEHAVIOR OR AS BY-PRODUCTS OF THE HUMAN INSENSITIVITIES DEVELOPED WITHIN THE SYSTEM. CROWDS AND CLIQUES ARE THE DOMINANT PATTERN DURING THE FIRST STAGE AND CONTINUE TO BE THE MOST FREQUENT PATTERN DURING THE SECOND STAGE, ALTHOUGH NOT AS SIGNIFICANT AS THE CLUB AND AREA GROUP IN THE UNDERSTANDING OF DELINQUENT PRODUCTS OF INTERGROUP RIVALRY IN ALL COMMUNITIES. TOWARD THE END OF THE SECOND STAGE A DIVISION OF LABOR EMERGES ON THE BASIS OF A DEVELOPING ILLEGAL MARKET PRIMARILY AMONG LOWER STRATA ADOLESCENTS. THIS MARKET FOR ILLEGAL GOODS AND SERVICES CHARACTERIZES THE THIRD STAGE. DURING THE THIRD STAGE AN INSTRUMENTAL IDEOLOGY IS REFLECTED IN THE MAXIMS AND JUSTIFICATIONS EXPRESSED BY ACTIVE TEEN-AGE WORKERS IN THE ADOLESCENT MARKETPLACE. THIS IDEOLOGY CONTAINS GENERAL ASSUMPTIONS AS TO THE NATURE OF HUMAN RELATIONS, UNIQUE OPERATING RULES WHICH SERVE AS GUIDES TO CONDUCT, AND IMAGES OF HUMAN BEINGS. SOCIETY IS DEFINED AS A VAST POWER STRUGGLE IN WHICH RUTHLESS PERSONS ARE MOST SUCCESSFUL AND VICTIMIZATION IS A LEGITIMATE OUTCOME OF THE WAY THINGS ARE. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)