Juvenile Delinquents & Interpersonal Relations

DOES IT DIFFER DEPENDING UPON WHETHER YOUTHS ARE OR ARE NOT

In 1973 slightly more than one million youngsters under eighteen were arrested and came before our nation's juvenile courts for a variety of criminal acts excluding traffic offenses. Eight years later, in 1981, the number of juvenile arrests dramatically increased to just over two million cases, which represents 20 percent of all recorded arrests for that year. (p.363)

These statistics highlight the magnitude and the seriousness of the problem of juvenile delinquency. Further, the statistics explain why juvenile delinquency has been the focus of so much of the adolescent psychology literature, namely that the scope of the problem is large and still growing. In general, the literature on juvenile delinquency has focused on:

(1) types of delinquents such as the socialized gang members, the unsocialized psychopathic type and the overinhibited neurotic type (e.g. Quay, 1964, 196);

(2) demographic characteristics of delinquents such as their socioeconomic level (e.g. Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1981);

(3) family and home environment factors associated with delinquents (e.g. Hetherington & Martin, 1979);

(4) school performance and academic achievement of delinquents (e.g. Cantwell, 1978); and

(5) biological factors associated with delinquency (e.g. Dalgard &

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delinquent including the terms "Cooperative Delinquent," "Pseudosocial Delinquent," and "Gang Delinquent." This type of juvenile delinquent does not significantly differ form non-delinquent adolescents in personality structure. In other words, most delinquents of this type do not have anti-social conduct disorder or any other form of personality disorder. Rather, their anti-social conduct is the outgrowth of their close, intensely loyal ties to a delinquent group or gang. Commonly the socialized delinquent comes from a home characterized by inadequate supervision, discipline, and control. While there is great loyalty to the gang, there is little loyalty, cohesion, or involvement within the delinquent's family. (2) The Unsocialized Delinquent - This type of delinquent often suffers from anti-social conduct disorder, sometimes called psychopathic personality disorder. Such delinquents tend to have low impulse control and to be openly hostile toward others. They are often selfish and self-indulgent; and they tend to experience little guilt over their anti-social acts. In general, delinquency of this type (especially the hostility and bitterness so intensely experienced by the unsocialized delinquent) has been found to be a
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Approximate Word count = 9321
Approximate Pages = 37 (250 words per page)

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