NCJ Number
98392
Date Published
1984
Length
249 pages
Annotation
After reviewing the characteristics of delinquents and delinquency, this book discusses individual and sociocultural delinquency factors and their implications for corrections, community-based juvenile corrections, and case studies in juvenile correctional treatment.
Abstract
Characteristics of juvenile delinquency encompass its volume and seriousness; characteristics of juvenile delinquents include age, sex, race, social class, education, and family background. Theories of juvenile delinquency based on individual factors focus on biological causes, mental illness, learned deviant behaviors based on rewards, and the failure to develop moral judgment. Theories of delinquency based on sociocultural factors focus on deviancy learned through social conditioning, lack of attachment to normative role models, deviant subcultural values, few opportunities for normative achievement, and stigmatization by society. The book profiles programs that reflect individual and sociocultural theories of delinquency. It outlines the history of juvenile corrections and the theoretical base and practice of community-based juvenile corrections. Detailed case studies are presented of juvenile correctional treatment programs reflective of individual-factor and social-factor models. Guidelines for juvenile offender programs and suggestions for administering juvenile corrections conclude the book. Chapter notes and subject index.